Sara C. Snider's Blog, page 12

Hazel and Holly — Disastrous Discipline

Previous: Meeting the Mayor

“Have you gone mad?!” Holly shouted as she and Hazel stood alone in the main room of the cottage. “You’re going to let him flog you?!”

Hazel flinched. Holly wasn’t usually one to shout. “Pretend. He’s going to pretend to flog us.”

Holly folded her arms. “Right. And I’m going to sprout wings and fly around the sun. You can’t possibly believe him!”

“He has no reason to lie. If he was going to flog us, he’d just do it without the pretense. So, yes, I do believe him....

Hazel and Holly — Meeting the Mayor

Previous: Witnessing Trouble

“He’s not really going to tar and feather you, is he Hazel?” Holly asked.

“Perhaps we should think about leaving,” Hawthorn said, “before we find out.”

“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?” Hemlock said. “Why am I the only one not in on this?”

Holly told him of the morning’s events while Hawthorn continued to glower at Hazel.

“What I don’t understand,” Hawthorn said, “is why you must purposefully aggravate the man. Why have Holly sneak out to the shed o...

Failing That… by Damon L. Wakes

I first met Damon L. Wakes over on Goodreads. I was looking for books to review, back when I first started blogging and had delusions of grandeur that I’d be able to review books somewhat regularly. He approached me about reviewing his collection of flash fiction stories, OCR is Not the Only Font, but also recommended to me an indie book by a completely different author, Goldilocks by Anna Rose. I ended up reading both and liking both quite a bit. I think OCR is Not the Only Font is the first...

Hazel and Holly — Witnessing Trouble

Previous: Early Ambitions and Ablutions

Holly could only stutter incoherent half-protests as Hazel herded her out the barn door and prodded her towards the house.

“All right,” Hazel said in a low voice once they reached the steps of Francis’ home. “You wait here while I go inside. If I’m not back in five minutes, you come inside too. Otherwise, I’ll come back out and let you know it’s safe to go investigate the shed.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“There’s no time to explain. But we need to make s...

Hazel and Holly — Early Ambitions and Ablutions

Previous: Harvest Home

Francis was a kind and generous host, even if he did seem a little soft in the head. They ate their sandwiches with ham and mustard (eggs and mustard for Holly) until they were all full and nearly falling asleep at the table.

“I’ve only got a single spare room,” Francis said, “so you need to decide amongst yourselves who gets it. The rest of you can stay in the barn out back.”

To Hazel, Hemlock said, “You and Holly take the bed, Hawthorn and I will sleep in the barn.”

...

Hazel and Holly — Harvest Home

Previous: Soup and Secrets, Part Two

The following day, Hazel, Holly, Hemlock, and Hawthorn were back on the road in the rattling carriage. Tum sat with the driver. He had made quite the fuss in leaving the comforts of the cellar of the Backwards Buck. But for all his howling, he didn’t want to be left behind.

Ada had directed them to the nearest township she knew of, though she had warned them to be on guard. No one she knew ever traveled to the few scattered towns outside of Sarnum, and sh...

Summertime Books and Other Nonsensical Things

Technically I’m on vacation. It’s not a traveling kind of vacation, but rather a sit-around-and-be-lazy-and-do-things-you-didn’t-have-time-for-before vacation. Which, for me, means I’m dedicating most of my time to these three things:

1.) I’m playing Skyrim. Again. (Any Skyrim fans out there?) But this time I’ve installed survival-type mods that change the experience of the game somewhat. I’m having a ridiculously good time with it, especially considering this is around my fourth time through...

Hazel and Holly — Soup and Secrets, Part Two

Previous: Soup and Secrets, Part One

Holly glanced at Hazel and Hemlock, shrugged, then followed Hawthorn back inside the soup shop.

Hazel stared at them until they disappeared.

Hemlock, without looking at her, said, “What just happened?”

Hazel shook her head. “I have no idea. But maybe we should follow them inside?”

Hemlock continued to stare outwards before his gaze slowly shifted to her. “What?”

She gave him a small smile and then took his hand. “Come on.” She led him back into the shop a...

Hazel and Holly — Soup and Secrets, Part One

Previous: Archived Amity

They returned to the carriage and traveled across town to cramped little district where the buildings were built too closely together, which seemed to sag with the weight of years pressing upon them. So Hazel was surprised when the carriage slowed and then stopped, and even more when Hawthorn hopped out without so much a backwards glance at them. He strode into a rickety looking establishment with a sagging roof and wooden walls blackened with pitch that gave off a s...

Hazel and Holly — Archived Amity

Previous: A Breath Before Dawn

Breakfast was a prolonged and uncomfortable ordeal. Between Hawthorn demanding his bacon fried to a certain level of crunchiness and a particular blend of tea brewed for a particular length of time, it was amazing they got any food at all judging by the looks the innkeeper gave them. It just about all went out the window when Holly began insisting on hot water to bathe Chester in. By the time she sufficiently convinced the innkeeper that, yes, the water was for...