Hi everyone. Happy Spring! It’s warm here and a few intrepid crocuses are poking their heads up and looking around.
I’ve been posting from River’s Edge and Outrageous Pride, my first two Unlikely Gentlemen titles. To read the first full chapter of River’s Edge, and enter the Springtime in the Country $100 Gift Card give away, go here. Since Cerise Amour (UG 2.5) releases on April 10th, I thought I’d share a scene from it today.
June 7, 1863
Knocked from his horse by a lunging infantryman, Jeb Carter staggered, choking and blinded by the billowing canon smoke. Dodging a bayonet thrust that missed his belly but caught his thigh, he shot the soldier in the face, blinking through the sudden gore that sprayed his own.
His commander, Brigadier General Henry E. McCulloch, had expected Walker’s Greyhounds to encounter little resistance from the inexperienced Federal troops at Milliken’s Bend. Instead Jeb’s division had found themselves engaged in a bloody battle quickly devolving into hand-to-hand combat.
When a bullet creased his skull, he fell to the ground, closing his eyes against the pain and fighting to stay conscious. It was still early morning and dew wet the grass, though he couldn’t be certain it wasn’t his own blood soaking his skin and making him shiver. He didn’t know how much time passed before he opened his eyes again.
A riderless horse galloped toward him, trumpeting its terror at the field of dying and dead soldiers; he levered himself up in time to catch the saddle leathers, letting the animal’s frenzy pull him to his feet to stumble beside it as it cleared a path through those still fighting.
Unlikely Gentlemen Books 1 and 2 Available now:
River’s Edge- http://amzn.to/1er2L5b
Outrageous Pride– http://amzn.to/1aWnfz6
Find more Weekend Writing Warrior authors here.
Have a great week…
gem
Whoa, incredibly intense and powerful. The weird thing is I could picture it as if I’d been there. Nicely done, Gem. 🙂
Lots of action and drama going on, really sucks you in!
Great action scene. Well done.
Great descriptive writing, Gem! I so easily visualized it all. I’m remiss in not having read any of your historical snippets earlier.How did I miss them? I must read this series! Good 8 🙂
Nice description of the action. I hope he’ll get out of here in one piece.
You’ve given us the chaos and horror of the battlefield, and shown us the desperate strength of Jeb. This is beautifully done!
Wow. Wonderful passage, Gem! Looking forward to more:)
What a painfully intense scene. Wow.
Very intense — drew me into the scene completely. Well done.
A very powerful, vivid scene. Well done.
Wow. What a wonderful action scene. So real. Great details.
I agree with the others Gem, great imagery, a truly well written action scene, well done!
Ditto, ditto, and ditto! Awesome details and very visual. I only have one question–what are saddle leathers? (yep, clearly a non-horse-riding, city residing Californian, here). I’m guessing it has something to do with the saddle, but my brain had a hard time reconciling if Jeb managed to get on the horse, was half on the horse with his legs being dragged, or was essentially under the horse?
Good question, Karysa. I’ve ridden all my life, so I used that term pretty confidently, but to make sure I hadn’t misnamed them, I looked up the definition.
“stirrup leathers, leather straps that attach to the saddle, help riders mount the horse as well as provide support and stability in the saddle.” 🙂
Here’s a pic of the McClellan saddle, standard seat used by the cavalry in the Civil War. http://petruzzi.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/the-mcclellan-saddle/
Hope this helps.
Ah ha. Yes, it does. Thanks!
Oh wow, this put me right in the middle of the battlefield and all its horrors. Well done.
How horrific! You captured the scene well. I had no trouble visualizing what was going on.
The Murders of Polly Frisch
Extremely vivid, made me feel as if I was right there with your hero and wow, that was a scary place! Excellent excerpt!
So real! Fantastic scene. I felt the sword and bullet wound and pain. The horror of war. Excellent snippet.
I have purchased and read River’s Edge and Outrageous Pride for my Nook. I’ve been so looking forward to the next story. Will the next book be available at B&N also? It is so disappointing for Nook users to be left out.
Hi Sharon. Yes, Cerise Amour and all of the Gentlemen will be returning to B&N and other distros. Thanks so much for your support!
Thank you, Thank You, Thank you! You’re the best. {{{{Hugs}}}}