I'm taking a break from the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories this week to try something a bit different.
A lot of folks out there use HeroMachine to create visuals for stories they're writing, so instead of showcasing your artistic abilities, now's your chance to exhibit your writing. Take one paragraph (I was thinking the very first one, but if that doesn't work for you then pick another) from a story you're writing and put it in the comments below, along with the title (if known) and a one-sentence synopsis of what the story or novel is about. Think of it as the blurb they'd put as a teaser promo in a review magazine, along with that one paragraph as a writing sample.
Here's one from me, from my long-unfinished novel "Exile":
The twelve boys step from the black mouth of the alley with a swagger in their step, the bright lights of the glow stones making wicked gleams dance and leap on the tips of their daggers. I tense – there is something different about them, the scent of blood in the air like there has never been in any of our other encounters. They will not settle for bruises this time, or cruel words – they have hatred in their eyes and a hunger in their mouths that the small pains of the past will not satisfy. I have dealt with their unseen hands pushing me from behind when I pass and their feet tripping me in hallways for the past year, but from the set of Yasha’s shoulders he is intent on more than petty humiliations.
The back of my ears begin to sweat; something here is very, very wrong.
I haven't looked at this stuff in years and the writing is pretty rough, but in the usual spirit of honesty I try to engender here, I'm sharing it anyway.
And I suppose the one-sentence synopsis would be "A young boy on a desert world ruled by a god who cares nothing for his subjects fights to reclaim his family's honor."
