What Am I Writing? 1/21/15 Snippet - Dead As Dreams

Below is a snippet of something I am currently working on. Be warned, it will usually be rough draft material. Please let me know if you like what you read! It'll encourage me to keep going. ♥

Aysa tried to squeeze her eyes shut, but they remained open. No blocking out the scene before her. True, the woman only danced, but there would be more. It was a nightmare, and it would surely live up to the word.

The chains shifted and squirmed, cold metal snakes winding themselves about her, brushing against her skin. She struggled to free herself--they only tightened their grip, creating a noose around her neck. They pressed on her windpipe, and she coughed, the small amount of air she was able to pull into her lungs burning with every attempted breath. She scrabbled some more, in an effort to reach the chains at her throat, to pull them off, but it only made things worse. No. Her vision blurred. This was what it felt like to be captured, to be thrown into slavery, to have freedom ripped from her hands.

Allowing the chains to choke her wouldn't help her escape. Panicking only hindered progress and hope.

So, she relaxed in her bindings. She refused to give up, but she'd bide her time.

And she watched the woman dance.

From Dead As Dreams, Chapter 24 (novel currently in the revision process)

About Dead As Dreams:

Dreams are in danger and souls are chained to the earth. Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, and Lazarus, a spirit seeker, join forces to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares and life and death. They face a rogue spirit seeker and a manipulator of nightmares--both intent on unhinging the world, but there is yet another pulling the strings.

NEXT UP: Magic Is Reality, Reality Is Magic - The Candle

What Am I Writing? 10/4/14 Snippet - Dead As Dreams

Below is a snippet of something I am currently working on. Be warned, it will usually be rough draft material. Please let me know if you like what you read! It'll encourage me to keep going. ♥

As Lazarus struggled for a retort, he caught a stirring from the bed, as if wind ruffled the sheets. Then they rose up, a form growing under them. Or a body.

"Aysa, you mind getting us out of here before we talk about this?" He licked his lips and attempted to control his voice, feeling the panic reach into his throat. "The Nexus would be great right about now."

I can't.

"What do you mean you can't?" He wanted to shake her and scream that she better get them out of here before the thing in the bed crawled out.

I have no control in nightmares, only dreams. As if to confirm her statement, her crook vanished. She frowned. That's why it took so long to reach you. I'm stuck here, just as well as you. She glanced toward the bed, and her eyes widened.

It softened Lazarus to hear that even though it took her a while, she came to help him knowing that she would be stuck with whatever horror he was facing, with no power to stop it. But there were more pressing things to consider at the moment.

The sheet slipped off of the growing bulge in the bed, revealing not the Karu-corpse, but the corpse of the chief from Hambrea. His slit throat oozed pus as he sat up and stared right at Lazarus and Aysa.

"How do we get out of here?" Lazarus asked, sure by now the fear had seeped into his voice.

There was also a quaver of fear in Aysa's response, even if she only spoke into his mind. I don't know.

From Dead As Dreams, Chapter 14 (novel currently in the revision process)

About Dead As Dreams:

Dreams are in danger and souls are chained to the earth. Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, and Lazarus, a spirit seeker, join forces to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares and life and death. They face a rogue spirit seeker and a manipulator of nightmares--both intent on unhinging the world, but there is yet another pulling the strings.

NEXT UP: What Am I Reading?

What Am I Writing? 9/10/14 Snippet - Dead As Dreams

Below is a snippet of something I am currently working on. Be warned, it will usually be rough draft material. Please let me know if you like what you read! It'll encourage me to keep going. ♥

She shivered as the rain cascaded down her skin and stepped forward. Each step was a battle not to fall again. Not sure where to go, or what she was looking for, she forced herself to be aware of her surroundings. She didn't aim for the crying babe--she knew the futility of that chase.

After what seemed like hours, the muscles in her legs sore from attempting to keep her balance, Aysa paused. The valley still stretched to all sides of her, unchanged. Someone or something was playing games with her. Her anger blossomed.

She realized, with her fury pumping through her, that her fear had vanished, and her yearning to follow the child's cries had secreted itself away.

And she looked up, the only spot she hadn't scrutinized on her journey through this flowered wasteland. The sky was gray, thick with storm clouds. Right above her was a crack, larger than what she had witnessed in the dream with Lazarus. It pulsed an olive green, almost the same color as the rotting flora under Aysa's feet.

For a brief moment, she thought she saw the blink of a pair of eyes, the sweep of lashes, and then the image vanished.

From Dead As Dreams, Chapter 11 (novel currently in the revision process)

About Dead As Dreams:

Dreams are in danger and souls are chained to the earth. Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, and Lazarus, a spirit seeker, join forces to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares and life and death. They face a rogue spirit seeker and a manipulator of nightmares--both intent on unhinging the world, but there is yet another pulling the strings.

NEXT UP: Magic Is Reality, Reality Is Magic - Orange