Saturday 12 January 2013

Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday #56

Cover by Danielle Fine

Hello! *waves* Welcome back to my #sffsat post - I've been AWOL for a few weeks with the Christmas holidays, but hopefully I will be back to a more regular appearance now. I've decided to take a break from Terms & Conditions Apply for a bit and go back to my very first publication - The Bones of the Sea - which had a cover makeover last month. So, the opening ten sentences from my scifi short...

The place gave her the creeps. Myasi could admit that to herself now, as she made her third and final survey of the site. The morbid name gifted to the strange construction by early explorers couldnt have seemed more apt as she sat in the flattened base and gazed up into the lurid green glow of the water. Above her head the twelve skeletal metallic legs of the structure curved up, round and then slightly inward, like a dead spider hunched in upon itself. Or a clawed hand clutching at nothing in its final fatal spasm.

She shivered and checked her wrist display. Shed only been under a few moments, but it felt longer. The water chilled her even through the figure hugging bespoke thermal suit that encased her, following her generous curves. Above average height even for a human male and with the bulk to match, no standard suit would have fitted her even if corporation regulations permitted it. A soft collar molded around her neck, its ugly protuberances housing the artificial gills that moved in machine-regular beats and fed modified air to the mask that covered her mouth and nose.

© 2009-2013 Copyright Philippa J. Green All Rights Reserved


If you enjoyed that and want more, The Bones of the Sea is a free download at Smashwords, Kobo and B&N. And if you want more snippets, visit the Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday blog by clicking on the banner below to meet some more talented authors.

Created by Gayle Ramage
  

14 comments:

  1. I can remember being blown away when I read this - I still have it on my kindle to re-read!

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  2. Beautiful descriptions. This ones going on my reading list. My snippet in over on my website as usual. I have to stop forgetting to add my name to the list.

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  3. Beautiful, Pippa. I loved this story--still owe you a review, in fact!

    :) Heidi

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  4. Ooo! Gills - I totally want those! Very nice passage. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. What is the name of the structure? I downloaded for my Nook.

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  6. Oooh! Interesting! I'll have to check this out.

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  7. You got my attention so quickly and kept it with the wonderful details. I could see everything so clearly. Definitely grabbing a copy. Thank you!

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  8. Awesome imagery! I love the artificial gills.

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  9. I wish I wasn't so far behind on my reading list-- I could add this. I like the new cover.

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  10. I remember this part. Brilliant description!

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  11. That's a blast from the past! Very atmospheric description. Great stuff.

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  12. @Chantal - aww, thanks! My first little baby will be two this year. :-P
    @JM - thanks!
    @TM - thanks!
    @Heidi - aww, thank you.
    @Cary - I'd love a set of those gills myself.
    @Sue Ann - The Bones of the Sea, as per the title.
    @Ann, Tara and JM - thanks!
    @Cassandra - thank you. Dani's very talented.
    @TK - thank you.
    @Gayle - lol, I know! It seems so long ago, but not even two years yet.


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  13. To my shame (and overwhelmed TBR list) still sits on my Kindle unread. I really need to correct that.

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I always love to hear your thoughts.