Today is #sixsunday where writers share six sentences from their work. Today I’m sharing sentences of my new novel, STEAM ME UP, RAWLEY. I finished the rough draft only last month ago, so this is pretty rough. It’ll probably get revised a ton, but this will give you a rough idea.
This is a steampunk romance set in 1890 Mobile, Alabama, and a loose sequel to MUST LOVE BREECHES. Last week we saw her fantasize about the destruction of her boss’ office by her monkey Loki. Afterwards, she is in her backyard reliving and embellishing on that day dream, when a hot air balloon invades her dream, piloted by a black-haired, blue-eyed man. (See this post that wasn’t part of SixSunday for an excerpt) The balloon is real, and she chastises herself for using such a description for his eyes as “blue blue” and tries to come up with the right description while she watches him try to land. Last week he asked if she was of any use. I’m skipping the part where she admonishes him that he’s doing splendidly, all he needs to do is land. She continues to watch him:
He wore no coat! How scandalous. Adele grinned. She watched the muscles bunch and flex under his shirtsleeves.
He had on a light gray waistcoat, its top button undone. His cravat was all to pieces, flapping around his neck–No–Sailing away now in the light breeze.
As always I welcome constructive feedback. Thank you!
To see snippets from others who are participating or to sign up yourself, visit here.
Thank you to everyone who comes by and comments each week!
Angela Quarles | Geek girl romance writer 
Heather Boyd
/ July 1, 2012Lovely six. Great description.
Donna Cummings
/ July 1, 2012I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him — especially once he lands that balloon! I love your description of his cravat. 🙂
Lisa Fox
/ July 1, 2012He sounds scandalously hot without that coat on.
L.J. Kentowski
/ July 1, 2012Love watching those muscles bunch and flex! He’s sounds wonderful! Great 6!
wendysrusso
/ July 1, 2012I loved the detail about the cravat. It gives the scene a lot of movement. 🙂
S. J. Maylee
/ July 1, 2012scandalous and cute–>–No–Sailing away now in the light breeze. this line made me smile, thank you
Linda Morris (@LMorrisWriter)
/ July 1, 2012Nice description–it helps us visualize the scene perfectly!
Sadie Hart
/ July 1, 2012Oh, love the visual of him. Can’t wait to see more of the two of them!
Joyce Scarbrough
/ July 1, 2012Great six! I will take your askew cravat any day over a certain grey tie featured on a book that shall not be named! 😉
Mae Clair
/ July 1, 2012Yum! He definitely sounds hunky. Can’t wait to see more of this one (him and the book, LOL). 🙂
A.S. Fenichel
/ July 1, 2012You really packed a lot of information in a very short six. Great job!
J.M. Blackman
/ July 1, 2012I wish I had something constructive to say, but all I have is praise. Adele’s a great character to read. I love her reactions and your portrayal of her world. Always happy stopping by here. 🙂
Owllady/Marcia
/ July 1, 2012What fun, Angela. I get a kick out of Adele’s reactions. It sure will be interesting to see what happens when he lands.
Angela Quarles
/ July 1, 2012Thanks! This whole chapter is actually up in the CC queue this week 🙂 It’s rough though!
K.E. Saxon
/ July 1, 2012He certainly sounds like hero material to me, LOL! Great six, Angela! =D
Carrie-Anne
/ July 1, 2012Sounds like she’s getting a delicious eyeful!
veronicascott
/ July 1, 2012I think he needs her, to help keep track of his cravats and a whole lot more LOL! Really enjoying these characters, great six.
Kate
/ July 1, 2012I love how she corrects her own thoughts. Great six! By the way…how’s Loki reacting to this balloon adventure? I miss the little guy.
Jenna Jaxon
/ July 1, 2012Love her deep POV. You can see him perfectly through her eyes. Great job!
Sue
/ July 1, 2012one can tell so much about him, the balloon, the no coat, an independent man and we all love them lol
Kate Meader (@KittyMeader)
/ July 1, 2012What an entrance! Like others, I love the cravat description – very nice.
Lila Shaw
/ July 1, 2012Terrific description and voice in this.
Jessica Subject
/ July 1, 2012I love looking at muscles. LOL Nice six! 🙂
sueannbowlingauthor
/ July 1, 2012Interesting about how what’s scandalous changes with time and culture.
sueannbowlingauthor
/ July 1, 2012By the way–I love the cravat, but in a balloon, he’ll be moving with that light breeze, and won’t feel it. Neither will his cravat.
Silver James
/ July 1, 2012It may be rough, but you’re right on track. Bunching, unknotting, and fluttering, oh my!
siobhanmuir
/ July 1, 2012I liked the last line, it really brings the whole scene into focus. Good six, Angela. 🙂
Monica Enderle Pierce
/ July 1, 2012What could possibly be better than a scandalous, blue-eyed man dropping-ish from the sky? One with a little bit of attitude, of course. I love how you make history your own, Angela. And I wanna meet this man. 😀
Frank Fisher
/ July 1, 2012Good last line Angela, and his physical descriptions attract him to the readers. Nice job!
Cara Bristol
/ July 1, 2012Love your imagery.
jamieayres
/ July 1, 2012Great six! I’ll have another:)
Jess Schira
/ July 1, 2012Great job with the clothing. I’ve always been a sucker for the outfits from that era. Can’t wait to read more, both of these characters are fascinating.
Cera duBois
/ July 1, 2012Great six!
Patricia Preston
/ July 1, 2012Mobile, Alabama! Love the Southern setting. I would have expected London.
Jennifer M Eaton
/ July 1, 2012This is great. I could envision it. If you’d like to tighten it… to really grab the reader and draw them in… remove the very subtle “tell”. It’s not for every writer, but it can really help suck the reader in your story.
He wore no coat! How scandalous. His muscles bunched and flexed under his shirtsleeves. Adele grinned.
On this one… if you can find a way to say this without “he had on a” it would be stronger too…
He had on a light gray waistcoat, its top button undone. His cravat was all to pieces, flapping around his neck–No–Sailing away now in the light breeze.
That change would be a touch harder, though.
Lke I said… great as is, but remove that subtle tell to really pack a punch.
Good stuff! Good luck with it!
Kylie Scott
/ July 1, 2012Love it! What gorgeous detail. Your heroine sounds delightful. Hero sounds awful nice and a little undone too.
Monica T. Rodriguez
/ July 2, 2012You manage to reveal a lot of both characters with these few lines. Adele’s reaction to something considered scandalous is telling. At first I questioned whether a woman of the time would allow herself to look at a man’s physique so pointedly, but she just showed she approves of scandal, so that works.
To continue what Jennifer suggested, perhaps you can change the second paragraph to “The top button of his light gray waistcoat was undone.” Feels a little wordy, but maybe you can work with it.
And now I’m wondering why am I not doing Six Sentence Sunday???
Ryan Derham
/ July 2, 2012Like the description of the balloon approach and the detail here.
Elin Gregory
/ July 2, 2012Shirtsleeves and an open neck – he sounds a real bounder! 😀
Lorraine Paton
/ July 3, 2012Love it! Your six made me smile! 🙂
Hey – I just saw your name in RWR! Congratulations!
Angela Quarles
/ July 7, 2012Thank you Lorraine! That was exciting for me, my first appearance!