I invite other authors to participate and in the comment section, leave a snippet of your story (with a link if it's published). Please only PG rating snippets.
Andrew Merrick was whisked from his home in England, 1848 to
another time, the very day a mob had attacked his family. Wondering why he
remains in this strange place, all he wants is find the treasure his father had
hidden, hoping this might take Andrew back home. But he’s running out of time.
When he meets a lovely woman in this strange new era, he feels she is the one
who will help him.
Halle Chapman has come to England to find her missing
father. What she finds instead is a nice man who claims he’s from the past.
Although she doesn’t believe in time-travel, deep in her heart, she knows she
must help Andrew. What she finds instead is discovering the key to her future
lies in the past. Now, to return to her own time, she needs to solve the
mystery surrounding Andrew Merrick and his family’s murder.
**snippet**
Gloucestershire, England 1848
A loud boom echoed
from outside mere seconds before glass shattered in the room. Andrew jumped
away from the large window, his heart hammering out of control as he stared at
the large rock lying on the floor wrapped in a paper and tied with string.
Cursing, his
father rushed to his wife and his daughter, Georgiana, shielding them with his body as he put
himself between the women and the curious object. The women screamed and huddled
against his father’s large frame.
“What is the
meaning of this?” Marquis Harrington bellowed as his gaze swept the
room, then moved to the window.
Andrew crept on
careful feet to the rock, glass crunching under his Hessian boots. He pried
away the string and opened the note.
Ignoring my
threats is not permissible! Because you have refused to divulge where you are hiding
the ancient jewels, you now must watch your family burn to death.
Because of the
screams and sobs filling the room, Andrew hadn’t realized his father stood
beside him, reading the note as well. From over his shoulder he glanced at the
faces of his mother and sister, then to Edward who held Helen tightly, and
finally rested on Helen’s parents, Lord and Lady Caldwell and their sons, fear
etching their expressions. Confusion constricted in Andrew’s chest, as did the
fear stirring from the threat.
“Father?” Andrew asked,
meeting his father’s eyes. “Who could be doing this?”
Keeping his jaw
hard, his father took in a deep breath before meeting Andrew’s gaze. “I have my
suspicions, but I will not relent. Our ancestor’s jewels have been in
the family for two hundred years and will remain with us for generations to
come.”
“But Father, these people
are serious. You must tell those who are threatening us so they will not
cause harm!”
Heavy footsteps
ran up the hallway as voices rose in alarm. Andrew rushed to the door and threw
it open just as their servants clamored in.
“My lord,” Johnson,
the butler said breathlessly. “There is a mob of people out front carrying torches
and weapons.”
His father snapped
his head toward his wife and Georgie. “Get upstairs. Now! And take Lady Caldwell
and Lady Brimhall with you.”
Andrew’s mother
nodded, clutching her daughter’s hand as they hurried out of the room, with the
others following. No sooner had they left, a flaming arrow shot through the
broken window, piercing the drapes and igniting the material.
Andrew cursed and
grabbed a cloth off a small table, trying to put out the fire, but more arrows
shot through the house. Outside shadows danced across the lawn as the mob marched
closer. Dear Lord above, help us! It was a
small army!
His father shouted
instructions to the servants and other men in the room. Edward ran toward the
adjoining room to the gun cabinet, his new father and brothers-in-law followed.
Another arrow passed through the window, barely missing Andrew. His father’s painful
grunt pulled Andrew’s attention to his sire...and to the arrow protruding from his
chest.
“Father!”
Andrew ran to him just as the older man fell to the floor.
Gasping for
breath, he clutched Andrew’s hands. “Protect our family.”
“I will.” Tears
burned Andrew’s eyes.
The angry voices
of the mob grew closer. They’d be upon their home at any moment.
“They want...the
hidden treasure.” His father gasped for air. “Do not let them find it.”
Emotion clogged Andrew’s
throat. “But that is the only way to save the family.”
The marquis’ eyes
slowly closed as he struggled to take another breath. “By the tree... Go by the
tree...” Then his father’s body fell limp in Andrew’s arms.
Tears blurred his
vision.
Screams from
upstairs tugged at his conscience. Mother! Georgie! Although his father
didn’t want to give up the family’s treasure, Andrew couldn’t allow his family
to die because of it. His but clenched and he gritted his teeth. Regretfully,
he would go against his father’s last wish.
He kissed his
father’s forehead then gently laid him down before jumping to his feet. He
lunged out the door, dodging the servants running through the halls wielding
weapons. From behind him, a pistol fired. Andrew felt the air whoosh by his
cheek. Too close. He prayed for strength and that he wouldn’t get shot.
The back stairs
were the only way Andrew could think to run to get outside. His father’s last
words played in his mind. Go by the tree. Although Andrew didn’t know
what his father meant, he tried to remember if his father had a favorite tree
outside. Perhaps his father was trying to tell him that’s where the treasure
had been buried.
Check out the book trailer - http://youtu.be/E1C_IKJqwC4
7 comments:
Hi Marie! I enjoyed your snippet! :-D
And I'll take advantage of your offer to add a snippet of my own. This is from my newly released YA, Buried Truth.
Longacre High’s annual junior class beach bonfire had once again lived up to everyone’s low expectations. I stepped back from the blistering heat and watched the crackling sparks fly upward like disappearing flashes in the night sky. Beside me, Brianna jabbed a gooey marshmallow stick near my face.
I jumped and knocked into Courtney Phillip’s elbow. “Sorry, Court.”
Being Bri’s friend was like serving combat duty. Duck, hide, defend yourself. You needed to do it all.
“Ooo, sorry, you guys. Mags, did I poke you?” Bri plunged the marshmallow stick into the sandy dirt at my feet.
“No, I’m fine.” Through the shadows, the stick vibrated back and forth like it was alive. “Uh, no one’s going to want to use that. Dirty s’mores aren’t exactly appetizing.”
Her dark eyes widened, and she pulled the stick from the ground. I grabbed it before she flailed it in somebody else’s face. “I’ll take it. No worries.”
I needed an excuse to walk over to the picnic tables anyway — Andrew was over there. Nobody surfed on this stretch of the Pacific Ocean, but Andrew still had the body of a surfer and a smile that made my legs turn to gummy worms. I held the stick point down and drifted over.
Andrew looked up, and his eyes roamed over me. At his half-smile, my knees went weak and my breath quickened. I tossed the stick on top of a wobbly stack of campfire supplies. To prolong my stay, I fussed with some graham crackers and chocolate.
“Not much of a s’more without the marshmallows.”
Andrew’s deep voice rolled easily above the joking and laughing around the fire. I opened my mouth, hoping for a smooth reply, but my voice stuck to the sides of my throat. I slapped some broken squares of chocolate onto the crackers and kept my eyes down.
“Are you getting s’mores ready for the entire junior class?”
One sentence and a question. Even though our school wasn’t huge, Andrew and I had never really talked, had never really become friends. The most I’d ever gotten from him was a hey or a what’s happening — not that I kept score.
I raised my gaze to his and even in the flickering shadows, I saw the mischievous glimmer in his eyes. I stifled a strange impulse to reach up and touch the rugged stubble on his face, but thankfully, I kept my hands on the chocolate and crackers.
If you'd like to purchase Buried Truth, here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/nwojo8e
Thank you again, Marie!
Wonderful snippet Marie! I love that he's the one who comes to the future, it's a nice twist! This is going to be an amazing book!
Great excerpt, Marie. I love that she doesn't believe in time travel. Tweeted.
Thanks, ladies! And Brenda - great snippet. I want to write a YA some day...
This si great, MArie! I haven't read time travel, but this makes me want to! Tweeted
What a beautiful cover photo, Marie. I love time travel and yours sounds like a delightful read! Best of luck with sales!
Hi Marie
This is great. I love getting to see all these various books.
It keeps things exciting.
Here is a brief snippet from my own.
Michelle woke to the sound of ocean surf. A gentle breeze caressed her short hair. Sunlight filtering through vibrant green leaves told her it was morning. The shock of her surroundings hit like a splash of ice water. She wasn't in her bed. Her eyes opened wide, and she saw she was laying on sandy ground. Panic rose through her body in a wave of rippling tension. She couldn't hear any human sounds. She couldn’t hear any engines or anything electrical. All she could hear was the pure natural sounds of a light breeze through trees, and waves crashing onto a beach close by. She could also hear her own rapid breathing and the beginnings of panicked whimpers escaping from her throat.
The night before, she fell asleep in her apartment, in her own bed. She always slept in the nude, but she woke dressed in shorts and a plain t-shirt. When she went to sleep, winter was already coming on, the ground covered in ice and snow. Each day saw only a few hours of daylight. In just over two months the residents of her Northern Canadian town would not truly see the sun for about a month.
Looking around, the plants were obviously tropical and the air was comfortably warm.
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