In fiction writing, especially action-adventure stories, it’s vital to give our protagonist a moment to catch their breath. In the excerpt below from Sky Queen, Tabitha’s second novel, she’s been stranded alone on an alien world for some time. She’s now trying desperately to survive the wintry wilds.
It’s been a tough journey for her so far, to say the least – while the starving local fauna isn’t exactly giving her much sleep. But this one freezing morning, she wakes up to something different. A chance to see this alien world anew. And even, maybe, fall a tiny bit in love with it.
Hit play on the following soundtrack, before reading the excerpt below. This is the theme I wrote it to, to try and infuse this slow-paced prose with a hint of poetry.
I’d love to know what you think of my writing below.
Tabitha woke shivering. Coughed steamy breaths in the freezing air as she climbed from her hut to stretch and yawn. Blinking her yellow eyes wide to wake up, she squinted at the daylight. Pulled her warm smelly furs tight around her. The mountaintop was blinding white this morning, coated in thick snow. The pool nearby was a rich dull black among the jagged rocks, reflecting a clear cloudless sky. There by the still water, two birds danced slowly. Long-legged and silver; graceful as spirits. Stooping and circling; flexing upright to sway and step as one. Wings spread wide in spiny silverblue fans, bowing to one another in soundless companionship. Tabitha watched in a reverent silence; lost in the moment. Snowflakes flurried past her pink cheeks in the wintry wind.
* * *
(Often the thing that matters most to me is trying to capture a feeling; a moment. A kind of wordless poem that you’ll find in those wilder hidden reaches of the world. And maybe on other worlds, too.)
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(Or you can try a free sample of Sky Queen, the second book of the Tabitha Trilogy, down below.)
ANDREW IN SPACE 