Hello gentle reader,
A few weeks ago I was tagged by the lovely Rachel Horwitz in the 7 Line WIP Game meme (thanks Rachel for thinking of me!). I have also wanted to take part in the WIPpet Wednesday Blog Hop hosted by K.L. Schwengel for a while, so I thought today was a good day as any to share with you an excerpt from my Work In Progress LILY IN THE SHADOWS.
LILY IN THE SHADOWS is a YA Historical Fantasy. Here is the pitch:
When all the flowers die in Victorian London, a streetwise flower girl with a love for books and a gift for getting into trouble investigates before the city descends into chaos and she loses everything.
In the following scene, Lily is coming home after a somewhat exciting day in London, but she is not made to feel as welcome as she was expecting…
Excerpt (unedited):
“So listen to this…”
Wes’s face darkened dangerously and my smile died on my lips. I realised his anger might be directed at me after all, and I didn’t finish my sentence, turning around to reconsider Elsie’s behaviour. Motionless, she was looking at us with wide eyes. In fact, the flat was so quiet I could hear the coal sputtering in the stove, the rain splattering against the tin roof and the neighbours having an argument next door.
I took a tiny step back from Wes, still unsure of what was wrong. His jaw was clenched and his lean body tensed. He scowled, his dark eyes fixed on me. My heartbeat quickened slightly, but my brain still refused to process the obvious: he was angry at me.
This is a blog hop! Visit the other participating blogs here.
EM Castellan 
Yea!! A glimpse at LILY IN THE SHADOWS and I already love it. 🙂 Wes is making me a bit nervous, though. Beautifully set scene and mood.
Thanks! I’m glad I could join your Wednesday WIPpet this week 🙂
Oooh that’s really exciting! Why would Wes be so angry at her? I also love the attention to detail you’ve shown in describing the sounds outside of the flat. Riveting stuff!
Thank you!
What happens next! This is the trouble with only posting a taster of your WIP. I totally agree with Kathi and Elaine about the skillful way you’ve set the scene – great characterisation too in such a short extract.
Gah! You TEASE, you! I also loved the way you described the sounds – the way you took us through her coming to the realization at the end. Can’t wait to read more!
Haha, I chose this scene because it shows Lily and Wes yet reveals nothing of the plot lol *evil laugh*
Excellent. You can feel the tension in just that few lines.
I feel Lily’s pain! It’s awful when it’s clear someone is livid with you but you have no idea what you’ve done yet.
I love the way she’s missed (until now) that his anger was directed at her. Great tension!
But – but – why’s he so angry?! I need to know! The description in the first paragraph put me right in the middle of the scene – “I could hear the coal sputtering in the stove…” I can feel that painful silence like anxiety in my gut. So well done.
Thanks everyone for all the nice comments 🙂