January was a difficult month for me, in terms of writing. I struggled through writing anxiety every time I pulled up Silver Hollow and couldn’t understand why. Of course, now I realize this is what happens when you abandon all routine and develop bad habits in place of said routine. It’s my own fault, but also I know every writer goes through this sort of crisis now and then. For more on writing, check out the latest Writer’s Journey post over at We Write Fantasy.
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy today’s Tuesday Teaser!
Silver Hollow 2018 Edition Teaser
blast from the past
Everything in Silver Hollow was backwards. The women flounced about in pretty dresses and spouted nonsense about chivalry while the males acted equally ridiculous. She had journeyed across realms, from her beloved Wylder Mountains to this world of kings and queens, knights and ladies.
While she had found her way easily into the hearts of the Wenderdowne brothers, Nimue had yet to be impressed by these people. She had been disappointed to find the true heroes of old, Titania and Oberon and their court had largely vanished a century before through the Veil. Why they left, Iudicael would not say. Drustan was too busy flirting to pay heed to anything she asked. Despite her warnings, they insisted on fighting this human king, declaring they could never rest until the matter was resolved.
War was the same, no matter which realm she crossed. The story was one she had been fed since birth, from parents who had lived it. Humans and evil beings were uniting against the forgotten kind, against the majikal peoples this side of the Borderlands.
She had come this far and would do her duty.
So she told herself as she crept through the night in the human village. House to house rested peacefully, save the occasional fussy babe or lovers embrace. Many, she was shocked to find, groaned with hunger and coughed with disease which was so rampant among humans.
You have a task to fulfill, she reminded herself as she avoided torchlight, using the stars to guide her to the castle wall. It was a new structure, nothing like the ancient city she had explored as a child. They were still replacing wood with stone along the outermost walls. What guards stood on sentry duty above were yawning and cups deep in ale.
She smiled as she pressed her hands to the wood before her and asked it to move. Majik worked best when objects were moved politely.
The wood bowed inward and then peeled out to wrap against the inner layer, just enough for one thin maid to slip through. No one noticed her creeping along the inner walls of the courtyard, searching with her hands against newly laid stone. She wasn’t sure what she was searching for. Iudicael couldn’t tell her for certain, only that her target was unlike any being she had faced before.
Do nay trust him, no matter what, he had warned her.
She paused fifty paces in. She whispered to the stone to let her pass through and entered the thick wall. The room she found on the other side was dimly lit, littered in grimoires and weapons of every kind with alchemy ingredients littered throughout. She saw no gray-haired wise man and didn’t have much warning before her beastly senses flared to life. Before she was half aware, the shadows wrapped around her like a kiss and a rasping voice met her ear.
“What are you?”
Despite the fact he thought he had her ensnared, Nimue smiled. “I am your nightmares come to life.”
to be continued…
Behind the Scenes
This scene is something that would have easily fit into the backstory from the original edition. Nimue and Emrys’ story is closely intertwined and this flashback/memory gives us another glimpse into that complex backstory.
Rewriting Silver Hollow has been a big twisty adventure, about as big as my first attempt to put the ideas down. This book will become the first installment in my Borderlands Saga. Some things you may miss from this new edition will return in other ways in future books. My hope is to bring you the story I wanted to write in the first place. I hope you stick with me for the adventures ahead! Thanks for reading and stay warm!
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Jennifer Silverwood 