Den Första Onsdag: WIPpet & ROW80

We are already 6 days into the New Year and for me, and I’m sure for many others, it has already been remarkably busy. I’m moving back to the city on the weekend and for there is so much to pack! I never realised how much stuff I had just lying around. Thankfully, this has been a good opportunity to clear some of it out and pass it on.

I’m going to attempt to do ROW80 this round. I did a few rounds in 2014 but completely forgot about it last year until half way through the last round. Oops!

My goals for ROW80 are:

• read a book a fortnight – currently reading The Last of the Amazons
• blog about something other than WIPpet/ROW80 DONE
• practice Swedish/French/Spanish/Russian – so far so good, mostly been focusing on Russian though I am at the very very basic stage at the moment
• edit Queen of Hearts – haven’t worked on this yet
• write something, anything – again, haven’t worked on this yet

Now, onto WIPpet Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Ms. Emily Witt.

What to share, what to share? I’ll admit that since early December, I haven’t written anything new.

This snippet is from Queen of Hearts. Nothing spoilery and a bit light hearted. 🙂 From chapter 5 (6-1). Kara has arrived in the Bashraani court and is awaiting an audience with the king. And waiting. Aaand waiting.

Desperate for entertainment, Kara flicked through the pile of invitations which had arrived. She agreed to join a hunt, eager to get out of the citadel. When she arrived at the stables the morning of the hunt, she found a surprise waiting.

“What is that?” Kara stared incredulously at the creature before her.

“A donkey, your highness.” The stableboy sounded confused.

“I know it’s a donkey. What it the thing on top of the donkey?” The thing in question was a rickety construction of wood with a padded pillow forming a seat at least a metre above the animal’s back.

“A saddle, your highness.”

Kara looked skeptically at the tall wooden contraption perched on the creature’s back. “Isn’t there a horse that I can ride?”

“A donkey is the proper vehicle for a lady, your highness,” the boy replied.

Kara had difficulty keeping her jaw from falling in disbelief. “On the hunt? I’m to hunt riding a donkey?” If she could make it out of the gates without falling off.

The stable boy looked scandalized. “If you pardon me saying so, your highness, the ladies do not participate in the hunt.”

Kara was on the verge of teaching the stable boy some very choice words she had picked up from the sailors aboard the Winter’s Mercy when Semaera arrived.

You can join the fun here 🙂