Hello friends, hope your summer is going well; or winter, if you’re in the southern hemisphere. I’ve sent my novel-in-progress Night Shift off to one beta reader and hope to find more peeps willing to read the whole thing. Draft 4 comes in, after some changes, at half a hair under 82k words. I’m sure some changes will still need to happen.
For this week’s Weekend Writing Warriors excerpt, I’m continuing with the scene from the last post. Weekend what, you say? We’re the weekly blog hop where authors post 8 – 10 sentences from one of their own works, then we hop around to each other’s blogs for some great reading and commenting. it’s kind of the definition of fun 🙂
Devorah is talking to Father John in one of the confessional booths in St. Benedict’s church. Someone asked last time if Fr. John would be bound by the usual oath of secrecy for this conversation, but I don’t think so because a true confessional was never started. As soon as she was alone in the booth, she identified herself before Fr. John could speak. She’s only being secretive because she doesn’t want any demons to know she’s visiting the priest, not because she’s telling him about anything illegal. In this scene, she’s asked Fr. John about the renovations going on in the church.
“The construction crew is working in the apse now. I don’t know if you remember, but that was one of the areas with water damage from the spring storms a couple years ago. We took out the cabinets in the sacristy the other day and found extensive floor damage.”
Of course I remembered, my dad died not long after those storms came through; it was two years and five weeks ago, in fact. “Wasn’t St. Benedict’s closed for a month to get all the damage repaired?”
“Yes, I don’t know how they pulled the wool over Father Albert’s eyes while I was in the hospital, but that shoddy work is why we’re seeing problems now. We found something a little strange behind one of the cabinets, some sort of artwork. I’m sure it’s stolen, it looks like some kind of icon. It probably fell out of one of those clowns’ toolboxes after working somewhere else.”
At least that had nothing to do with demons since they couldn’t enter holy places.
It’s true that demons can’t enter holy places, but others can. *wink wink*
Saturday I visited some of the more than 400 gardens open to the public during Garden Walk Buffalo. My town has a few things worth bragging about and this is the crown jewel. We have literally the biggest garden walk in the nation. Many of the properties also feature outstanding homes, some dating back nearly a hundred years or more. The event has drawn journalists from Martha Stewart Living and top-level gardening publications. Some gardeners on the Walk sharing clippings of their beautiful plants, in a time-honored tradition among gardeners. If you’re ever in Western New York at the end of July, come on the Walk! You’ll meet some of the friendliest folks you’d ever want to meet, see some extraordinary architecture, and experience a gardener’s paradise. No lie, dozens of magazines and websites have said so!
Our city hall has been called one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the nation. We had so many millionaires here that when the stock market crashed in 1929, funding for the building was secure and it opened in 1931.
Plus, when production is on in the General Mills plant, downtown really does smell like Cheerios 🙂
Thanks for visiting today, I appreciate it!
Things are a’poppin’ now including the author with a new book in the wings. Best wishes ,my friend.
LikeLike
I’m willing to bet the demons will find a way in regardless. They’re crafty beasts. 😉 Great snippet!
LikeLike
Hmmm. I suspect the demons in question may challenge that idea. Besides, how much fun would it be if they were restricted so? 😉
LikeLike
Interesting new development going on here. Enjoyed the snippet!
LikeLike
Thanks for visiting, folks! Demons cannot enter any holy space — if they do, they’re destroyed in a very unpleasant manner. However, there are humans who spy for demons, people like Devorah and Kazimir who are part demon and part servant of the Light, and plain humans who can of course enter holy places and non-holy places. So whatever it is that was found in St. Benedict’s, there’s a bunch of possibilities for how it got there — not to mention, what the heck is it? 😉
LikeLike
Hmmm, strange artwork in strange places. I wonder did it fall, or was it placed there with some purpose in mind?
LikeLike
I agree that the artwork is very suspicious, and having workmen in the church is a great way for a demon minion to infiltrate!
LikeLike
But I bet that demons can get creative when they need to, with or without being able to enter holy places. Great snippet!
LikeLike
Ian and Christina, St. Benedict’s is over a hundred years old, so there’s no telling when this thing was put there. Is it a clue for something else? Is it a red herring? 😉
Karen, yes indeed they can. And that may, or may not, have something to do with the artwork. Thanks for coming by today.
LikeLike
Whatever artwork was found is another major clue, I’m sure.
LikeLike
This is an interesting snippet!
LikeLike
Ed and Elizabeth, I appreciate you stopping by.
LikeLike