Tag Archives: steampunk

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” Picking up from last week, with Danny and James discussing Miss Victoria and her sister.

Skipping ahead a bit from last week (nothing major, just getting Danny unpacked).

I took my bag of tools out to the main warehouse, looking up again at the flying yacht I was here to help with.

James chuckled. “You have that look in your eye.”

“What look?”

“Dreaming of what could be. Miss Victoria gets that same look when she gazes up at it sometimes.”

“I’ve always wondered what it was like, being up in one of the flying ships,” I said. “I know I’m just here to help with the building of it, but it’s hard not to dream.”

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” Picking up from last week, with Danny and James discussing Miss Victoria and her sister.

“Did the two of them get along as children?”

“Not as I’ve heard. Cecily was older when Miss Victoria was born, and until then she was the only granddaughter and she didn’t like sharing the attention.”

“I have to admit, I’m relieved to hear that she won’t likely be around much. I only saw her for a minute or two but didn’t much care for her.”

“If she does come around, watch yourself. She’s not to be trusted, that one.”

“Thank you for the warning. I don’t suppose I could set the dogs on her?”

James laughed. “It wouldn’t take much encouragement for them to go after her. They aren’t exactly fond of her, nor she of them.”

“I’ve always found animals to have a good sense about people.”

“Very true. I take it the dogs took to you?”

“I never knew they were there until Miss Madison introduced me to them. Roger slobbered on me and Thomas nearly knocked me over leaning against me for ear scratches.”

“Good. You’ll get on fine, then. Normally they’re a bit standoffish with strangers.”

“Seeing as I’ll be sleeping there, it’s a good thing they didn’t take a dislike to me.”

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“Cecily… I believe I met her last evening. There was a lady leaving the warehouse when I got there and when I told Miss Madison that the lady leaving had told me to see myself in she referred to her as Cecily and seemed relieved she’d gone.”

James chuckled. “No doubt she was. Cecily doesn’t approve of Miss Victoria and doesn’t try to hide her disdain. Miss Victoria mostly ignores her, which only aggravates Cecily all the more.”

I shook my head. “How can you not approve of your own sister? It’s not like she’s a drunkard or a loose woman.”

“She’s not ‘ladylike’ enough. Cecily is all about appearances, all fluff and bubbles, whereas Miss Victoria is much more practical and down to earth.”

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“Family should be there for each other.”

“No argument there,” he agreed. “But what should be and what is aren’t always one and the same.”

“True.” I was beginning to wish that I was the prying kind. From what I understood both her mother and father were still alive but the mother’s side of the family wanted nothing to do with her. What could turn a mother against her own child?

“It’s a complicated family,” James said and for a moment I wondered if I’d spoken aloud.

“Does she have any brothers or sisters?”

“An older sister. But Cecily is about as different from Miss Victoria as you can get and neither one acknowledges the other unless forced.”

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“I got the impression that Anne* didn’t exactly approve,” I said cautiously and James laughed.

“Anne has her own definition of “lady” and Miss Victoria doesn’t fit it at all.” He sobered. “She came to us from Miss Victoria’s mother’s family, as neither her father nor grandfather saw the need for a governess or a lady’s maid. Her mother’s side, however, wanted to try to ‘make a proper lady of her’ which is odd considering they don’t want to have anything to do with her.”

“That’s sad,” I murmured. “Family should be there for each other.”

“No argument there,” he agreed. “But what should be and what is aren’t always one and the same.”

*Anne is the maid we met several installments back.

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

I climbed up to the driver’s box with James, Miss Madison having already settled herself into the carriage.

“She’s not one to wait for someone to help her, is she?” I commented.

James laughed. “That she isn’t. She has quite an independent streak, and can be a bit on the stubborn side at times, but she’s a fine lady and there isn’t one person in the household that would say a word against her. Nor listen to one either.”

“I wasn’t…”

“I know you weren’t,” he said, setting my mind at ease. “It’s easy to see that you’re as taken with her as all the rest of us.”

“I got the impression that Anne didn’t exactly approve,” I said cautiously and James laughed.

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“Something needs to be done,” she said, and even I could identify the stubborn tone of voice and set of her jaw.

“And just what might that something be?” James asked, amusement barely hidden in his voice.

“I haven’t decided yet,” she said, taking a bundle in my coat from me despite my protests. “But something has to be and something will be.”

With that she turned and marched back to the carriage, and placed my coat in the box.

James shrugged and followed in her wake and I followed him, puzzling over this turn of events as we tied my wet things to the back of the carriage with my bag of tools, the people from the neighborhood slowly drifting away in small groups, no doubt talking about the newspaper article.

And no doubt speculating on what the carriage was doing there and what I was doing with the carriage.

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“Is there a problem, Miss Victoria?” James asked as we reached the edge of the crowd.

“Yes, there’s a problem,” she said. “This.” She shook the newspaper she was holding, the very one that had the article in it about the upcoming demise of the neighborhood. “Where are all these people going to go when they tear down their homes and businesses? Did no one think this through when they made the decision to demolish everything?”

I looked at James, not sure what to make of this side of my employer, who, until now, and been calm and relaxed, with a sense of humor and fun lurking just beneath the surface. He gave me a long suffering look which lead me to believe that this was something I’d just have to get used to about her.

Thrusting the paper at one of the men near her she joined the two of us. “Something needs to be done,” she said, and even I could identify the stubborn tone of voice and set of her jaw.

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

Miss Madison was waiting for us, surrounded by a small crowd of locals.

The sight made my stomach clench a bit and I felt my muscles tense up; the crowd seemed a bit agitated

I glanced at James, who, being a good deal taller than I am, had a chance to perhaps see above the press of people around our employer. He seemed at ease with the situation and I tried to relax and follow his lead.

As we neared we could hear voices, angry and up in arms, with Miss Victoria’s voice soothing and calm, trying to put their fears – for that’s what I was hearing, I realized – to rest.

“Is there a problem, Miss Victoria?” James asked as we reached the edge of the crowd.

They parted a bit when they noticed us and I could see Miss Madison; she was unharmed but looked angry.

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.

Still posting from that “Steampunk Thing.” The first draft isn’t done yet and I’m hoping that this will keep me motivated to keep at it.

“Will she be all right back there with the carriage? This isn’t safest neighborhood.”

“She’ll be fine,” he assured me. “She can hold her own and we’re not so far away that we can’t get there to help her if we’re needed.”

It didn’t take us long to get my sodden belongings gathered up into soggy bundles;  the couple of pots and pans and few dishes and such that I owned were wrapped up in them as well. My other belongings – a few books and pictures – had been spared the worst of it so I took off my coat to wrap them in for the trip to the carriage where Miss Victoria was waiting for us, surrounded by a small crowd of locals.

The sight made my stomach clench a bit and I felt my muscles tense up; the crowd seemed a bit agitated.