From the Writing Desk: Friday Night Teaser
…And we are yet another step closer to new fiction.
In fact, we are closer to not one, but two stories.
[alert for spoilers after the cut]
Clear line for “Troubled Passage”! We’re almost ashore.
Rykoe has come in contact with a first page of manuscript this week…
[click to enlarge]
…
„Madame Jonville?“
Slowly, Catherine dropped the paper onto the counter and raised her head. In the entryway, silhouetted by the light of a shy March sun, stood a stranger, a winter coat belted around a slender figure, suitcase in hand.
“We’re closed.”
Catherine returned her gaze to the paper. Not that there was much that was worth reading in the Pétain rag, but it served to wrap the fish or light the fireplace. She glanced up at the clock on the wall, calculating the tide. The delivery wouldn’t be in for another hour at least.
“I’d like to rent a room,” the stranger cut through her thoughts, a low, smooth voice.
“Who says that I rent out rooms?” Catherine asked warily.
The stranger shrugged. “I asked around on the street.”
Catherine’s eyes narrowed. “People on the street don’t send me business.” Rather, people on the street cut her a wide berth for serving her drinks to everyone who could pay for them, traitors and Germans included.
“Also, it says ‘auberge’ above the door,” the stranger pointed out.
“It also says ‘au paysan joli’, and I don’t see one around.” The last thing Catherine needed under her roof was trouble, and strangers who showed up on her doorstep with a suitcase clutched to their side definitely meant trouble.
The woman took a step forward into the hall, out of the shadows, and gave Catherine an arch look. “I pay up front.”
“Of course you do,” Catherine muttered. They paid in family jewels and medals, desperate to leave, lured by the closeness of the sea, the salt already tangible in the air, only to never make it past the shores. She wanted to say “no,” but another look at the stranger brought her up short.
Her pose didn’t have anything desperate. Blond hair fell around her face from underneath a woolen beret that hadn’t been put on to ward off the last winter chill. The curve of a full lip curled slightly upward as she gave Catherine a challenging look.
As far as trouble went, Catherine had to admit, this one was very good-looking.
…
Also happening at the moment:
[Bering & Wells Late Nights - soon on an eye bagged blog near you, since the plot bunnies won out.]
WOOOO!!!! Better than the Olympics!
omg – i’m already hooked! perfect! succinct, pregnant tones, bogart/bacall-esque…. yes
oooohhh I so agree with you nondramafly, I am counting the minutes till next Friday!
Thanks!!! More intrigued!!! As Michelle says, counting the minutes till next Friday.
Wohoo! This looks and sounds all so good – Fridays have even more appeal now! And fantastic news about the plot bunnies: Bering & Wells Late Nights – can’t wait to read about them.
On a side note: does Rykoe get these kind of sketches from you and comes up with those teasers? Wow to both of you
Rykoe tends to come up with things all on her own… this one was based on the scene I had written, but sometimes I get mails suggesting a scenario, asking “Is this happening in the story?” and more often than not, I reply “hm, it could…”
Am working on Bering & Wells plot bunnies tonight – I am afraid that the next episode will mess with my storyboard, so I have to act soon!
Cool! Triple espresso coming your way right now – should I add a Tiramisu for some “sugar-energy-boost”?
I’m very curious about your B & W (maybe we can call them “Bells”) storyboard…
thanks for the espresso!
Love the lesbian pulp fiction feeling of this – reminds me of some pulp covers edited to feature Janeway’s and Seven’s faces that I’ve seen here http://tenderware.home.gate.net/j7-pulp-art.htm Inspired by these, I’ve made some of my own, though I haven’t put them up on some website.
ah yes, Tenderware – those were the Golden Days of J/7 when the show was still on the air! But it’s amazing to see the fandom still thriving a decade later.