Here's the entire collection of November's posted excerpts, in order and with links.
Category: Writing
Day 31: Siren Tide
Lonan braced his hands on both sides of the nearest hollow, staring into it with all his determination. Porous rock stabbed his palms. The blackness ahead shimmered with sound. Garbled nothing-lyrics vibrated below his ear and jaw. All around him, Lonan was surrounded by the rushing Ream.
Day 30: Ship’s Stew
Cyprus shoved Shay to move. The other boy gave the pirate his best cheeky grin, and Halse spooned out a dribble of thin, greenish stew for him along with some misshapen bits of meat.
Day 29: Sleeping Dead
This was the Serafina that Lonan knew best—the Serafina after the Porfirios died. Afraid of its own coasts but too poor to move. Dreading the change of seasons. Quietly taking Mistress Leroy’s sleeping herbs and forgetting the names of its dead.
Day 28: Foreign Market
“Lonan, be reasonable, boy,” Neils extended a placating hand toward him, as if to divert a rockslide. “We’ve all taken a blow today. There’s no use in taking another. I’ve done some sailing in my day, and no ship of Serafina’s could catch a ship like that captain’s.”
Day 27: Dark Magic
Kaz’s fingers clamped down on the back of the boys’ necks. His grasp was icy, and black shot through Cyprus’s vision. That iciness spread from the point of contact, sinking dark magic deep into his muscles. Cyprus didn't know if he'd collapsed or frozen in place standing.
The Fairy Door
Every day before breakfast, Mariela crept out to see the fairy’s maze. She took her mother’s old mirror from the top of its mahogany dresser, blowing off the scraps of crumbling wallpaper, and swiped a scone from the cook’s first batch of the day.
7 Microprompts for Fairy Tales
She took her mother’s old mirror from the top of its mahogany dresser, blowing off the scraps of crumbling wallpaper, and swiped a scone from the cook’s first batch of the day. The cook followed her with a lazy swipe of her flowery handtowel, but after three years had finally given up on scolding her...
Writer Confessions 9
Reading is good for you. It's good for learning empathy and it's good for honing your writing skills. Find time to read during the day the same way you find time to write: a paragraph at a time, in between tasks, in pieces and sometimes in the sly.
To Those Who Seek Sirens
At long last, I've changed the working title of "Lost and Found." The story is now called "To Those Seek Sirens."