Jackie Keswick's Blog: Musings & Meanderings - Posts Tagged "sunday-snippet"

We’re having another cold snap here. The sight from my window is a mix of frost-rimed grass and bright, beautiful sunshine. But what if it were very early morning, and you’re lacking both sleep and breakfast? Then you’d have the scene I’d love to share for today’s Sunday Snippet.

And it’s a crime scene! Sort of.

Crime scenes come in all shapes and sizes. In A Box of Wishes, the crime scene is a coffeeshop – something DS Ben Hobart is devoutly thankful for when he arrives at ridiculous o’clock in the morning without having had even a cup of tea. And no wonder, because there’s nothing better than swapping the cold and dark for a warm, inviting room that smells of coffee and freshly baked treats.

But Ben’s good fortune doesn’t end there. What happens next is what our Sunday Snippet is all about. Read it under the image:

Golden light spilled from the coffeehouse’s windows along with the enticing scent of freshly baked goods, and Ben’s stomach woke up and roared its displeasure.

Inside, the scent of warm bread twined with the aromas of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and made his mouth water. Almost as much as the man behind the counter.

Ben stopped in his tracks. Blinked. Had he just…?

He had.

In his defence, he’d have to be blind to ignore this man.

The barista wore a dark green apron over close-fitting black jeans and a long-sleeved top. He was slight, with warm brown eyes, a mobile mouth, and shoulder-length auburn hair that he’d pulled back into a tight tail. And the mirror running the length of the wall behind the bar showed him to be just as decorative from the back as he was from the front.

“Good morning, sir,” he greeted when Ben reached the bar. “How do you like your caffeine?”

“What?”

The man gestured, lips stretching into a welcoming smile. “You’re up early and barely awake. How do you like your caffeine?”

“You reported a break-in,” Ben said. “I’m DS Hobart, Northamptonshire Police.”

The smile grew a little wider. “I knew you weren’t one of my regulars. Thank you for coming so quickly. Now, before you ask me all your questions, can I offer you breakfast?”

Ben stared longingly at the ham and cheese croissants that must have come out of the oven not long since. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t just skipped breakfast, but dinner, too. First things first, though. “Would you have tea?”

“Of course. Grab a seat. I’ll bring it right over.”

It wasn’t standard procedure for investigating burglaries, but if the owner of the coffeehouse needed to look after people to keep his composure, Ben would let him do so.

Ben and Ryan’s story is available from amazon and with a Kindle Unlimited subscription until February 10th.

Check it out here

In today’s Sunday Snippet, we’re with Taz and Hiro, the two warriors sentenced to spend eternity on different planes, unless they manage to meet at the exact moment one of them dies. Over many lifetimes, they become experts at making death a drawn-out production to give each other a chance, but that isn’t as easy as it sounds…

Water splashed over the prow of the boat and the cold made me gasp. The craft rocked in the suddenly roiling waters, forcing me to brace myself against the sides. The Gu-Chian was too wide for bridges for most of its course, and swollen to capacity during the rainy season. My little boat had drifted with the current, but now it was picking up speed.

I scanned the expanse of water for obstructions and searched the banks for a clue for the growing pace. There was nothing. Just water with the occasional ripple, a wide stretch of meadow on either bank, and then woods beyond. As the wind blew the rain clouds towards the south, the sky overhead lightened from dark grey to the palest of blues—and then I saw it: a thin haze veiling the horizon, like a layer of mist on the water.

The falls that marked the border between Hestorand and neighbouring Sakkad were fearsome, regardless which side one observed them from. The Gu-Chian’s glassy waters rushed over the edge of a dizzying drop in foaming swirls and eddies until they hammered against the rocks in a wide, deep cauldron where the torrent whisked water into a mix of foam and spray.

And I was headed for the roaring chaos in a small wooden craft without oars or a rudder.

“The falls, Hiro.” My voice was oddly breathless. “The Gu-Chian Falls! Gods, that one never occurred to me. How do you rate my chances of arriving in Sakkad in one piece?”

I crawled into the bow and peered over the edge. The river’s surface reflected the pale blue of the skies. A handspan deeper, the water was murky, heavy with silt and small stones. There’d be larger stones, too, dragged along the riverbed by the force of the current. They’d smash the boat to splinters long before it reached the bottom of the falls. And me with it, unless I wanted to try swimming.

“The gods gave us our minds, so we can change them,” I told Hiro. Only hours earlier, I’d been disappointed that Hestorand’s queen was denying me the death I’d prepared myself for. Now, faced with another chance, I found myself reluctant to give up my life.

I tested the current with the dagger and my fingertips and judged it too strong to swim, bruised and battered as I was.

“Unless I want to throw myself into the driver and drown before I reach the falls, I’ll have to stay with the boat. And hope you’ll make it before I’m dashed against the rocks. I’ll tell you one thing, Hiro: when you prepare yourself to die by fire, being faced with a watery death is… disconcerting.”

Today’s Sunday Snippet story, Repeat Offence, is available from
my store
and all other bookstores.

Today’s Sunday Snippet is a bit of wishful thinking on my part. I’m tidying my yarn stash and planning the next project(s)… and having Finn here would have saved me a mountain of time.

If you knit, you probably know what I’m talking about. You’ve picked up stunning yarns here and there, but now you need to decide what to turn them into. And I cannot count the number of times I’ve started to knit a jumper or a blanket or even socks before the deciding that the yarn didn’t suit the pattern after all.

You can find out why Finn could have saved me much unravelling in today’s Sunday snippet, which is under the image.

“How about the lady with the dog?” Leo pointed across the road where an older woman walked a spaniel.

“Lace shawl,” Finn said after a short appraisal. “In a mix of colours. She lives alone, but isn’t lonely, and has many good memories. A lace shawl would be like a hug from dreams.”

Leo smiled, enchanted with Finn’s way of classifying people by garments, yarns, and colours. “The young woman with the baby in the pushchair?”

“A sturdy miniskirt in chocolate orange.”

“Chocolate orange? What sort of a colour is that? Murky brown?”

Finn laughed. “It’s not a single colour. It’s a colourway. The yarn’s mostly dark chocolate and every so often it runs a stretch of bright orange. It looks gorgeous knitted up. I’d knit it lengthwise, maybe with a subtle pattern running across.”

They were on their way to view the empty store on the High Street, and instead of the apprehension Leo had expected to feel, they were both in tearing high spirits. As if there’d been something apart from tea in the pot they’d shared with their sandwiches.

Leo didn’t mind. He’d take this floaty feeling, the belief that he could do anything, in place of overtired drudgery any day of the week. He’d felt drawn to Finn in the pub because of the quiet delight on his face while he’d sat in a corner and plied his needles. Finn openly laughing and enjoying the sunshine was an even more striking sight. Leo resolved there and then not to lose sight of Finn, whether they rented a shop together or not.

A woman waited outside the store’s front door, dressed in heeled boots and a smart grey coat to ward off the November chill.

Finn grinned when Leo nudged his side. “A soft cowl in lilac lace or 4-ply. Or a drop stitch pattern in dark grey and lilac. That would look lovely, too.”

“Do you think she’s here to show us around?”

“Oh.” Finn’s expression switched from delighted to apprehensive in a blink. “I hope she likes us. I didn’t… I didn’t precisely dress before I came out to go to the post office.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re smart as sixpence.”

Today’s Sunday Snippet story, Cosy & Chill, is available from my store and everywhere books are sold.

Cosy & Chill

Time for a Sunday Snippet – and this one comes with a hefty dose of adrenaline. Imagine yourself trapped in a tiny wooden boat. You have no oars, and no way to steer while the river carries you – at ever-increasing speed – towards one of the world’s tallest and most powerful waterfalls.

You know that – in principle – your soulmate should be watching over you from another plane, but is he really? And what can he actually do?

Read today’s Sunday Snippet to find out.

I took another deep breath, pictured blue eyes and golden hair.

“Hiro!” I yelled his name as the current carried me over the edge.

Then I was falling.

The boat jolted and jumped, thrown this way and that by the air billowing up from the base of the falls. I clung to the sides, knuckles white, waiting to see water and death rushing towards me.

They never did.

The current shoved rocks over the edge of the falls along with the torrent of white, swirling waters. But not a single one hit the delicate wooden shell I clutched with white knuckles.

I’d expected the boat to go down bow first, but it stayed level, descending through spray and mist in stuttering jerks that made my stomach heave, until it settled back in the river with a splash that drenched every part of me that wasn’t soaked already.

I’d gone over the Gu-Chian Falls in a tiny wooden craft, and the only thing I had to show for the experience was… nausea?

I pried my fingers from the sides and fell backwards onto the planking, incredulous. My breath came in great, heaving gulps, and my body shook with the terror I’d had no time to feel. Beyond the fear and relief, bright, shining elation waited to claim me. I no longer doubted that Hiro watched over me while I was human.

Now I was certain.

Today’s Sunday Snippet story, Repeat Offence, is ON SALE in my store right now!