Week one of #NaNoWriMo has come and gone and my current WIP sets at 94K. I started at 85K on November 1st so don’t think I did all this in the first week… call me a NaNo rebel.

Welcome to my 120th  #Rainbowsnippets*. This one, as always, is uniquely mine, but there are lots of other great snippets to read so after you finish here click the FB link at the bottom of the post to discover other great LGBTQIA authors and their works.

Striking Balance: The Peculiar Making of Beatrice Benjamin Sophia Scott Schnell Gow is a queer Historical Paranormal Fantasy set in, you guessed it, Appalachia. This Appalachia, however, is the frontier, and the story takes place during the Revolutionary War era and the time after, meaning the late 18th century. This explains the narrator’s voice. If you’ve read the letters and journals of the period, you’ll recognize it as reflective of those.

I have been sharing the preface over the last few weeks and this week I’m launching straight into Chapter One: A Fine Upstanding Young Man.

Nolichucky River Flats, Southern Appalachian Mountains

May, 1779

     “Nub? Where’d you go?” Conall pushes back his cocked hat to scratch his head, puzzled until he spies me standing above him on a bough. I could dot his eye with one of last year’s common apples if I wish, but I drop a handful of new leaves onto his upturned face instead, and he swats at them like they are bees, tossing me into a fit of laughter. “What’re you doin’ up that tree?”

     “Taking a rest. I finished the lower field, put up Peg and Winkle, brushed and baited them, wiped the tack, and accomplished all else you listed this morning.” I draw my knees to stand. ‘Tisn’t oft I am taller than Conall so this feels grand.

So does Bea from the preface go by Ben inside the story? Yes, and there are lots of reasons, but you’ll have to follow along to understand, meaning I’m not going to outright tell you (evil grin).

Tiny history lesson time: The only apples native to North America are common apples AKA crab apples and late 18th century southern Appalachia was still too new a territory for there to be established European apple trees. Also, baited here is a period usage meaning fed (generally used when referring to animals), and the mighty cocked hat is later called a tricorn/tricorne but not until the early 19th century (some stories apparently get this incorrect). So ends your tiny history lesson.

Did I say research? Yep, lots of it.

*RainbowSnippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in.