Welcome to the A to Z Challenge. This year I’m blogging about the Behind the Scenes for the Echoes Trilogy – a story a started writing about six years ago.
![A2Z-BADGE-100 [2017]](https://lydiahowecom.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/a2z-badge-100-2017.jpg?w=620){kind=icon}
Today I’m sharing another snippet with y’all. It takes place after Raquel is on the Island of Outcasts, but before Nicolette has joined them. This snippet features a missive from Uncle Izaac, who I’m featuring for the “U” word for today.
A knock sounded at the door and Mekayla opened it to find a messenger on the other side.
“We have a missive for the High Guard Keagan.” The messenger held out the paper that was sealed with wax and had Uncle Izaac’s stamp on the back.
“Thank you.” Keagan strode over to the door.
“What does it say?” I asked as soon as Mekayla had closed the door.
“Patience, Raquel.” Keagan’s words were abrupt. “Most likely he’s just making sure we’ve received word of their arrival.” He slid the seal open and his forehead crinkled as he read the words.
“Bad news?” My voice rose in pitch. “Is Nicolette alright?” I felt a spasm of panic.“She’s fine.” Keagan did not sound convincing.
“Give me it!” I made a grab for the paper and he held it up out of my reach.
“What is it?” Even Mekayla looked worried.
“It’s a minor change in plans.” Keagan opened his mouth and then closed it. Finally after what felt like forever he nodded his head in a decisive manner. “Uncle Izaac writes to say Nicolette has taken the fever but is quite alright. In an effort not to alarm the citizens of the City of Outcasts, and to give Nicolette time to recover, he has proposed that we take Raquel out in disguise and bring her in as Princess Rylie.”
“What do you mean she has the fever but she’s fine?” I stamped my foot. “I want to read the missive for myself.”
Keagan glared at me and then softened his face into an understanding look. “I know tis hard for you, Raquel, but in truth, Uncle Izaac says it’s a light case of the fever and she’s only had it for a few days. She’s been resting in the carriage and will doubtlessly return to health soon enough. You know how the people tremble at the word fever though, hence the reason he doesn’t want them to know.”
“There’s reason the people tremble.” I narrowed my eyes. “My concern is not for the people at this moment but for my sister. She’s all I have and I can’t risk loosing her.”
Noveltea 
The fortitude to sit and write novels is something that amazes me.
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Writing a book totally isn’t for someone who’s looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes a lot of passion to make it survive the whole process. 🙂
Visiting from the A to Z Challenge. See my “U” post here: https://lydiahowe.com/2017/04/25/u-is-for-uncle-izaac-atozchallenge/
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This snippet has me on the edge of my seat. I’m really liking Raquel’s point of view, I could see getting quite fond of her… is she the character who’s always a favorite of your beta readers? 🙂
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YAY! I’m so glad you like her point of view. I like it, too. In fact, it’s one of my favorites to write out of any character I’ve ever created. I’m fond of her too, even knowing what she’s going to do later on. 😉
And no, she’s actually not really been a favorite among beta readers – most of them who have mentioned anything prefer Nicolette. That kinda surprised me, but made me happy too, cause I was afraid I might have made Nicolette a tad bit boring.
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Uncle is a great choice of word for U. It hadn’t cross my mind at all.
Phillip | U is for Unexpected
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Thanks! I guess it helps that I’m going through my characters for some of the letters. 🙂 I don’t have any who’s actual name begins with “U” so Uncle worked well.
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I’m rather late t the party and only wish I’d found you earlier in the month. A delightful open end to an intriguing tale.
Another day in Amble Bay!
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Thank you for stopping by! I’m glad that you found the snippet intriguing, that makes my author heart quite happy. 🙂
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Good use of dialogue tags in this bit: “Patience, Raquel.” Keagan’s words were abrupt. “Most likely he’s just making sure we’ve received word of their arrival.” He slid the seal open and his forehead crinkled as he read the words.
Do you have any help on editing or do you take part in any online editing sites like scribophile? …Just curious.
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I have beta readers that go through my book, but they haven’t gone through this part yet. I hadn’t heard of scribophile until a few days ago. I’ll have to check it out, cause it sounds pretty amazing.
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I don’t know the rest of the story, so it’s difficult to be engaged. But I also like your choice of the word.
Eva – Mail Adventures
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Yes, I can imagine it would be a bit confusing to jump into the book without knowing anything about it. Thank you for stopping by!
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Intriguing snippet 🙂 I agree with Claire about Raquel. From your response I wonder what she is going to do later… Happy A-to-Z-ing.
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I’m quite happy to have y’all liking Raquel so much! Sometimes I wonder what Raquel is going to do, too. 😉
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That snippet has me curious about how they are going to pull the whole thing off. Your talk about plot twists has had me a little worried. 😉 I about can’t wait to read more of the story!
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Yay! I’m glad you’re curious. And yes, the plot twist has been a lot of fun to work on. I can’t wait for you to read more, either!
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I hope that Nicolette is going to be all right! Please don’t let anything happen to her, Lydia…please! 🙂
-Bekah
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Well, Nicolette seems to currently be doing okay, but I can’t promise about anything in the future. 😉
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