Friday, May 16, 2014

Ascension from the Devil's Garden

Croc stared straight across at the line of jagged green peaks not a mile from him. Strangely, through the low points of the opposing peaks, he could see another row of mountains just beyond like the jagged teeth of a dragon. He even imagined another row beyond that, and another, as the tales of his great ancestors told around the evening fire. Just how many rows of long, deep valleys and razor-like ridges were there, he didn’t know. No one knew. The furthest anyone had journeyed and returned was seven valleys; seven versions of hell just like their own. He found it impossible to even consider seven different microcosms each offering their own dangers, their own nuances for survival. He was just barely able to brave the length of the valley on his own, let alone a place wholly unfamiliar.

Turning his head to the north before rotating it back to the south, he could almost see the entire length of the valley if not for the mist which constantly shrouded the southern end. The south end held the low point of the valley which collected the daily rainfall forming a swamp. In the stories of the ancients, tales of lakes, open bodies of water not shrouded by dense foliage could be found. This was not the case in their valley which struggled to find fresh, non-stagnated pools of water. Therefore, he couldn’t believe these lakes existed because no one in the past hundred years who had left the valley and returned told of one. To Croc, lakes were the closest thing to a myth he could imagine.

Swiveling his head back around, careful to limit his movements, he took pleasure in this privilege. After all, this was the first time he was allowed to journey above the tree line to view the world outside the Devil’s Garden, the name of this thin valley which was his home. Being in the open as he was, however, was not something his clan did. It was dangerous to expose one’s self to the sky where all sorts of deadly creatures roamed. Because of that, he sought out a stand where the rocks were still bigger than himself and offered some protection, some camouflage. Twenty yards further up, the rocks thinned to small boulders then gravel for a few hundred more yards. Above that openness extended a sheer, rough-hewn wall of rock another quarter of a mile up. With a slow turn to the north, he could see where the wall of rock dipped down to just above the tree line, but there was still too much open area to chance an ascent without being viewed. And being seen in the Devil’s Garden almost always meant death.

Looking up to the sky wary of its predators, he saw the oncoming clouds of the night’s rainfall. They were dark puffy entities which rolled over the peaks like a dragon’s claw as the sun cast its last rays of life on the neighboring chasm. Seeing this, Croc knew he had to start his journey down to safely where he could use the common fluorescent moss to light his way to the path. Once found, it was less than a mile to his village, a series of caves near the valley’s floor. No one, however, spent time on the valley’s floor if they wanted to live. That’s because there was no ground, just sludge. This slurry could suck a man under within minutes if what existed in the murk didn’t kill a person first.


No, the Devil’s Garden wasn’t a place for the incautious. It was a place where alertness was mandatory and recklessness killed without mercy. In his youth, Croc had learned that the hard way. It had been his first experience with Geyser, a gray dragon inhabiting the tall peak at the north end of the valley.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

An Excerpt from Hades


Lucifer's Promises:

“That’s your problem, Alastair, I am smarter than you. I realize Lucifer’s treachery whereas you still pine for his favor.”
At his words, Limbus watched Alastair pause in contemplation as well as recognizing the superiority in Hades’ tone. His friend was about to explain Alastair’s fallacy and Limbus was intrigued at what might be revealed.

“What carrot did he dangle before your nose to have to go against what you hate, to enlist humans to your cause when they are what you despise the most? What promise did he make that you now must share the accomplishment of your glorious plan with the likes of Balam and Gaap? To think that if you don’t kill me than your success will be spread even thinner across Avnas, Ukobach, and Caim. Which one of those three will receive the glory of my death in his eyes? Will you even be considered victorious within his mind? Or would you just be a stepping stone to another’s success?” Hades questioned, pausing to let his words sink in. Then, with sly confidence, he continued. “Did you truly consider his words, Alastair, or did they blind you like they blinded us before? So what did Lucifer truly say? Or did you not listen beyond what he promised you? Was it a seat at his side?” Hades scoffed. “Are you to become his favorite?” Hades paused as the demon across from him became thoughtful. “You forget, Alastair, Lucifer lies! That is his talent. That is the gift HE gave him. That is the gift Lucifer shared with us once we became his. Yest you forget, he breathes deception with every breath. He knows nothing else. He is its master whereas we are mere students,” Hades clarified in detail. “You will never become his favorite for more than what you see within your own hopes. You have been tricked by him once again, as we all have. But at least I now choose to avoid his offers of power whereas you still cling to his broken promises. That is your mistake, Alastair. You still trust where trust has been broken.”

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Long Time

It's been a while since I've posted on here, but it's not for lack of writing. In reality, I've been working on several projects (Dream Savior, Child of Need, Hades, etc...) and updating Facebook with posts (www.facebook.com/pages/S-Scott-Twigg), but they are only snippets of what I've been working on. This entry, however, I hope will contain more.

First off, I'm still disappointed I didn't make ECCC (Emerald City Comic Convention 2014). Somehow, my application got lost and I didn't get a table/booth. Next year: Certified Mail!!! Hopefully by then I'll have a few more books out, genre's for every reader, and that will make the convention even more exciting and successful for me.

Along those lines of publishing, I'm getting near the end of Hades which will put the final exclamation point on the Stone Vengeance series (maybe). I might leave it open for something more, but right now I highly doubt it will get written even if I can think of a suitable story line.

In addition to Hades, I have A Romance Novel almost ready for publication. I just need a final review and cover done, then it'll hit Amazon. For this book, I'm thinking of going Amazon Direct which means I can play with pricing a bit more and even offer special discounts.

Beyond those two, there's my book Dream Savior which I'm now co-authoring. So far, it's much better due to this new perspective. Unfortunately, agreeing on the direction of the story seems to be an issue we both have to overcome. Nevertheless, I hope to continue to work on it and have it out sometime 2015.

On a down note, Child of Need has stagnated. I'm lost as to where to go next. For a while, the story was great then I got stuck, worked it out, but got stuck again. That's where it sits and its not moving. I'm disappointed in myself for not planning it out better, but eventually I'll get the groove back on and complete it.

Now for the best news (though I may of mentioned it before). My Shadow Gods series had an issue at the very beginning of Book 1 - too many characters introduced. I have sense re-read and re-written the offending chapter and surrounding gaps caused by the change. Now the book is ready for some serious editing. As soon as I get Hades and A Romance Novel published, it's next on the list. Of course I will work on other things, but this series is my baby. It's the reason I've written all these other books: experience!!! Now, with a half-dozen books under my belt, I feel as if I can now do the series justice. Seriously, it's my pride and joy.

I guess that's it for now. If anyone wants a snippet of any of my novels, just message me or leave a comment and I'll be happy to send you an out-take or answer any questions. Thanks and happy days to everyone.