.JPG)
One of the finest aspects of fiction writing is the ability to set the scene. Characters act and react, but they don't do so in a vacuum. In their world, they meet, fall in love, solve problems, sometimes horrendous problems. Maybe it's a small town, maybe the big city, the green, humid jungle, dust-dry desert, a mountainous region. On the sea. Under the sea. In space!
Setting the scene is also done by using character dialogue to paint a picture of loveliness, danger, evil, trepidation, excitement, awe...
Setting the scene is also done by using character dialogue to paint a picture of loveliness, danger, evil, trepidation, excitement, awe...
Give us six sentences that set the scene. Set the Scene in Six Sentences - Sunday is a new opportunity on the Exquisite Quills! Blog to tout your talent. How have you set the scene in your books? How have you put the reader into the life of your characters?
Every Sunday, the blog will be open to six-sentence scene-setting. Just post your six sentences, your name, and one link in the comment box. We can't wait to read you!
Pass the word! Open to all!
Pass the word! Open to all!
15 comments:
Cassandra’s Revenge – The Singles Cruise
Book 4 of the Golden Dolphin Series
By Skye Michaels
Release Date: 11-13-13, currently available for pre-sale on Bookstrand.com
He took her hand and led her back into the cottage to the hand-carved, plantation-style mahogany four-poster bed covered in a white quilt. She was naked except for the black and gold necklace; she looked like a goddess. He stepped out of his trousers and moccasins, and then he was naked, too. The moonlight spilled into the cottage through the wide-open doors from the terrace and splashed across the bed as the soft tropical breeze kissed their naked bodies. Beau’s hands trembled as he pushed her back into the pillows and came down beside her. He ran his hands down her long, swan neck, over her chest, and cupped her full breasts. They filled his hands. She was magnificent—this was not the slender girl he’d kissed in the moonlight on the golf course at the country club that summer so long ago. This was a beautiful woman. The ache in his chest grew as he skated his hands down her body to her mound.
Beautiful, Skye. Thank you!
Mariah's Marriage, MuseItUp, by Anne Stenhouse
As she
looked from the butler to the surrounding area, her eyes widened in shock. She had
never been within a building of such elegance and refinement.
The hall was painted in pale blue with an ornate cornice picked out in darker
blue and ivory. There were a few upright chairs with the family crest carved into
their backs and one long mahogany table set back against the facing wall. The
central part rose through four stories to a glass copula in the roof. In front of them,
a staircase enticed the gaze up to a wide carpeted landing from which several doors
no doubt led into the house’s public rooms.
http://www.novelrank.com/asin/B00CMAEKPM
This is near the beginning of my new Scottish Regency novel, Midwinter Masquerade from Tirgearr Publishing.
Bemused that her godmother knew anyone of note in the Old Town, Lenora remained silent, willing to play the older lady’s game. She enjoyed visiting the original buildings of old Edinburgh and had dressed for walking. It was difficult to believe that the narrow warrens of tenement buildings and wynds leading from the
castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse used to house both rich and poor, each rubbing shoulders together in their daily lives.
She shuddered. She’d heard tales of murderers and whores, of disease and strife, and was thankful she lived in a rather more gracious time. Mr. James Craig was to be much admired for designing the splendid new town within the city, and she was ever grateful for her own beautiful home designed by Mr. Adam.
Romy Gemmell
All e-formats from Amazon or Tirgearr Publishing: http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Gemmell_Romy/midwinter-masquerade.htm
A Beastly Scandal - A Fairytale-inspired Regency Romance
By Shereen Vedam
The carriage rounded a bend, and Clearview Manor came into view. Bare vines draped the medieval sandstone and brick building. High above, snow-capped gargoyles crouched over corner turrets, and rows of icicles stabbed downward from the eaves, like armed weapons awaiting the order to fire.
The conveyance drew to a halt, and the coachman jumped down to open the door. Normally, Belle would be the first to rush out, but a vision of Lord Terrance’s furious demeanor kept her soles planted to the floor. She reasoned that she should wait for her companions to venture out first. But her maid Mendal wore a disapproving frown that rivaled one of those gargoyle’s expressions and stayed in her seat, as if she never meant to leave the carriage.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/A-Beastly-Scandal-Shereen-Vedam-ebook/dp/B00BYO9CA0
COWBOY DREAMING by Shawna Delacorte, Harlequin/Silhouette Desire reissued by Harlequin in ebook
She stepped out onto the front porch and looked across the landscape. The hillsides were carpeted in an emerald velvet dotted with patches of brightly colored wildflowers, signaling the end of winter. The breeze rustled through the new leaves on the trees, creating a background whisper that softened the harsh sounds of the squawking blue jays. She shielded her eyes from the bright morning sun and watched as a hawk circled overhead. The crisp, cool air filled her lungs, the sweet smells of spring tickling her senses. How different it was from the choking fumes of car exhaust and the congestion of the Los Angeles freeways.
Excerpts and other information available on my website at www.shawnadelacorte.com
This is Janney's opening scene in my time travel, Ancient Ties. She steps from the 21st Century, through a crumbling doorway, into 2nd Century Roman Britain and encounters Roman soldier, Marek.
How was it possible that now there was a fountain bubbling musically, the mosaic floor was intact and ablaze with vivid colors? The walls, too, were rich with cleverly painted scenes of men and women, or gods and goddesses, she didn’t know which. It was amazingly beautiful, strange, and captivating. Unbelieving, pressing shaking fingers to the center of her forehead, she turned back to the room. Disoriented, she struggled to make sense of things, and fought to fill her lungs with air, trying to calm her racing heart. Her gaze flew to the other end of the room, and she froze stock-still as a man appeared in a doorway, broad shoulders filling the frame. He wore what looked like a tunic, and strapped, lace-up sandals wrapped his large feet.
http://amzn.to/16QppBF
Some of the opening scene from my novel, My Mr. Manny by Jennifer Garcia
http://jenniferfgarcia.com/the-books/my-mr-manny/
My heart raced, and my breaths came in short pants while I stood against Mrs. Lawson’s house. I did not want to be found, so I pressed my small hands flat against my chest to hold back the fear and excitement.
While I calmed myself against the gray, vinyl siding, I paid attention to my surroundings. The scent of lilac and jasmine was overpowering in the heavy, hot air. There was no breeze from the nearby ocean, thus no relief from the heat wave.
Over the sounds of my neighbor’s blaring television, I heard my cousin, Lori, scream at the top of her lungs.
From my Xmas novel to be published Dec.4th by Ellora's Cave
“Yes, I think I do. It’s not nearly as much as I want you, Sebastian. But if I surrender we both know what that means. I’m not worthy of your notice in the ton where you shine. And I’m not really cut out to be a mistress. I need to think.”
More can be found at www.jeanhartstewart.com
This is from my new paranormal romance novel Passion's Sacred Dance, available at Amazon and The Wild Rose Press.
http://amzn.to/HOPRBV
http://bit.ly/15NLVuY
Peering out the window into the dark night, Stacy noticed frost dusted the glass. Disgusted with her whole day and the unusually cold winter, she changed her mind and tossed her coat down.
When had Florida’s winters ever been like this before? This cold was setting record lows for the Gulf Coast and the weather around the country was even worse. Some argued the world was moving into a new Ice Age. Something told her they might be right.
Family legend said it has happened before.
Juli D. Revezzo
http://julidrevezzo.com
The priest had asked him of things he’d had no way to know the answer to then threatened him will Hell’s fires when he failed to answer. He knew nothing of the Holy Grail, nothing of Judas Iscariot, and as the priest questioned him, giving him again and again a file tasting syrup that he could not spit out for it clung to his mouth, coating him, seeping into him like winter claims the woods - as the priest tried to open him like a book, he came to understand that he did not believe in Hell’s fires either. The only belief he could find was in the memory of Meriden de Borne’s violet eyes.
Under the influence of that thick tripping bitterness, which the priest spooned into him, even after he’d bound him so that what returning strength he had could not be used to resist the man’s influence, Robin admitted to himself that he had never truly had any difficulty telling the difference between Merry and and Marian. He’d always known his soul belonged to Merry. He admitted as much in the poisoned fever.
This is in the opening chapter of my historical noir set in 1929 called A Cold and Deadly Style.
Light slanted through the Venetian blinds in the moldering Long Beach motel. Maybe at one time it had been a decent place, back in the Julian Pete days when mid-westerners flocked to Los Angeles to hand their money over to grifters. Now it was an empty flophouse, perfect for Billy's needs.
Billy rose, parted the blinds to peer outside. The sun-baked parking lot remained empty of everything but his brand new '29 Buick. Beyond the motel dozens of oil derricks rose over the Signal Hill oil fields.
Like Slow Sweet Molasses - IR Mainstream PG13
Chance relished the closeness as she melted in his arms accepting his affection. The kiss would have to last him several days for his next mission, assigned to him months before meeting her, would take him away from her and out of the state. He held on imprinting the feeling into his heart, rebelling at the thought of releasing her. “I’m going to walk away, now. I won’t be responsible for what might happen next in this relationship if I enter behind those doors.”
“I can tell,” Angela quietly admitted, her own passion rising.
Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Mickie-Sherwood/e/B003M0W8SM
Thank you for this opportunity.
Mickie Sherwood
~~Sweet, spicy romance – a heartbeat away~~
www.mickiesherwood.com/blog
www.twitter.com/MickieSherwood
This Six-Sentence-Scene is from my erotic western romance, Gambling with Love. The H, Marshal Nick Foster, has escorted professional gambler and his former lover, Lainie Conrad, back to the gambling tournament for the final round.
***
Lainie arrived at the grand ballroom on Nick’s arm with the bearing of a queen.
Her form-fitting, high-collared, and tightly-sleeved bloodred dress hugged her svelte figure.
Her hair, done up in a smooth, almost severe style, was a bold contrast to her earlier appearance of feminine vulnerability with the girlish curls that had framed her face in total complement to the exquisite blue satin gown.
She turned every head, just as she’d done earlier, but there was an obvious and decided difference in her manner now.
Gone was the soft, congenial, almost helpless façade of a few hours ago.
This Lainie was a professional gambler, a businesswoman dressed for battle, and the color of her dress suggested the method by which she intended to win...
***
Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
Gambling with Love available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/nx3vq4d
This is the start of "Secret Love" by Fiona McGier, that is one of the two full novels in the 2-in-1 eBook available for only $3.99.
Even in a room filled with as many attractive people as this one was, the tall redhead still turned heads when she walked in. The establishment was one of those quaint old-fashioned pubs that could be found anywhere within the European Union, but this one happened to be in Berlin. The bar itself was massive, made of wood that had aged as well as the wines that were served by the attentive wait-staff. There were small tables scattered around the bar, with two-to-four comfortable plush chairs at each one. This was definitely a place designed for relaxing...and there were many very good-looking people taking advantage of that.
The ages of the customers ranged from barely old enough to be drinking legally, to white-haired men and women whose aged countenances held eyes that showed their wisdom; all of the people, including those who worked there, were in good shape and healthy-looking...in fact, it almost looked like the set for a commercial advertising how happy you would be if you took your next vacation in Europe.
http://www.amazon.com/In-Secret-Love-Undercover-Lovers-ebook/dp/B00FKYD0SK/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382644274&sr=8-1-
Post a Comment