Kate Warren

fiction with humor and heart

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Author Bio
  • Bookshelf
  • Contact Kate
  • Exclusive Excerpt!
  • A Guide to NaNo Genres
  • Image Galleries
  • Links
Excerpt

Weekend Writing Warriors 8/27/22

8/27/2022

10 Comments

 
WeWriWa is back, and so am I!

To read all the other excerpts from our wonderful group of writers, just click the button below.
Picture
This weekend's excerpt comes from my never-ending Viking saga, tentatively titled Against the Ashes, and since it's the first snippet to be posted from this work, I'm starting at the very beginning (a very good place to start).
​

    "For more than a dozen years he had led them. Jorgen had proven his worth as a leader time and again, both in peace time and in battle. For this they respected him. Never would he ask the lowest of his warriors to do any task he would not willingly do himself. For this they loved him. And in all the years, and all the wars, not once had he failed to obtain victory, not once had an enemy evaded him for long, and not once had a betrayal gone unpunished. While no man might say he was unjust, Jorgen's men knew that his fury knew no bounds when he or his people had been wronged. For this, though they might not admit to as much, his men feared him. The combination of feelings he inspired created in the eyes of his men the stature of a legend, even a god--though never would any voice such a thought, fearing to displease the man who held such things as sacrilege. 

   Jorgen stood for a moment, watching his men as they looked into half-burned homes and called out to the air. Satisfied that his instructions were being obeyed, he strode to the edge of the village and began to help move timbers and stones from a doorway. 
 
    A shout heralded the first body found."



Context: Jorgen and his men had been tracking their enemies, and failed to anticipate them striking a coastal village; having arrived too late to warn the people of Lundrskag of the danger, Jorgen is determined to offer what aid he can. 

Okay that wasn't the "very" beginning, but it's early in the first chapter and it introduces one of our heroes in a way that gives a good overview of his character.

Thank you for reading. I'll see you next weekend, if not before.

Kate
10 Comments

In loving memory...

8/23/2022

3 Comments

 
Don't know if anyone has been wondering why I disappeared this last time, but I actually have a good reason. Lost my father this spring (he would say I should have been more careful where I put him). Then we found out my mother's cancer is back. Been a rough several months for the family.

Anyway, about Dad...

He was nuts, in the very best way. Funny, creative, intelligent, and devoted to his family. I get my love of puns from him, as well as my eyes. He was everybody's rock, and we're all wobbling without him. 

Things I miss: his smile; his laugh; his hugs; his bread (my dad baked the best bread in the world); his unique way of looking at things; stories from his Army days, and his theater days; talking through plot problems with him; recasting old movies together. There's more of course, but I can't remember all of it at the moment. Oh, him playing the guitar. He didn't do that as much in the last few years, but I remember Daddy and his guitar a lot more than Daddy and his harmonica. When I was a kid and the guitar came out we all knew it was time to sing. Not to rehearse for anything, but just to be together, sharing the music.

Wish I'd asked him more questions, about himself, about his life, about his childhood. Wish I'd hugged him more. Wish I'd told him how much his support has meant over the years. When things were bad with the boys, we never would have gotten through without "Grandpa." 

I wish he'd read the first draft of North Pole: Confidential, but in a way it is oddly fitting that he didn't. Dad always talked about getting "around to it." At some point he and Mom decided "a round to-it" was some kind of furniture they were going to buy--most likely a small table. Back to the book though, he would have loved that crazy story, and I decided long ago to dedicate it to him. 

There's really far too much in my heart for one blog post, but it didn't feel right to not write about this. Dad never liked a fuss, so there was no funeral, there's no cemetery plot to visit. In a way, this is my memorial to him. And for a writer, I am sadly unable to truly put into words how wonderful and how loved my father was, and how much he is missed. The world is better for his example, and dimmer without him in it.

Rest in peace, Daddy.

3 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2025
    June 2024
    May 2024
    June 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    March 2020
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Austen
    Authors
    Autism
    Baking
    Current Events
    Dogs
    Giveaway
    History
    Holidays
    Illness
    Insomnia
    Inspiration
    Interview
    Kids
    Love
    Lucky 7
    Meme
    Movies
    Nanowrimo
    Random
    Reading
    Six Sentence Sundays
    Ten Questions
    The Write Stuff
    Time
    Valentine's Day
    Weather
    Weekend Writing Warriors
    Weekend Writing Warriors
    Women
    Write Club
    Writing


Proudly powered by Weebly

Layout design by Stephanie Blantin