Hookers and Hangers part 1

Part 1 of Hookers and Hangers . . .the written kind.

Ok, the title threw me off a bit . . .made me wince a little, but it's all in good fun. Today we're posting hooks from our books - first lines from various chapters. On Wednesday we're posting hangers - the last lines. Then we get to hop around and give each other awesome feedback. The fun, encouraging blog hop is being hosted by Falling for Fiction - a great place to find writing tips, feedback, and more!

Chapter 1 (help! many revisions): Lightning flashed against dark clouds, and Clara woke with a start, disorientated by the sunlight warming the curtain over her small window.

Chapter 2: In a room without windows, set deep within the Sword Hall of Skycliff, Stelia watched Dantor ease into the council room.

Chapter 3:  Braced against the crumbling brown ramparts of Skycliff’s seawall, Clara leaned into the misty blue horizon.

Chapter 4: Behind closed the door of his topmost tower room above his private quarters, King Alexandros stood staring into an archaic mirror rimmed with a rusty frame.

Chapter 5: Stelia fought her way across Trinity Hall, cutting her way to Dantor.

Chapter 6: “A liability? And here I thought you had affection for our young Prince,” said Dantor.

Chapter 10: Clara stumbled over the doorway, and into darkness, falling into complete emptiness.


Chapter 15: Clara stayed still next to Master Dantor, pressing the cloth against his side, hoping to stop, or at least slow the bleeding.

Chapter 16: When Stelia saw Dantor’s wound she felt as if a knife had been plunged into her own chest, and she gasped.

Chapter 17: With her gear stored in a narrow bunk, and her sword still strapped to her back, Clara followed her mom into the medical officer’s cabin.


Chapter 20: Five days of routine passed, with no sea serpents or foul weather.

Chapter 21: Two more griffins flying towards the ship interrupted all conversation, and all eyes turned upward to watch them soaring, and circling, slowing with each round until they landed one after another aboard the ship.

Chapter 22: Down on his knees, with his neck uncomfortably exposed, King Alexandros wanted only one thing . . . a swift death.

Distracting Characters Spotlight - Gregori with an I

As many of you know I had a topsy turvy week last week, but I'm still writing every day.

In addition to the curveball moments of life, I've had tough time sticking with my 100 Days of Revision for Champion in the Darkness (formerly The Crystal Sword) because of distracting characters and story ideas.

Recently a kid named Gregori popped into my thoughts.  While making breakfast on Sunday (gluten free, corn free, dairy free, egg free breakfasts always seem to require cooking in my house), Gregori jumped into my head, and I thought I would share him with you.

It's kind of a long intro, and I'm definitely not sure where this is going, but he's my latest distracting character.

I’m not that kid. You know the one you’re thinking about when you think of books about an illegitimate kid with a parent that’s never around, the kid with superhero powers that’s the son of a human and the son of some myth. I’m not him. I’m just me. I don’t have powers, and I don’t save the world, but this story is about the one time when I made a difference in someone else’s life.

            Like that kid you’re thinking of, I had a few bully-enemies at my last school, and my math teacher seemed evil in the “I don’t care about you if you’re not a star soccer player for the school team” kind of way. My mom works hard at her job, and had a crappy boyfriend a few years ago.

We ditched him and public school the same year. I don’t know how my mom does it, but she works nights, and homeschools me in the mornings.

 In the afternoon while she sleeps, I go to my best friend’s house. Dennis and I go to the same homeschool co-op on Mondays with his mom, and we’re in the same karate class, three nights a week. We actually get some of our homeschool lessons done together, before we practice karate and play on his xbox. I usually make breakfast for dinner real late so my mom and I can eat dinner together. They say families that eat dinner together stay together, you know. I think breakfasts for dinner together are better than anything else.

So I’m not that kid that you’re thinking of from that mythical hero journey book series. I’m just me.  I’m Gregori Vaclav Schulz. My mom was interested in Christian martyrs when I was born, that’s how I got my name, and it’s definitely Gregori with an “I” and not a “y”, which gets me in trouble sometimes like it did the day this whole mess started.

Wednesday: A visit from Captain Wrath, another distracting character.

Friday: Dealing with the Distracting Characters

100 Days of Revision, Day 48 Update
The last week has been bad, bad, bad. I've barely worked through 250 words every few days. I'm totally distracted by life, other ideas, and the end of school, beginning of summer feeling. On the upside, I'm actually halfway there, and my halfway mark for the count down will be on Wednesday - so I'm ahead, sort of . . .

Do you have to deal with any distracting characters that don't belong in your current WIP?

How old do you think Gregori is?

And finally, do you have any exciting news to share? any summer plans?