Exclusive Sneak Peek

Y’all. I don’t normally do this. I typically guard my works-in-progress like a dragon guards its gold. Only my critique group gets to see my stories before my editor. (Okay, and sometimes my mom.)

But I am so in love with the characters in Hell’s Revenge, and I wanted to share a bit. Angélica Spencer is my main character. She is raised by her father, a naturalist, and has spent her whole life at sea. He trained her in the sciences, in language, in philosophy.

Angélica is no angel, however. That’s why she earns the nickname “Hell.” She’s arrogant and rash and doesn’t always think things through. And that’s why she finds herself stuck back in England for some time before her days as a pirate.

Okay, I’ve avoided the subject too long. Ready?

I unwrapped the dagger Henry had given me for my birthday. I turned it over and over in my hands. I felt like a piece of my soul was missing without him. I wished we had run away when we had the chance, before we had been discovered. He wouldn’t want me to sit here in misery. He loved me for many reasons, but my fiery personality was one of them.

No more tears, I decided. The situation was less than ideal. But I was a naturalist, an adventurer. I could adapt. I could survive.

I could thrive.

I refused to accept my sentence as a silent woman of English society. If I was stuck here, I would make the best of it. I would make my father realize that he had made a terrible mistake in marooning me here in this dreadful place. Henry’s words echoed in my mind. “You’re no angel.”

I was Hell. I was a tempest that had made landfall. No one would steer my life but me.

I tucked my dagger into my skirts, a tangible reminder that I would not lie down and take my fate, and made my way downstairs to dinner.

This is an excerpt from what is currently chapter 10 and is one of my favorite passages. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Krystal CraikerJune 15, 2020Comment