16 March 2012

SFFS: A Snippet From "A Thankful Heart"

Welcome to another installment of Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday here on the blog. For those who haven't already heard, my new novel Death Brings Victory is now available.


But since last week's snippet was "the last" (for now) from Death Brings Victory, I'm moving along to one of my short stories. So, I now present a snippet from my short story "A Thankful Heart" (as featured in my collection Dead or Alive). In this one, Aston has just stumbled into a bar where the locals are having a little party. Knowing Aston, he wishes he was anywhere else...

“Come, join our celebration.”

I laughed under my breath and said, “No, thanks. I’m not in the mood.”

“But it’s the Festival of Giving Thanks. Surely you have something to be thankful for.” He raised a large mug of golden liquid. In the dimmest of lights, and most desperate of times, perhaps it could pass for Vladirian liquor. Wishful thinking on my part. There was going to be only one way of getting these people off my back.

“I guess I’m thankful I’m not dead or in prison.”

If you enjoyed this, check out the full story in my Dead or Alive collection!

19 comments:

  1. Great humorous snippet. I really love the character Aston. I also love the skill you have writing dialogue. It comes across naturally and also communicates information about the character. Great snippet!

    Congrats on your book. Hope it sells well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good things to be thankful for, LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Nicole...I tend to get that a lot, about the dialogue. Sometimes, though, I worry if the narrative tends to suffer as a result...

    Misa, Aston should be thankful for those...he's run across several instances where he should have experienced one or the other. :-P

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  4. See? There's always something for which to be thankful!

    I really enjoy reading about Aston, and this snippet is no exception. Great stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ah Aston, always finding the silver (or golden alcohol) lining! Great work. Grats on the book release!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Patrick, whether Aston admits it or not, he finds plenty to be thankful for in this story...originally intended to be a Thanksgiving piece for an online magazine.

    Cassandra, Aston is probably more an optimist than he'd like to admit. ;-)

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, yet another Aston West tale to read!! Great snippet, and again: Poor Aston...I get the feeling he's not going to be too thankful very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. He may not think so, but he *does* find out otherwise... ;-)

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  9. :-) Those are good things to be thankful for.

    ReplyDelete
  10. In Aston's case, definitely!

    Thanks for stopping by, Angelia!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Don't tell me he's actually going to wind up thankful--though those are definitely things to be thankful for.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, whether or not he wants to be thankful, he does end up admitting as such (for various things) throughout the story... ;-)

    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  13. "In the dimmest of lights, and most desperate of times," Great line (and snippet).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks, Cary! Yup, Aston seemed to be waxing poetic there for a moment... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Maybe someone will break out the Vladirian Liquor!

    Aston, always enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Maybe Aston should stock more on his ship? :-)

    Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Seems plenty to be thankful for. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love Aston's view on life, the universe, and everything. I love the dialog. Hemingway sometimes relied on dialog over narrative for storytelling. If it works, go with it!

    ReplyDelete
  19. How did I miss Pippa's comment earlier? Weird...but thanks for stopping by!

    JC, it definitely seems to work for me, at least I'd like to think so. :-)

    ReplyDelete

I love comments, and do my best to answer everyone who stops by...