Excerpt 2 - Chapter 24: Dust

A big chunk of the book takes place in The Vasts. Think Nevada desert meets Scottish weather with pyrotechnics.

I won't say too much, but this was fun for me as I've never been partial to nature writing. But just this one section forced me to do something new: sit outside and write about landscapes. It helped me further imagine what this strange place actually looks like.

This is one of my favourite excerpts not least of which because I get to use my favourite Scots word.

Enjoy!
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Excerpt from Strange Chronicles: The Mighty Orange-Peel by Themo H. Peel
"Between the deserts of Vastist and Vastest is Volcano Run. When Arbea was young these mighty volcanoes rose from the sea creating the continents. Generations later, after the land was established and humanecs began to spread across the world, the volcanoes of Arbea Major erupted again. This time humanecs believed in their power over the land and sought to hold back the searing flood. No one knows what they did or what awful chemics they used to try and stem the flow. But, instead of creating fertile lands in its wake, the lava that flowed to the sea left a giant gleaming scar in the land. To its ist and est the unquenchable deserts of the Vasts were formed.

Despite its unforgiving nature this blight upon Arbea Major creates a spectacle that almost makes one forget the horror that humanecs wreaked upon it. When the sun reaches its zenith at midday and the weather is right it catches the reflective volcano-stone creating a heavenly haar. The cloud of light dances just above the land in brilliant purples, golds and reds.

Morgengarde, at the outer edge of Vastist, was in perfect position to see this spectacle. As the light tripped across the rubble it looked as if the faelii themselves had come to sanctify the destruction of the wicked facility."

Some Photoshop imaginings on the Vasts

The Vasts - in their usual drab desert

The Vasts - as seen in their faeli splendor

Grubskirm - the name says it all

Yes, it sounds like some awful type of German food dish, but is actually the name of the most reviled teacher at Gemmy's school.

The swall toad himself - pencil sketch

He is described as: "Mr Grubskirm, a short and squat man, had his back to Gemmy.  At the best of times he held a high disdain for students. Punishment and giving poor marks seemed to be the only thing the man enjoyed. But, as usual, Gemmy had never been one for trouble or failure. Gemmy was relieved not to see the smug look on the teacher’s toad-like face. The gray hair’s that sprung out in wiry coils above his ears seemed to perk with glee, creating a grotesque affect."

Here's a bit from the book that precedes the excerpt I posted the other day.


Enjoy!
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Excerpt from Strange Chronicles: The Mighty Orange-Peel by Themo H. Peel
"‘Perhaps someone with such amphibian like features has an underdeveloped sense of hearing?’

[Gemmy] had done it again. Oh mince, I said that instead of thinking it as well.

Mr Grubskirm’s eyes bulged as he inhaled a deep breath.

Well, there’s no reasoning out of this now. ‘You know when you puff out your chest like that you look even more like a swall toad,’ he said."

Excerpt - Chapter 7

I've received some great feedback from a mate of mine who's 'in the biz' and have made some cosmetic changes to the book. Things like axing the prologue (which I agree wasn't really working for the book) and rearranging how Gemmy's 'back story' fits in.

I've also been encouraged to get my work out there. So, while I'm doing things like checking for typos, sending manuscripts to publishers, I'll post a few short excerpts from the book as they're tweaked.

This excerpt is from Chapter 7, "Learning" and features Mr Grubskirm. I'm doing some sketches of him now and will post them with a full description of him soon.

Enjoy!
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Excerpt from Strange Chronicles: The Mighty Orange-Peel by Themo H. Peel

" ‘The Mighty Orange-Peel(sic) strikes again,’ came a giggle from the back of the class.

Gemmy wheeled around to meet his accuser but couldn’t tell who it had come from.

The buzz from the electricity pouring through the room seemed to add merit and fuel to his anger. He wanted to cry. He wanted to run. A silent scream bubbled and built inside of him like a train drawing nearer. He could feel the heat of it breaking around him, a faint fizzle and crackle leaving a metallic taste in his mouth as he breathed through gritted teeth.

‘Yes, it appears Mr Westhill is keen on surpassing his menace beginning with my classroom,’ croaked Mr Grubskirm.

Then it all exploded.

It was imperceptible at first; the slow rise in temperate, the shift towards weightlessness that all metal objects began to take. And then, Pfzzat!

‘Ow!’ Rena Wade cried. ‘Ow, ow! Something stung me!’ she cried as another tiny arc of electricity formed between the braces on her teeth.

‘Ah! What the hell!’ Janich Trus shouted as he got a tiny cobalt bite from the outlet under his table.

The big display at the front of the class was the first to go blank. Then the lights. Then the desk reading tablets.

‘Ah!’ Gemmy screamed and dropped to his knees. 
The train had arrived! The pain in his head had returned and threatened to break out the front of his skull.

Fortunately, the shouts and swearing from the other students covered Gemmy’s individual performance. Sparks flew from every desk’s console, electric fingers reaching out, grasping and raking at the students.

‘Everyone! Please walk towards the exit. We seem to have an electrical fault. Please leave calmly!’ Mr Grubskirm called trying to soothe the pandemonium, electricity popping around the room. Then the lights exploded in unison, glass and plastic raining down as the class let out a collective yelp.

Gemmy looked up from his own stupor in time to see Landa Rains’ homework tablet explode in her face as she tried to unplug it from the desk. She screamed as she clutched at her face, blood pouring through her fingers.

Gemmy stood up and lifted Landa to her feet, cradling her under his arms. He turned to find Sem and saw her leading two other girls towards the door. She had her arms out using her back as a shield from the explosions.

Gemmy walked Landa to the door covering her head with his hand. She was crying, heavy sobs pulling at her lungs as she tried to breathe and panic all at once. Her mind is chaos, he thought, feeling the buzz of her thoughts on his hand.

He got Landa into the hall and turned back to the classroom. Every student had already made it into the hallway. By now, students from other classes had begun to emerge as they wondered what the commotion was.

Mr Grubskirm was still in the classroom trying to rescue items from his drawer. Fires had broken out at the back of the class as beakers full of chemicals began to explode adding fireballs to the destruction that carved its way through the room.

‘Mr Grubskirm! Come on!’ Gemmy screamed as he dashed towards the man. A large beaker that was sitting at the front of the class, presumably for that day’s lesson, suddenly caught fire and exploded, the force knocking Gemmy to the floor. Why aren’t the sprinklers coming on? Oh, they’re electric.

Gemmy sat up and felt his forearm bursting with pain. He looked down and saw large shards of glass stuck into his arm. Better that than my face.

‘Gemmy!’ Sem’s voice came from behind him. ‘Are you ok?’

‘Yeah. But, Mr Grubskirm,’ he choked.  

Sem lifted him to his feet and they looked about. As the fire spread to the front of the class the students’ desk tablets began to explode sending bits of metal flying everywhere. The chemical explosion had lit Mr Grubskirm’s desk ablaze but they could see him crumpled into a ball in the corner below the large screen. It was sparking from the heat and the corrosive liquid seeping into its wiring.

‘Mr Grubskirm!’ both he and Sem screamed!

The man looked up, whimpering cradling a stack of papers.

‘My work,’ he moaned.

‘Mr Grubskirm we have to go!’ Gemmy yelled inching towards him, wary of the screen that looked ready to blow.

Mr Grubskirm rolled himself to his feet, wincing as he stood. Gemmy could see where the chemical explosion had burned through his shirt, his skin a sizzling mass of red.

The man hobbled towards he and Sem just as a loud boom erupted from the back of the class. Gemmy looked just in time to see one of the tablet covers flying through the air like a Rhe’zan throwing star.

‘NO!’ he screamed and reached his hand out towards Mr Grubskirm. A fizzle burned in the back of Gemmy’s head and he could feel the metal plate flying through the air, its smooth surface reverberating waves of energy back towards him. He pushed.

The arc of the flying metal curved just enough to miss Mr Grubskirm’s head, its flight still close enough to nick the edge of the man’s neck and knock him to his knees.
Gemmy stared at the air where the cover had flown, a blade that had been determined to embed itself in Mr Grubskirm’s head. He couldn’t help but realise that he had been the one to change its trajectory.

He turned to Sem and she was staring back at him. Her eyes, her narrow eyes, told the breadth of her thoughts. This was you! This really was you!

And as they looked at each other a final crackle and pop came from the large display. When they turned to look, they could no longer see Mr Grubskirm, just a heap of flaming black glass and wires."

Canine vs Feline

The machinations of my second book have begun and it's time for the Rhe'zans to appear. Rhe'zans are one of the three sentient races of Arbea.

One thing I've never been certain of is: Are they more canine or feline?

Originally, I began to draw them as definitely having more feline features. I'm more of a cat person, really, so the idea of having giant cat people would be pretty cool. Thundercats... need I say more?

But, then, a lot of the characteristics I'm attributing them closely resemble canines - I always envisioned Rhe'zans warriors to be big pa have the posted ears of a Doberman Pinscher.

I love the Pinscher profile - ballpoint pen

Lions and Tigers (and Bears?) - ballpoint pen

I've done some sketches going for more of a Doberman look, but I'm not entirely convinced. I'm leaning more towards going for a 'big cat' look and using whatever ears I bloody well choose.

A bit doggier than before - ballpoint pen

I find I tend to enjoy the look of a ferocious cat to a snarling dog. Can't decide. Although, I do prefer the Doberman style eyebrows to what I'd previously done.

What do you think? Dogs versus cats?

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