Snippets of September/October

It’s Snippets of Story time! I’ll be sharing snippets from two stories today. One is the sequel of Family Reunion and though the story is completely written, I am still editing and modifying so there are some new passages I wrote this month. The other one is a brand-new story in which one-and-a-half chapters have taken shape, with who knows how many more to go!

This new story is called The Alice Quest and is a mystery about homeschool graduate and history buff Amy Brown who helps her grandmother in a cross-country search for a relative that disappeared one hundred years ago. Depending on how things in my writing schedule work out, I may have plans for it come November ….

“It’s a bloody bother about that congestion charge. We could have avoided it if we had used Semley Place.” Pulling into what seemed the last available spot at Brewer Street Car Park after circling the lot more than once, Mr. Endicott was coolly bringing up all the inconveniences he could think of. Despite his being “used to the commute,” that morning’s traffic had frayed his nerves with too many close calls. 
                                                                                                         – Adventure in England

We got back to the river at the end of Clink Street and saw a replica of an ancient, tiny ship called the Golden Hinde that carried Sir Francis Drake, in the 1500s, around the whole belt of the earth. …
All of us were impressed with it; Paris had seen it only once, years ago, so she was cheerfully incredulous about the feat. “That’s dumbfounding. How could the sailors keep from going crazy? Can you imagine us on a ship that size for that long? We all like each other, but not that much.”
“Wait, how long was the voyage?” Abby asked.
“Almost three years!” replied Paris.
Abby wrinkled her nose and ran her eyes over the ship again. “Ick. You’re great, Paris, but ….” “That’s okay, I totally understand!”
                                                                                                         – Adventure in England

Amy loved history as if it were an old friend – it was ever behind her, after all – and she wanted more than anything to convey that passion to her students. She would only have them one day a week, on Friday, and those classes had to shine. She had to bring something more to them than what was in the textbook. I’m no teacher, that’s why I’m having this blasted writer’s block, she despaired. I just don’t know how to say what I need to say! Five opening lines, four of which were bisected neatly with a bold straight line, resided on notebook page number one. 
Make that five crossed-out opening lines. Maybe she should try this on her laptop.
                                                                                                                   – The Alice Quest
 
Even the Browns’ home was a piece of history, a spacious and beautifully restored century-old farmhouse. It sat at the front of a nine-acre wooded plot in central Michigan; its fields had been sold off long ago and were now hidden from the house by a row of apple trees and a crowd of maples and spruces.
                                                                                                                   – The Alice Quest

Check out Katie Sabelko’s blog for snippets from other writers!