Trumpets Please & a sneak peek

Friday, January 23, 2015

Some good news!


I have finally finished my first ever draft of my novel City of Masks. It has been a very long time coming; 4 years to be exact. I know I would have finished it a long time ago if it hadn't been for necessary things like having to earn money, a social life and general life things.

 City of Masks is not really finished however; I know there is a heap of editing to do, and even this morning I was adding more dialogue and changing character names. It will take me a while before I am ready to publish it; but I also know that I can't be too much of a perfectionist. There has to come a point where I say "That's enough. I cannot do any more to it." I'll have to be strict on myself.
So in celebration, I have posted a snippet of my first chapter below. I have been very secretive about City of Masks while in the process of writing it, but now I can actually see an end, I'm willing to begin sharing it with the world.

The beginning and planning of my novel
Where it all started



 The background to the snippet below is as follows: Alessandro is the protagonist, he can do magic. Magic is risky, and frowned upon by the oppressive rulers (The Truth). Alessandro is sitting on a roof top watching the higher classes (The Privileged) eating at a fancy restaurant.





    From the corner of his eye, Alessandro saw someone approaching the table. The sight of the figure startled him; the man was dressed in long gold robes with sleeves that grazed the floor. His wig was white, long and curled; white meant wisdom and normally more money than the wearer knew how to spend. He was a Truth Speaker. Alessandro hadn’t seen many Truth Speakers walking around the streets before, and couldn’t help being entranced by the appearance of one at a ristorante.
    The pair at the table stood - the girl a little less enthusiastic - as the Truth Speaker approached and sat down. The round man bowed his head respectfully as they began to talk. The girl was left alone with her own thoughts and the men even seemed to have forgotten she was there. Alessandro hated the way the Truth Speaker looked passed the girl and spoke directly to her father without so much as a ‘Hello’. He pictured the wine glass standing next to the Truth Speaker doing a vanishing act  complete with the red wine inside.
    But then, the Truth Speaker unexpectedly picked up the wine glass and Alessandro’s concentration dipped for only a second. In that second, the magic went wrong. Instead of disappearing, the glass exploded and wine and glass rained over the table. The diners squealed as shards flew everywhere.
    The Truth Speaker cried out and stood up so quickly his chair fell backwards onto the cobbles. His hands went up to his face and Alessandro saw blood trickling through his fingers.
    Alessandro felt a stone of guilt in his chest.
     The Truth Speaker took his hands away from his eyes and looked around at the diner’s bewildered faces. Everyone stopped eating in mid bite and froze under The Truth Speakers hard stare.
    “Who did that?” he boomed.
    For some reason, the Truth Speaker glanced upwards - as if sensing he was being watched - and his eyes fell on Alessandro.


So there we go. A small part of chapter one. I haven't read that up until now for about 2 years, so there will be a need to improve on that section. But I'm halfway through the job, and I can't express how proud I am of myself.

Now to keep on trucking.

 Lauren

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A passionate gamer, bookworm and writer. I prepare for the zombie apocalypse in my spare time.

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