Progress? And WiPpet Wedsnesday

Another week, another grand total of zero on the word counts, but there was one small breakthrough.  It just... wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

I finally realised what I wanted to write for M of the A to Z Challenge, or at least it turned up in my head and refused to go anywhere.  Really, considering the characters involved it shouldn't be a surprise, so I pinned the idea down as quickly as possible (which, really, is also what happened with the characters...).  So perhaps I did actually manage to write after all.

I now have ideas for A, J and M, and an inkling of an idea for F.  Just the rest of the alphabet to go, I guess...?

Random aside: it turns out writing with an EF nib turns my handwriting tiny, which makes it perfect for my slightly-less-than-A6 notebook.

WiPpet Wednesday

It's that time of the week again: K. L. Schwengel's brilliant blog hop where participants share date-related sections of their works in progress.  It's a brilliant idea with fantastic stories being shared, and you can read more and join in yourself over here.

It's simple maths for today's WiPpet.  It's the 25th March, so 2 + 5 + 3 = 10, which is ten paragraphs from Chapter 3 of The Rose Queen, following on almost directly from where we left off last week.

You might remember last month I mentioned a particularly troublesome character and how I should have introduced him but hadn't, not that it mattered really because it was barely-there?

He's back, and this time it's not only his introduction that's barely-there...

Hammering his thumb harder than necessary against the seventh pad made the door sigh open. Fayth dragged the Rose Queen into the bay and tried not to notice the curve of a smile on the man’s lips. Ridiculously handsome or not, Fayth was becoming tempted to break his cardinal rule of retrieval and wallop him. Not hard, no—the way he moved the elbow Fayth had gripped too tightly proved he was as delicate as the plants he’d tended—but damn that smile... Too pretty and far too sarcastic for its own good. He shoved the hackpad against the interior door lock.

It confirmed the lock the same second several sets of feet clattered to a stop outside. Fayth let out a relieved sigh and turned to face the Rose Queen.

Who wasn’t there.

“You’ve lost something?” A voice growled from his left.

Again with the ‘L’ word; Fayth swung round to tell this newcomer exactly what he thought of him—and froze. Not for the first time, he really, really wished he’d brought a gun.

A face that looked dimly familiar glowered over the Rose Queen’s shoulder, one hand raised with a fistful of restraint cord in it. Cord that was wrapped around the Rose Queen’s neck and pulled taut. The other hand held his shoulder with enough force that the crewman’s knuckles were white.

The naked crewman.

“You should still be asleep,” Fayth said mildly, noting with some relief that the Rose Queen wasn’t struggling. If anything, he seemed to have relaxed, as far as anyone could when they were bare centimeters from being garrotted. “Don’t you think you should put some clothes on before you manhandle someone?”

“It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before,” the crewman sneered, tugging lightly on the cord. “How can I get dressed when you’re wearing my uniform?”

Fayth shrugged, flashing his best innocent grin at the crewman. “I left you my old shirt and pants, it’s not my fault you’re an exhibitionist. But if you’re that keen on putting your own clothes back on, then here.” In one fluid movement Fayth yanked the red shirt over his head and flung it at the crewman’s face, following it up with his right fist.

I did not know until I started writing this that Fayth had an incredible aversion to the L-word.  He's not lost, he's simply geographically embarrassed.