#WWW and #WIPpet Wednesday – 11 May, 2016

I’m sorry I haven’t been a great blogging friend/colleague lately!  Time has been of the essence and while it’s one thing to put a post up, actually getting around to the rest of you guys and interacting is a whole other story. I’ll try my best this week and hopefully once I get uni out of the way for the semester next week, I’ll be able to hang out with you guys a bit more.

Anyway, now is time for WWW Wednesday, a blog hop in which we answer questions about what we’ve been reading this past week. This is hosted by Sam over at A World of Words. You can join in by commenting on today’s post over on her blog (though I’m posting quite early, so if the post isn’t there yet, check back later).

• What are you currently reading?

Technically, The Edge of Darkness by K. L. Schwengel  and A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab, but they are both still on hold while I get through my pile of library books.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton is the next book from my library haul! It’s received mixed reviews but I’m hoping I’ll enjoy it. I have been craving something else with djinn since reading The Golem and the Djinni last year. At time of writing this post, I’ve read 14 pages, but I did like them! It feels a bit like a Western, except with an Arabic-inspired setting.

• What did you recently finish reading?

I finished Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch just this morning. It was due back to the library yesterday, but they generally give you a couple of days’ grace before fining you, so I think I have got away with no fees. I wasn’t too fussed on it and don’t intend to continue with the series. I’ll write a full review to go up on Monday.

• What do you think you’ll read next?

The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins, as it is the next one due back at the library, and also the only one of those that I had on my TBR, rather than just randomly picking up.

Excitingly, I am also making a return to WIPpet Wednesday! Hurray! I know how much you all missed me. 😛 I didn’t have the best writing month in April, because I was stressing about how I really didn’t know where nay of my three WIPs were going. However, I have returned to Worlds Apart, which is the one I actually have outlined right to the end, even if the world-building isn’t complete yet. My plan is to just finish the damn first draft and then fix things. If you are new, you can read previous excerpts from Worlds Apart by going to the relevant blog category.

This scene follows on from previous ones I’ve shared, where Jasper Cortain and his wife, Helena, are being questioned about the Princess’ disappearance by Captain Eli Masden. Masden is using his mind control magic on Helena in order to get information out of Jasper. Jasper tries to go to her. The two words mentioned in the first sentence are just “No, stop.” I’m sharing 2 paragraphs because it’s the 11th and 1+1=2.

As Masden spoke the words, Jasper something inside his head. It was like a worm was crawling around in there, preventing his normal brain function and instead making him do as Masden instructed. He froze mid-step.

Jasper grimaced, and tried to move his legs. The worm in his head resisted, but he could feel it give. He summoned up the magic he used to drive out ailments in others, but instead of letting it blast out through his hands and into another affected person, he directed it at the spot in his own head where he could feel Masden’s magic setting in. The force of the blast took him by surprise, and Masden as well, by the looks of it. While Jasper staggered a few steps backward, he saw the other magician get thrown roughly into the back of his chair.

If you are unfamiliar with WIPpet Wednesday, it’s a blog hop that I coordinate, wherein us writer types share an snippet from our current WIP (hence, WIPpet) that somehow relates to the date. The date correlation can be as tenuous as you like; we enjoy creativity in that respect. 😉 You can join in by clicking the little blue guy to the right. 🙂

Well, I’d best be off now. I’ll try to catch you all soon!