Snippet Sunday and #WeWriWa

It's Sunday again, which means Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday! Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I spent last weekend and most of last week fighting with internet problems. As a result I was unable to visit as many blogs as I would have liked, hopefully I'll make up for that this week.

This week I found out that my YA manuscript, Dwarfed, made it to the Amazon Breakthrough Novelist quarterfinals! That's not quite the same thing as a publishing contract, but I'm a big believer in celebrating all accolades.  Amazon even posted a link to my excerpt (okay they posted all the quarter finalist's ) It served as a reminder that I've focused all of my snippets on Grace, Luke, and a piglet, but have somehow managed to ignore Grace's pet duck Adelaide. It's time to correct that oversight.

I crest the hill separating the house from the giant pond. Below me, ducks float on the pond, like a living Monet painting.

I let myself into the pen and walk to the shoreline. Standing on the slight decline, I’m careful to keep my feet well away from the disgusting clumps of algae, feather, soggy pieces of straw, and duck droppings congealing where water and land collide. Rippling V’s spread over the water, as the ducks turn and paddle to the far edge of the fenced in area.

“Adelaide.”  Several white ducks look at me.

            I ignore them and try again, gentling my voice. “Adelaide?”

Source: tammyferrenphotography.com via Soni on Pinterest

2/3/13 Sunday snippet

It looks like one way or another, the tradition of posting Sunday snippets is going to hold strong. There's just some details that need to be ironed out. This week I'm sticking to the 6 sentence format, mostly because it worked nicely for this particular snippet.

Right now there's a Weekend Writer Warrior group with a linky list, and there's a 6 Sunday FaceBook group, for anyone who's interested in participating or seeing what others have written.

Anyhoo, this week's snippet, which I'm quite pleased with is from my YA manuscript, DWARFED. It picks up where last week's snippet left off. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to check it out. I truly appreciate how helpful everyone has been. The comments and friendly crits I've gotten have done wonders for my writing. Thanks!

I’m going to be accountable for the piglet’s life, a responsibility I’m positively not ready for. I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m not sure how much help or advice I can expect to get from Luke or anyone else. She’s already so far behind the eight ball and everyone thinks her chances of survival are slim, and Etna’s going to be watching my every move, waiting for me to fail.

The door swings open and Luke shoulders his way into the microscopic room. He holds some sort of silver light fixture in one hand, and cradles my sleeping piglet in the other.

My heart shivers and melts.

Source: google.com via Bonnie on Pinterest

Six Sentence Sunday 1/27/13

Oh my gosh. I can't believe this is the last Six Sentence post *sniff*. I've met some amazing people, gained a great deal of insight into my writing and the industry, and discovered some fabulous books.  I can't thank the moderators for all the hard work they've put into this blog hop. You've been amazing.

Okay, now onto my snippet. Like usual it comes from the same YA manuscript, DWARFED, which I usually post from. It picks up where last week's dropped off. If you're new to my snippets and want to learn some more, I've compiled my snippets right here. For those of you who asked, the pigs pictured in last week's post were (are?) Fengjing pigs, who hail from the same region as Shar-pei dogs.

“You keep spreading the straw,” he says. “I’m going to go get some heat lamps.”

My thoughts wander as I continue shaking out one section after another until the floor disappears under a generous layer of straw. I would never admit it to anyone else, but I couldn’t help wondering what I’d just gotten myself into. Didn’t I already have enough things to worry about, wasn’t I already feeling emotionally drained, so what made me think that I was in anyway shape or form, capable of taking on the responsibility of a small pig. For all intents and purposes, I'm going to be a parent.

Source: Uploaded by user via Cindy on Pinterest

I  do plan to continue to posting snippets. As of right now my plan is to post as part of the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop, and there's whispers of another 6Sunday here. It will be interesting to see what the future holds. 

Six Sentence Sunday

It's Sunday again, which means another Six Sentence Sunday post! As usual, I'm posting another snippet from my YA work-in-progress, DWARFED. This snippet is basically a descriptive passage, but I think it turned out quite nicely (something I rarely say). Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read it :) If you love reading, feel free to check out the talented writers participating in this week's blog hop.

         For the last two hours Luke and I have done everything possible to make this room, closet really, at the back of the enormous barn into a new home for my little piglet. While Luke lugged broken buckets, piles of dusty grain sacks, and other miscellaneous bits of farming paraphernalia that had found their way into the room, I went at it with a mop, broom, scrub bucket, and dust rag, and scrubbed what had to be a decade’s worth of dust and grime from the wall. Now, the front of my skirt is soaked, my back feels like red hot rods have been inserted in it, a dull headache is hammers against my temples, and I know I’m wearing a macabre veil of cobwebs, dust, and bits of hay over my hair, but the room is clean and shiny.

 Using his ever present pocket knife, Luke slices through some baler twine and passes a thick flake of straw to me.

            Taking it, I give it a violent shake, laughing as bits of dark gold straw fly everywhere. Luke watches me for a moment and smiles.

If this is the first time you've been to my blog and find yourself completely lost, that's okay. I've tried to simplify things by posting all of my snippets here.

Source: zooborns.com via Jess on Pinterest

Six Sentence Sunday 1/13/13

Welcome back Sixers!

This week my little snippet follows up where last week's ended.

This snippet was brought to you via my YA manuscript, DWARFED. As luck would have it, the first four sentences are on one side of a page break, while the remaining 2 were on the other.

He’s looking at the pigs, but based on his expression he doesn’t really see them. I can practically see the wheels spinning in his head. He must have come up with an idea, because eventually he jerks his chin towards the door, indicating that I should follow him. “C’mon, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us if you’re serious about keeping that pig.”

         

           Luke kicks the dark blue towel through the door and into the hallway where it joins the miniature mountain of soggy towels. He hooks his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans and surveys the tiny room.  

The official list of the amazing writers participating in this week's Six Sentence Sunday.

If you want to know more about piglets born (farrowed) during the winter months, you should check out this post at the Righteous Bacon.

If you're new to my Sunday snippets and are completely confused, but would like to know more, I've compiled all of my snippets here.

Last, but not least, 1 sleeping piglet. I don't know about you, but I could cuddle it all day long :)

Source: cutestpaw.com via Destiny on Pinterest