Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

I’m gearing up for NaNoWriMo next month and have almost definitely decided that I will most likely probably be working on my “Steampunk thing.”  So, since I’m looking over what I have written of it (less than 2000 words) I thought I’d post bits from it to help me stay focused on it.

(Apologies for any language usage that’s anachronistic. I’ll deal with that once the first draft is done.)

This picks up from last week.

So there I was, standing in front of a warehouse near the docks, dressed in my Sunday best – which wasn’t all that good, if truth be told – staring at the door, the letter from Widow Cooper tucked inside my suit coat, trying to gather my courage to ring the doorbell.

I tucked the clipping into my pocket and was just reaching out to press the button when the door opened, spilling light out into the gloom of the late evening.

A woman stood in the doorway, gazing at me with clear disdain.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

Not the warmest greeting I’d ever had, but I didn’t have the luxury of being picky.

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

I’m gearing up for NaNoWriMo next month and have almost definitely decided that I will most likely probably be working on my “Steampunk thing.”  So, since I’m looking over what I have written of it (less than 2000 words) I thought I’d post bits from it to help me stay focused on it.

(Apologies for any language usage that’s anachronistic. I’ll deal with that once the first draft is done.)

This picks up from last week which ended with: Puzzled and curious, I looked down at the newspaper clipping.

Inventor seeks general laborer to assist with flying ship. Carpentry skills required. Will train for other duties. Pay: 10s/week. Apply in person to V.R. Madison, 135 Pearl Place.

……

It wasn’t a fit night for man nor beast. It was cold and dark and getting colder and darker. And wetter. The fog from the snow melt was bad enough, but the all day drizzle had turned into a good downpour and the wind lashed rain that was just a hair above freezing.

Ordinarily I would have been holed up in the ramshackle shanty that passes for my home, trying to stay dry – or at least no more than damp – but the words “flying ship” had sent a jolt of excitement through me. Widow Cooper had been right; ever since I had seen my first airship as a wee lad I’d dreamed of being aboard one of the great flying ships that occasionally flew over the city or moored at the docks. V.R. Madison was only advertising for general construction help, but maybe, just maybe, there might be a crew position available, and I was going to do my level best to fill it.

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, bloggers, and readers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).   Check out all the other awesome snippets by clicking on the picture above.

I’m gearing up for NaNoWriMo next month and have almost definitely decided that I will most likely probably be working on my “Steampunk thing.”  So, since I’m looking over what I have written of it (less than 2000 words) I thought I’d post bits from it to help me stay focused on it.

(Apologies for any language usage that’s anachronistic. I’ll deal with that once the first draft is done.)

This picks up from last week.

“I’m afraid I can’t pay you much,” she’d apologized as she always did. “But I have written you a letter of introduction and recommendation.”

I might not be able to spend those letters but they were good for starting a fire, but today there was something different about the envelope that she handed me.

The envelope was of fine heavy stationery instead of the more common writing paper that she normally used for the letters she gave me, and it bore a wax seal with an imprint from a signet ring. In addition there was a clipping from The Daily Mail. “I remember you telling me once that your greatest dream was to fly. I hope this helps you realize that dream.”

Puzzled and curious, I looked down at the newspaper clipping.