Writers' Party Time!

re you looking for a rollicking good read? Adventure, magic, romance, brawls and civil wars, a king in danger and two demobbed brothers in conflict... Not to mention my own Rose, her dying friend Baha and the monk Brother Arcturus from Out of the Water and Austin and Kedi from The Face of A Lion.

The link to the full story - still not finished! is here.

And here's another snip (the first one is here). If you're meeting her for the first time, Rose is 18 years old, from 1492 and has just been whisked to a house party taking place in Georgia in 2008 and met a young Lord Rochester, courtier to Charles II:

Rose tightened the laces on her - what had Meredith called it - caftan, and fanned herself with one of the paper plates. It was sticky and even hotter out of the water, though there were plenty of cool drinks spread out around the tables. That lovely pink mixture she'd heard Emily calling fruit punch was absolutely delicious. It was amazing how many varieties of fruit they had here, and how they managed to keep it all cool.
"You're not fooling anyone, you know," she muttered to herself.
"What's that?" Rosemary asked from the other side of the table. The older woman seemed nervous, as though she'd forgotten something and was furiously trying to recall where she'd misplaced it.
"I'm sorry," Rose called. "I was simply... thinking out loud." She smiled and Rosemary turned back to stacking empty plates and cups.
I'd better find something to do while I wait, she thought. I can't sit here swooning over John and waiting for him to return.

She looked up and spotted Len and Charlotte returning from somewhere, walking close together so that their shoulders kept bumping. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead at the sight of Len in his long trousers. How delightful this time was, when you could undress in the heat and not be layered in three different garments. When only a bathing suit and a pair of shorts stood between you and...

She jumped off the table and hurried across the sand to Baha, who was pacing back and forth under a large umbrella.

***

"Rose! I hear you've been having a grand time with the king's courtier."
She frowned in face of Baha's grin.
"Heard? What have you heard? Who's talking about us?"
"Don't worry, I'm only teasing. I saw the two of your returning up the beach."
She relaxed, then, and fell into step beside him. "There's really nothing to tell, anyway. I'm out of time here, and find myself doing all sorts of things I'd never consider at home."
"You don't need to explain yourself to me; I spent quite a bit of time with Charlotte this morning."
"You're not with her now."
"No." It was Baha's turn to frown. He stopped walking and rested his hands on the back of Laura Grace's chair. "She seems to have met her match in Len."
They both turned to look down toward the water. Lionel had found a football from somewhere and was tossing it hand to hand, performing tricks as Charlotte sipped a drink and watched.
"Are you feeling alright, Baha? Maybe you should join Arcturus; I think he's gone up to the house for a bit."
"No need. The air here is wonderfully clear. Have you noticed I haven't coughed once?"
"I did actually. I know -"

***
She stopped abruptly and Baha glanced up to see her eyes caught on a figure coming down the slope. Even in shorts and a loose shirt, Rochester was still a strapping young man, tall and thin, with a graceful long stride. His blond locks curled about his chin and shoulders, framing his face like the halo of an angel in some Orthodox icon. He didn't wonder Rose was enraptured.
"Be careful with him, Rose my dear," he said quietly in her ear. "You never quite know the true nature of a man while he's at a party."