Random Paragraph Time

I want to play a little game. I am going to select a random paragraph from each of my books and publish it here. I will be careful not publish anything that might be too revealing, but otherwise randomness is the order of the day. Here we go.


Mary of the Aether

Mary struggled to find something else to say. What he wanted, he could have. That was the truth of it. The magic that he longed for was right in front of him, and he didn’t even realize it. The beautiful coincidence did not escape her, and she felt a responsibility to share something with him. Her fear was that if she told him everything, he wouldn’t believe it; he might accuse her of concocting the whole thing in order to patronize him. She couldn’t prove any of it. The orb was gone, and the rusty box proved nothing.


The Klown Kroo

David stumbled across the room, his shoes crunching on glass, and took a seat at the table. He didn’t know if he wanted to cry or pass out. Maybe both. He swept the last bits of glass off the table and rested his cheek on the cool, polished wood. Annabelle was applying some kind of clear ointment to Karl’s cheeks, and he watched her with heavy lids. She had a lovely face, made all the more lovely by the flush in her cheeks and forehead. Her dark hair was tangled with sweat and plastered to her temples.

And now he did cry, though he wasn’t really sure why. Tears spilled down his face and dripped onto the tabletop. He wiped them away and quickly hid his eyes behind his hands.

“Karl.” Annabelle spoke softly. “Karl, you’re gonna be alright.”


Mary of Shadows

And so Mary Lanham walked away from her own birthday party, and eyes were no doubt upon her, and whispers were no doubt already going forth. Once again, Mary was the target of strange people, what could she be hiding? That was how the gossip would go, she imagined. She skirted the edge of the park to avoid most of the stares and headed for Main Street. Aiden was at her side, as always these days, and he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze—his way of letting her know that he understood her worry. They walked in silence all the way to Main Street, then crossed the road and headed up Neser Hill.


Bloodstone

Finally, her voice trailed off into quiet sobs, and for a long time they heard only wind through the shattered door. Tendrils of smoke curled down into the cave, and Jeren smelled the stench of burnt stone. He picked himself up and moved toward the barrels, sliding them out of the way one by one until he revealed the huddled form of the girl, her face buried in the nest of her arms. He tried to give her the sandal, but she would neither take it nor look at him. He laid it down beside her and turned back to the gaping door. The ladder had broken in the fall and lay in pieces with the remains of the door, which meant they no longer had easy way up. He figured they might be able to stack barrels to form a kind of crude staircase, but then what?


A Whisper in the Void

“I was trying to leave,” Mithlen said, gesturing back toward town. “Too many crazy people down there, too many bad memories, so I loaded up my wagon and hitched the donkey and set off. Thought I might take the old river bridge, but I changed my mind. Turned into the field, and that dumb jenny, she stumbled in the ditch here. When the wagon turned over, it broke the straps on her harness, and she ran away with the bit still in her mouth. I caught up to her, but when I tried to bring her back, she kicked me. Half mad, that animal. But here I am.” He spread his hands out toward the scattered crates. “All my worldly possessions cast about like garbage.”


And there you go, folks. That's all my completed novels, published and unpublished, from the last few years. I'll hold off on Mary of Starlight and Thorn and Shadow for now, since they are works in progress. Which paragraphs intrigues you the most?