Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 99- Teodora
It’s time for Weekend Writing Warriors! Every Sunday, a bunch of writers post 8-10-sentence snippets from their WIPs on their blogs. There’s a lot of reading, commenting and great writing. Click on the link to see the full list.
From Hammer of the Gods: Since Lennart took his time invading, Empress Teodora has been arranging things on the other side to her liking. Her first order of business is getting rid of out-of-control general Brynhild Mattila, who also has Teodora’s daughter, the Archduchess Elektra in her care. Livilla Maxima is something like an archbishop and Teodora’s closest friend and adviser. Slightly edited from the published version. Teodora is speaking to her ruling council, who she’s kept in the dark so far:
“Our first step will be to remove the army from her control, though we must also ensure the safety of the archduchess. I’ve acted already in secret, since Mattila has agents everywhere.” Teodora left it unsaid that for all she knew, a few sat on this council.
“When will you do this?” someone asked.
“I’m doing it already,” Teodora said, wanting to laugh at their dumbstruck faces. “Two weeks ago, Livilla Maxima set out with a large sum of money and an even larger force guarding it. She bears my orders to Mattila, relieving her of command and releasing the archduchess into her care.”
“What if Mattila refuses?” a young count asked.
“I expect her to refuse,” Teodora kept her tone casual, “but her consent isn’t needed. She can call herself supreme general as long as she wants, but she will have no army to command.”
It was too much to include in the snippet, but the money will be used to pay off Mattila’s officer’s, who’ve already been prepped for the coup by Livilla’s minions serving as chaplains in her army.
Previous snippets are here.
I would also like to announce a boxed set that I’m part of. It releases October 18, but is on preorder now for 99 cents. It includes twelve authors contributing Noblebright fantasy novels and short stories. In future weeks, I’ll be posting more info on what Noblebright is, along with some reviews of the books in the set. Click on the pic below to reserve it at Amazon!
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The set looks great, doesn’t it! Have you read all of those authors?
So far I’ve read Lindsay Buroker’s, C. J. Brightley’s, Mike Reeves-McMillan and Sabrina Chase’s. They were all great, all of them pretty different from each other.
Well I guess I’ll reserve them. But they’re not ebooks, right?
Yeah, they’re all ebooks. Print boxed sets are too expensive for most indies. 😕
Oh, sucks… I would never get them read as ebooks… You know me and screens (rolls eyes…)
You need to bug your men to get you a Kindle for Christmas. 🙂
I have a tablet. I hate reading on it. Guess I’m just a hard core printed book junkie. 🙂
Tablets just aren’t the same. A real ereader is a totally different experience. In fact, I can’t read print any more! Those tiny letters, no ability to export and organize my highlights. I’ll never go back, unless there’s a zombiepocalypse. 🙂
I use my tablet for text-to-speech. It reads to me out loud almost every day while I do other things (mindless sort of things 😉 )
That’s a great idea!
Yes, taking away one’s army is a great way to reduce their power. Nice snippet! 🙂
Thanks! It’s a temporary fix in this case.
Doesn’t it just bug you when someone takes away your army? I hate that.
So annoying, especially when you had conquering plans.
I love how authoritative and commanding she is.
While writing her dialogue I’m always careful to remove any “please” and “thank you’s” that slip in, unless she’s being extremely sarcastic.
Always the schemer, our Teodora.
The box set looks awesome, Christina. Well done!
Thank you! Yes, it’s literally impossible for Teodora to stop scheming. I think she does it in her sleep.
Quite wonderful, my friend. Write on!
I enjoyed the fighting between Teodora and Mattila. Two large egos both wanting as much power as possible — can’t go well for anybody who gets in between!
Marcia
Neither one of them is very reasonable, which makes for fun times!
Mattila is such an awesome enemy/ally for Teodora. Brings out her *best* qualities.
Haha, yes. They’re sooo good for each other.
Sneaky and devious, which is apparently her at her best. I like the way she’s already executed the plan before telling them about it. Great snippet!
Thank you! She lives for those sneaky and devious moments. 🙂
She’s a smart one, isn’t she? She’s thinking ahead and acting on it too.
Teodora seems in complete control. Good idea to act first and tell them afterwards.
Yes, sometimes being overly paranoid comes in handy. 🙂
Oh, Teodora. I have missed you… NOT! 😉 Excellent snippet as always. I really loved this book. Congrats again on being part of the boxed set! That’s awesome!
Thank you so much! My books love you too. 🙂
I love how she takes complete charge. This hooked me. I want to read on to see how it plays out. Great snippet!
Thank you! There’s no pushing this lady around. 🙂
I’m feeling a Game of Thrones vibe here. Great snippet!
Thanks! Funny you should say that: one reader recently referred to this as a kinder, gentler Game of Thrones. 🙂
So sneaky – she didn’t even tell the council until it was too late.
She can’t trust there won’t be security leaks.
Teodora sounds like she knows exactly what she wants and how to go about getting it – though I can’t help but feel that Mattila might have something of her own to say in return!
Yes, Mattila is definitely a worthy opponent for her.
I read your snippet before I read your intro and kept thinking Teodora’s hiding something. Intriguing for sure.
she doesn’t really trust anyone enough to give them much information
Smart and tough! I love. Can’t wait to read more, Christina!
Thank you! Those are definitely her best qualities.
Grrrr… I can’t wait for the day when Teodora gets hers…
It does come, right??? lol
It will come, but it’ll take a while. 🙂
Oh my, how sneaky of you Teodora!
Great snippet! 🙂
Thank you!
Way to pull the rug out from under this general. I wonder if everything will go as planned, though.
Probably not exactly as planned, but Teodora usually makes it work.
A nice little coup d’etat. I hope I spelled it right.
Yes, you did! 😀