#8Sunday: Winter of the Wolf Deleted Scene-Elektra
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.
Winter of the Wolf is live! I’m running a little launch sale, and including several deleted chapters, but only until the 23rd. More details below.
From the files of It Never Happened: I cut a scene where Kendryk and Anton visit Edric Maximus before going in search of Kendryk’s family. While Elektra and Anton do meet in this book, it happens much later. Originally, I had them meet in Edric’s library in one of the early chapters. Elektra is brushing up on her theology in preparation for a conversation with Kendryk, and Anton has been napping in front of the fire. She wakes him up accidentally. Edited from the published version.
“Anton Kronek, at your service,” he bowed, still smiling.
Elektra couldn’t tell if he was mocking her, so she kept her look haughty and said, “Elektra Inferrara,” then extended her hand.
The smile fled. “The Empress Teodora’s daughter?” He took her hand all the same, though his lips never touched it and he dropped it quickly, as if he afraid he might catch something.
“Yes,” she stared at him unsmiling, and asked, “I’m sorry, are you one of Prince Kendryk’s servants?”
His smile returned, “I’m here with the prince, but I’m not a servant; I’m one of his cavalry officers and his traveling companion.”
Elektra tried to remember any Kroneks among the Moraltan nobility, but none came to mind. “How nice,” she said, “where are you going?”
“Galladium,” the boy replied, and then his face fell, “I shouldn’t have said that; it’s a secret.”
Anton likes the ladies, but it’s unlikely he’ll warm up to a daughter of Teodora’s. At least not this one.
To celebrate the launch, I’m offering the ebook at $2.99- half price- until the 23rd. In addition, I’m including seven chapters worth of bonus content at the end- deleted scenes that didn’t make the final cut for various reasons. Those will only be available for the first few days as well. So be sure to grab your copy before the 23rd!
When all hope is lost, who will raise the banner of light?
War grinds on, spreading its shadow over all the land. In the wake of his overwhelming victory, King Lennart marches on the Empress Teodora, helpless and undefended in her capital. Though battered, Teodora is far from defeated, setting in motion a new plot which threatens to annihilate all of Lennart’s allies.
Unaware of the peril about to overtake him, Kendryk is torn between duty to his family and to his cause. While he struggles to recover from his loss, Anton joins Kendryk in his quest, but will be sent down another, more dangerous path.
Gwynneth survived an attack by Teodora’s most unrelenting assassin, but she will soon face a test that threatens to destroy her.
Maryna, the heir to Terragand, travels to faraway lands hoping to provoke a confrontation with Teodora, but her journey takes an unexpectedly deadly turn.
Her ambitions magnified at the prospect of her mother’s downfall, Elektra must decide if she’s willing to pay the price needed to fulfill her destiny.
And even as Braeden triumphs over an enemy who has long threatened him, his next steps take him down a path that will lead to tragedy.
Faith and friendship are tested, alliances shattered, and a new generation rises in Winter of the Wolf, book four in the Desolate Empire series.
by
Fun to see a scene that got cut. It’s an interesting snippet.
Thank you! I really hated to cut most of these, but with the book pushing 200k, I had to get strict about what stayed in.
So many of your characters tend to be wolves that it was interesting to see one who was a sheep begging to be shorn.
Haha. In this case, it’s only temporary sheepishness.
Anton is clearly intimidated by Elektra – enough to make him blurt out a secret. Good luck with the launch.
Thank you! Anton has wanted to kill Elektra’s mom since he was ten, so meeting her daughter has really taken him aback.
Does she think of him as a boy or is he boy? Isn’t he a cavalry officer?
All of the above! He’s a freshly minted, sixteen-year-old officer. He doesn’t see himself as a boy, but Elektra is a few years older and she definitely does. 😀
Wow Christina, what an achievement.
Best wishes for your release
Thank you!
Great tease!
Congrats on the launch and I wish you much success! Love reading cut scenes! This one was excellent. 🙂
Thank you! I’ve had pretty happy reader feedback on the cut scenes, so I might have to keep doing that.
Great scene! I’m 3/4’s done the book and my heart hurts, but it’s so so SO GOOD!!!! <3 Best wishes with your release! 😀
Thank you! You’ve almost made it. Glad you’re enjoying, although somewhat painfully. 🙂
Oops! The realization came a little too late. Great snippet! 🙂
Fortunately for him no harm was done, since i cut the scene. 🙂
Ooh I love that cover! Oops, he shouldn’t have told. Nice. 🙂
Thank you!
Oops – he blabbed the secret without thinking!
Anton isn’t very smooth, is he? But he is rattled by his company, so that gives him some excuse!
He fancies himself a super-smooth ladies’ man, but only when he has the upper hand. He definitely doesn’t have it now!
Well, he told that secret with no problem.
He’s an honest guy, and an open book, but he’s going to have to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes!
That was a fun snippet. A 200k story? No wonder you had to cut scenes.
I usually end up cutting a few from a book of any length. Anything that’s fun, but doesn’t move the plot forward has to go. But I was more ruthless than usual with this book!
Wow, you didn’t write this story during NaNo! LOL! I’m impressed!
No, though I whacked out big chunks of it during the NaNo Camps in April and July!
Oh dear, no good for him to give away secrets so easily! But it made me smile nonetheless. Thanks for sharing the scene!
He still has a lot to learn when it comes to discretion 🙂
Congrats on the upcoming release. Hope sales are fabulous. Oops – hope Anton’s slip – revealing the secret -doesn’t get him into trouble. Tweeted.
Thank you so much! This has been my best launch ever, so I’m happy. 🙂