Happy Saturday, fellow snippeteers! I hope you all had a lovely Easter break. I did absolutely nothing but write, cook and knit. Not, at first, in that order. On Good Friday, the knitting went way better than the writing. I was stuck in the trickiest part of Swings & Roundabouts, and more stuff got thrown out than added in. But as time progressed Jack and Gareth started to cooperate and the words flowed more easily. A very good weekend overall. We extended it some with a trip to London to explore the Inns of Court and Royal Courts of Justice and take in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Then work hit me with a vengeance on Wednesday morning and it’s been manic ever since.
Sooo… while I’m not quite comfortable yet to show off Jack & Gareth’s latest troubles, I’d like to introduce you to Ian Rathbone, the main character in a dystopian novella titled Sound Judgement. (I need a few shorter things to teach myself all the mysteries of self publishing….)
Imagine England after six years of martial law, order and government just newly restored. Imagine warlords and gangs running local affairs, and long queues outside food banks. Stuck in the middle is Ian Rathbone, one of the Sweepers, who takes down illegal weapons labs for a living and who has just been given a work partner, for the first time since spending six years in deep cover. And this is how it all starts. With a song.
From Sound Judgement
Me and Mrs Jones, the singer warbled, we have a thing going on. Eighteen months of coming home to the wailing hadn’t changed Ian’s mind. He hated that song and what it stood for. Hearing it waft out into the hall as he trudged up the stairs to his apartment, duffel bag over one shoulder and bags of food in each hand, put the shit icing on a craptastic week.
Martial law and the resistance might be a thing of the past. Order and the elected government might reign once more, but they were still short-staffed, overworked, and at least half the department was stuck on riot duty at any one time. Coming home to the stupid song playing through his apartment made everything worse.
If you’re new to the snips circuit or have found me by accident…Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where GLTBQ writers post snippets of their work every Saturday. There are snips from every genre, kind of pairing and heat level from sweet to steamy.
Gazes Into You | Book Chat With Author Alex Jane
I think coming home to hear a hated song would be quite distressing.
Agreed. Especially if it keeps happening.
Great scene setting. I think I’d be a little disgruntled, too.
He’s more than “a little” disgruntled I think. But that’s one for another snippet.
Oh yeah, I used to live with a roommate who LOVED R.E.M. (I’m not a fan) and she’d play it on replay over and over. “It’s the end of the world as we know it…” Good snippet, Jackie.
Thank you. Music has that power to drive one up the wall…
Someone really hates that song. Nice insight into his world in just a few sentences.
Thank you. It’s rare that I get a beginning that works right off the bat. I’m glad it works after I’ve fiddled it to death…
Excellent way of conveying the setting and background for the story. Love the scene!
Thank you. 🙂
I hope Ian’s day gets better, but somehow I doubt it….
Not for a while yet…