The Weekend Writing Warriors share either 8 sentences over the weekend. Here are mine from the start of a historical novella set in Victorian London called Lily & the Mechanic.
In the last few snippets, Lily entered the Bond Street Bookshop and entered the illicit sexshop underneath.
London 1898
A small cough cleared her throat, her limbs felt too long and awkward in the space.
“French letters,” it was a whisper of discretion that found its echo in a young clear voice.
“A Sheath is it ma’am, why we have a good selection for your consideration.” The attendant’s right hand motioned in the direction of a tall and exceedingly broad man further down the counter; he was going through a box which had a dirty and partially torn card with the words ‘Sheaths ten pence’ incongruously written in neat letters.
“I’ll take them all.”
The attendant didn’t show the slightest hesitation as she turned, took the three steps to the end of the counter and extricated the box from the man. Under-the-breath words became louder until she enunciated clearly in their small shared space.
“You will have to negotiate that with madam over there, these are all sold.”
© Elsa Holland
Image © Dascha Friedlova
Link to Weekend Writing Warriors and the list of other authors
Who will win the negotiation? And why do they want the same thing? That’s suspicious.
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Love your mind Linda 🙂
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hmmmm…. I have a feeling this is a fortuitous meeting. Can’t wait to read more.
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I want to read this book. I’ve found all the snippets entertaining, as is this one.
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Thx Daisy, you are very encouraging, I appreciate that 🙂
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I suppose during this time period, one would want to inspect one’s English Riding Coats ( 😉 ) rather closely, manufacturing standards being what they totally weren’t. 😀
And I enjoyed being surprised by the relatively tame practicality (to a modern reader) of her purchase—but it makes complete sense that birth control was a very touchy subject at the time.
This continues awesome, Elsa. 🙂
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Thanks so much Sarah 🙂
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Beautiful details. You do a wonderful job of transporting us to another place — well done!
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Thx Steven.
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Thx Steven 🙂
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I wonder who will win the negotiating? I think the one that bought it won’t give it up so easy.
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” Under-the-breath words became louder until she enunciated clearly in their small shared space.”
I like that line.
Nice snippet!
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Very interesting. I love all things Victoriana!
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I was a little confused as to who it is that is wanting the sheaths…is it the broad-shouldered man? As a moderator, I have to ask that your post have a link back to WeWriWa. You have the banner above, but it isn’t a link. Thanks.
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Thx sorry about link, it’s added now 🙂
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Who win this battle? lol Intriguing snippet.
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Ha! Fun and definitely intriguing excerpt. Why DO they want the same thing? Will the man approach Lily? You’ve got some good tension here. I also like the way the excerpt maintains the surreptitious feeling from the previous excerpts.
As a moderator, though, I want to point out that the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop is for sharing ONLY eight sentences – not 8 paragraphs, or 8 words, or 8 lines 🙂 Just 8 sentences.
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Thx I have adjusted the into to reflect 8 sentences 🙂
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First time joining in on the snippets but this one is making me want to know more. See ya next week.
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An entertaining exchange – my word, how times have changed 🙂
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Intriguing snippet. You’ve made me snippet. I would have liked to have read a blurb too.
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beautifully written, love the careful details you put in your descriptions
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Wonderful! I’m curious to know more.
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I’m a latecomer to this and am very curious as to what she’s going to do with all of them.
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This is intriguing. I want to know what happens next!
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You have me so very curious about her. Hooked!
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That’s a lot of protection! I wonder what she wants with them? And how that man will react to having them all taken away before he could buy some himself…
I couldn’t quite tell who was speaking. If you put the dialogue with the action, it would help.
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Thanks Caitlin, I’ll have a look at the dialogue 🙂
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Great stuff… way to really string out the tension.
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Looking forward to the negotiations. 🙂 Good snippet. the dialogue is crisp, the description is good. Nicely done.. the
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It’s interesting to visit a historical sex shop. Thanks for taking me where I’ve never gone before.
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2014/09/weekend-writing-warriors-september-14.html
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Goodness- why does she need ALL of them? Heehee. Love the sense of mystery you’re creating here, with just a little bit of embarrassment and claustrophobia.
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Not a good sign when someone arms themselves to the max. Perhaps because this was just a snippet, I was a little confused by the last line as to who spoke and who else wants the knives. The setting seemed quite authentic, well done.
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I had problems with keeping track of who was speaking, too. But it hasn’t been that long since birth control was “pornographic” and illegal. I believe my mother obtained it “under the counter” 70 years ago. sill is, to some minds.
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Wow, weren’t thing different way back when?
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Nice snippet. I enjoyed the dialogue and body language. As a reader, I’m intrigued by that box and torn card. Makes me think it’ll be significant later.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta
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Thx Yawatta 🙂
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