Sara C. Snider's Blog, page 14

Hazel and Holly — Helpful Hostility

Previous: Dark Deeds, Part Two

Holly awoke in the night to a darkened room. She put out her hand, but found only tousled blankets and an empty pillow next to her. Hazel was gone.

“Hazel?” she whispered, but no one replied. Holly spoke a spell and the candle next to the bed flared alight. The darkness crept back to the corners, but the room was empty save for the furniture and luggage.

Holly sat up and hugged her knees, staring at the monstrous shadow that was Hazel’s trunk. Maybe Hazel could...

A Shadowed Spirit — Chapter One

Well, the countdown has begun. In two weeks A Shadowed Spirit will be released. I’m pretty excited, but also pretty nervous. All the standard bundle-of-nerves issues definitely apply here. But I think I’m mostly excited. I think it’s a good story, and in some ways I like it better than the first one. But maybe that’s just because I believe I’ve improved as a writer, so it’s sometimes hard for me to separate “good story” from “good storytelling.” And that’s when the nerves come in, because aft...

Hazel and Holly — Dark Deeds, Part Two

Previous: Dark Deeds, Part One

Hazel’s breath quickened, echoing through her chest and ears as if she had been hollowed out like a harvest-time gourd. Alone, alone, dead and alone. The thought echoed in her mind along with her breath, and she grabbed hold of her head and bent over in an effort to quiet them.

Silence. No, a heart beat, fluttering and florid. Like a butterfly trapped in a jar, wings singed by searing sun. When had she become like sand, dissolved by wind and whisked away by the...

Cover Art for A Shadowed Spirit — Part Two

In part one we went over the evolution of the cover art for A Shadowed Spirit in black and white, created by the talented Ferdinand D. Ladera. Now, in part two, we’ll go over the color variations of the final black and white image. I have to say, this was the most challenging aspect. I think it was because I had particular demands for the coloring of the tree, and it was difficult finding a way to accommodate that as well producing a visually appealing image.

The first color study Ferdinand s...

Hazel and Holly — Dark Deeds, Part One

Previous: Dark Decisions

The wooden stairs creaked as Hazel made her way downwards. She kept a hand to the wall, trying not to dwell on what made the rough stones feel slick underneath her fingers. Behind her, Hemlock followed, but Hazel kept her gaze ahead. The moth flickered and flitted through the darkness, like a wayward star lost in a vast night sky.

They came to a landing before the stairs continued down at an adjacent angle. Once on the landing, Hazel looked back at Hemlock. He was fr...

Hazel and Holly — Dark Decisions

Previous: Finding Forgiveness

Hazel lay awake in bed as Holly slept next to her. The inn was booked up and hadn’t had any extra rooms for Hazel and Hemlock, so they had to share with their siblings. Hazel stared at the shadowed silhouette of the bone as it rested on the end table near her head. It was dark in the room, but the bone looked darker still, as if light refused to touch it.

Hazel couldn’t rest with that thing so close to her, nagging at the back of her mind of what she needed to d...

Cover Art for A Shadowed Spirit — Part One

Well, it’s been a really long road, but all the formatting and cover art business for A Shadowed Spirit is finally coming to an end. Normally it wouldn’t have taken so long, but along with getting A Shadowed Spirit ready for publication, we’ve also been reformatting The Thirteenth Tower due to changing printers. We’ve also made some adjustments to the back portion of the cover to help keep it a bit closer to A Shadowed Spirit. It literally created twice as much work, and I’ve been in a “I jus...

Hazel and Holly — Finding Forgiveness

Previous: Hallowed Hearts

Hazel and Hemlock walked down the streets of Sarnum, heading towards an inn that Hawthorn had recommended, and that they were now trying to find. Apparently, after Hazel had run off to the field, Hemlock had sent the others away, and Hawthorn had said they would wait at the inn until she and Hemlock arrived.

Though, as they turned down one road and then another, passing shops and doors and people disinclined to meet her gaze, Hazel wasn’t sure she and Hemlock knew w...

Hazel and Holly — Hallowed Hearts

Previous: Bones and Blood

Hazel bolted out the door, clutching a handful of her skirt in a throbbing, stinging fist. She kept her gaze ahead as she hurried through Baern’s weather-worn yard, refusing to look at Holly or Hemlock, who now trailed behind her.

“What happened?” Holly said. “Are you bleeding? Why are you bleeding?”

Hemlock said, “Hazel, what happened?”

Hazel ignored them. She left Baern’s yard and turned onto the stone-cobbled street, to the right, as there were no people or house...

Hazel and Holly — Bones and Blood

Previous: Fountain of Sorrow

Hazel’s fear of meeting Baern ebbed as the carriage once again rattled down the street on their way to the necromancer’s home. Instead, a certain disquiet had settled over her, a troublesome discomfort that disallowed any other feelings to take hold.

What was she doing there? Hazel had thought it was to save her mother’s soul, but now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe that was just a story she told herself, a noise to block out the quiet and keep the calm at bay. No one...