POST FROM THE DEVIL ORDERS TAKEOUT

Inside the WIP [1]: 777 Challenge

So if you have an extraordinarily long memory, you may remember the flash survey we had a while ago. I suggested a new feature to showcase excerpts from my WIP.

Then the ingenious Christina said this on Twitter:
And also the lovely Heather tagged me for the 777 Challenge, to share lines 7-14 from page 7 of my current ms, which, of course, is Matryoshka.

First, I shall share my excerpt:

“We lost that currency [of surprise] at the harbour.” His uncle spoke more quietly than Thomas, but made Aisha turn her eyes to him. “Thomas has a point. And we always wanted Kim’s friendship.”

“Why do we need her friendship?” Thomas asked. “She is legally bound to consider our petition.” 

Aisha shrugged in response, then said to Ramzi, “The chances of her betraying Mallister are too slim. We don’t want to let her see our full strength. I’m certainly not parading Thomas in front of her.”

“Meaning no offence, mother, but I can parade myself. I will not stand aside while you scheme to avenge my father.”

I tag these people for the 777 challenge, mainly for the completely unaltruistic pleasure of reading their stuff:
And now, here are a few quote posters from my favourite lines of Matryoshka so far. (You can find out how to make these quote posters yourself in my guest post on Christina's blog here.)
At one point, Thomas is challenged at the cost of starting a second civil war. This is Thomas' response; you have to admit, he does have a point. Even if it's arrogant and bratty.
Another one by Thomas. Kim criticises his late father, and Thomas of course puts that sharp tongue to use. I'm really rather proud of this poster, because the background is technically marble but it looks a touch like blood capillaries.
Some of you may have seen this on Twitter—it's the last line of the entire manuscript. Kim says this, so naturally it is awesome.
This poster was inspired by Christina's cover over at her design shop. This poster is an experiment and I think it could do with some tweaking, but I picked up a couple of stray GIMP techniques making this one.

And one last not-quite quote poster:
he wanted a fairytale and the stars snatched his father.
I've discovered a new love for blackout poetry. Well, okay, it's not really typical blackout poetry, but it's an amazing feeling to juggle fitting these specific words in but free-write the rest.

If Matryoshka catches your fancy, to be sure to watch this space for Snazzy Snippets on September 10th where I'll share more sneak peeks! And for the chance to read it in full, join my takeout army to receive monthly letters from moi!

Favourite quote and/or poster here? OH, and if I joined Ello and posted these, would you follow me?


Twitter-sized takeout:

36 comments:

  1. I think my absolute favorite is "do not speak ill of the dead" but Legacy is also very, very pretty. These are super cool! I was also very fascinated by blackout poetry at a conference in London, so I also appreciate your choice in that "poster." It's awesome! Thanks for sharing some snippets and doing the tag, Alyssa!

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    1. That's also my fav quote! I'm glad you found Legacy pretty, because I spent ages fiddling with the colours and still aren't sure whether they mesh well. And blackout poetry makes me feel much more artsy than I really am XD

      Thank you for tagging me and commenting!

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  2. These posters are all gorgeous, and the quotes are great teasers: I want more! My favorite is probably the first, but I like them all. I feel like Kim might be shaping up to be my favorite character...who knows, though. I hope you post some more excerpts soon!

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    1. Thank you, Alex! I'll definitely be posting more for Snazzy Snippets in September, so watch this space. The first quote was really the most spontaneous -- the rest were honed out in the second draft, but the first one was there from the beginning.

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  3. Your quotes are amazing! My favourite would have to be 'In the end every empire must fall'.

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    1. Thanks, Opal! Glad you like Matryoshka's closing line :)

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  4. Ughhhhhhhhhh your quotes are all awesome and I cannot even and I must read this now. *flails wildly*
    *will do the tag thing because I like breaking hearts yes*

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    1. AAAAH THANK YOU. So excited to see your excerpt for the tag :)

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  5. Urgghhh Matryoshka sound amazing, why must you tease us so! I can't wait for the day you share your writing in its entirety to the rest of us, it sounds wonderful! I also love the pictures you made of the quote!!

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    1. Awww, thank you! I do hope to query Matryoshka someday, so it's unlikely I'll post it online before that, but I do put out calls for beta readers on my newsletters. So happy you enjoy these posters!

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  6. Oooh, I love the poster with the marble that looks like blood capillaries--that quote is the best. Matryoshka sounds super interesting. *bites nails* I'm definitely looking forward to your next Snazzy Snippets post (btw, great idea that). (Also, you're brilliant for tagging Cait @ Paper Fury because Tremolo really is a fabulous gift to the world).

    Great post, and thanks for commenting on Out of Coffee, Out of Mind!

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    1. Thank you, Liz! I am rather fond of threat-mode!Thomas myself. So happy you're interested in Snazzy Snippets! (Tremolo is THE FABULOUSEST. Are you also her beta reader?)

      Thanks for returning the favour!

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    2. Unfortunately, I'm not--I've only read the snippets she's posted, but even from that, I know it's going to be brilliant.

      You're welcome!

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    3. Oh, I see -- well, hopefully you'll see more if she decides to answer the challenge :D

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  7. WHY ARE YOU SO QUOTABLE HOW ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN JUST TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY PLEASE AND THANK YOU

    —or, Christina's overexcited caps flailing strikes again! And your dialogue I just? I can't? I honestly can't pick a favorite quote because they're all so UGH in the best way possible. Your writing is just so majestic and I love it so much. Also your designs are SO kick-butt (the script font in the third one *heart eyes*). OMG, you should do more blackout poetry things. Thank you so much for all the shoutouts, and obviously if you joined Ello, I'd hit the follow button so fast I'd probably break my laptop mousepad.

    ...so that was a totally scatterbrained comment, but the gist is that I adore this post a lot. /end comment vomit

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    1. AAAAH THANK YOU. YOU'RE SUCH A WONDERFUL PERSON. (Although I confess I had to go through a lot of screening before pulling these quotes out.) I'm so flattered you like it because you write such wonderful poetry! (That script font is Jekylla Western Princess, by the way. One of my fav script fonts too :D) I'm still thinking on the Ello issue -- I want to but I don't have that much time :S

      Thank you very much for your scatterbrained comment, anyhow! It made my day :)

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  8. Your novel basically is coming across as the most fantastically, character sarcastically quotable thing ever. It sounds like epic high fantasy or high whatever the genre is and I love that. And you made pretty pictures for your quotes- you have me totally sold, Aylssa. Gorgeous quotes? CHECK. Gorgeous quotes in gorgeous typography settings? CHECK. Done. You win all the prizes. xx

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    1. Ack, thanks, Romi! It's fantasy, but it doesn't have magic, so technically it shouldn't be high fantasy I guess? But it was def inspired by magicky epic high fantasy books. So happy you like these posters :D :D

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  9. Wow, you are quite the writer, those snippets are marvelous. 'The war never ended not for him' that one especially caught my attention.

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    1. Thank you, Skye! I am rather proud of Thomas' sharp tongue :P

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  10. Actually I don't know what Ello is, so I wouldn't follow you. But these snippets were intriguing.... that last line just... well it is a little depressing. But true, i guess, so oh well. If you think about all the Chinese empires through history, each has fallen before a new one comes in. Anyway, those were beautiful and so well done! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Yeah, it's a pretty minor social media site, so I'm seriously debating whether it's worthwhile to give it a shot. And, well, you know me, all my stories are a little depressing. And that's true! It's highly impossible for any empire to last forever :)

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  11. OMG I WANT TO TRY THAT STYLE OF BLACK OUT POETRY. Even if it's not real blackout poetry. IT'S STILL SO COOL. ERMGAERD. *ahem* eeep. This makes me happy though. I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO DO IT. I WILL. *nods* And I loooove your picture edits and your excerpt and basically just ALL THE THINGS.

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    1. OMG I WANT TO SEE YOU DO THIS. I do, I do. Steal this idea from me, PLEASE. (Well, that sounded weird.) I'm so happy you like these little tidbits, though! :D

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  12. The posters are beautiful, Alyssa. I especially like "Every Empire Must Fall" and "Don't Speak ill Of The Dead", they're just brilliant quotes and the backgrounds and fonts fit together perfectly.
    Also, your snippet was great. If Matryoshka was a published work, I would definately read it. It sounds amazing.

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    1. Thank you, Cindy! Making quote posters is an excellent way to avoid actual writing XD I do hope to get MTY published someday, so I shall quote you and all the publishers will come running. HAHA. IF ONLY. But thanks so much for the vote of confidence. :)

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  13. YESSS to the excerpt, and the quotes. My favourite is the "in the end every empire must fall" because it sounds super dramatic, and I like drama :D

    I probably sound super repetitive but I WANT THIS BOOK. I really hope that when you're finished, and done with editing and everything else, that you try to publish this because I would snap it up and devour it. I love your writing style, and the story is super awesome and just ALL THE YES.

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    1. THANKSSS. I always go for THE MOST DRAMATIC. I spent ages working it in so it wouldn't be the second last, but THE LAST. And pfft, your repetition is the best kind of repetition. Seriously, your vote of confidence means a lot. I do hope to publish MTY someday, but it's a long road to finishing and then querying and then selling it. Fingers crossed!

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  14. ALYSSA, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME.

    I just spent about five minutes scrolling through all the quotes attempting to pick my favourite. And miserably failed, because obviously, your words are far too lovely for any of us and I basically give up on life. (I may or may not be counting down the days until I get to read Martryoshka.)

    And because you asked so beautifully, I will most certainly try to do the 777 tag as soon as I can - I haven't shared much prose lately, so I'd be happy to do so. <3

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    1. I WOULD SAY I'M SORRY, BUT I'M NOT. NO I AM NOT. But I shall give you all the takeout, because eeek you are the best. I'm hoping to write Matryoshka as soon as possible as well -- I'm in a bit of a slump, but hopefully it'll start picking up once I have homework to ignore in favour

      (Please don't give up on life. I need your horoscopes for the rest of my life and also Frozen Hearts and everything you ever write. Also the 777 challenge, because EEK I'm so excited.)

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  15. Again, this Matryoshka (in edition to an awesome name) sounds fabulous, and those posters are pretty cool. (Sits back and wishes she felt creative enough to do this sort of thing after work).
    I love blackout poetry too. So much fun.

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    1. Basically quote posters are only a form of procrastination during writing, so there's no need to wish for it really XD Blackout poetry is quite compelling isn't it?

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  16. OMG SO GORGEOUS. I loved the first poster ("The war never ended. Not for him.") It's like a small flash fiction that tells a lot of stories! Great work, Alyssa! I love reading what other people right ^-^

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    1. THANKS JILLIAN. And yes, that line does sum up Thomas' backstory quite neatly. Glad you enjoyed it!

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  17. Oooh, I LIKE this tag. Your writing is beautiful, Alyssa! And that blackout poetry was wonderful. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! (Also, I second the opinion that Tremolo should be shared with the world. Cait, take note!)
    Beth x
    www.thequietpeople.com

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    1. Thank you, Beth! I do plan on doing more blackout poetry in the future. And YES, I'm so hoping that she'll find the time to do the tag!

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