When we were getting ready to release Bryony back in 2011, my daughter Sarah (who did a lot of the marketing for me) suggested I pull thirty teaser quotes from the book that she could post on Facebook, one each day.
While investigating a home with mysterious whispers,
supernatural super sleuth Cornell Dyer stumbles upon its source: an antique
wardrobe in a room all by itself. But when Cornell steps inside, he discovers
the wardrobe is more than a wardrobe and a whisper is more than a whisper. Even
if Cornell solves the mystery, will he ever go home?
Prologue:
Mrs. Peabody smiled as she set the last dollar down. She couldn’t wait to take the wardrobe home. She had just the place for it.
Chapter 1: A Very Thorough Investigation
“Good sir,” Cornell
said. “The trickiest kind of whispers are the whispers that pretend to be doors
or windows or cloth tapestries or handkerchiefs in pockets on suit coats.”
Chapter 2: Cornell Goes into the Wardrobe
Cornell stepped inside the wardrobe, but he didn’t close the door. He’d heard stories of foolish supernatural sleuths who shut themselves up in wardrobes and disappeared forever. It is absolutely not safe to walk into a wardrobe and shut the door. Cornell knew this well.
He left the door open.
Chapter 3: Forest of Everlasting Winter
“Am I in the wardrobe?” Cornell asked.
“You are – and you aren’t,” the robin said. “Let’s just call this the Land Not Quite Beyond the Wardrobe. Did the other humans come with you?”
Chapter 4: An Early Birthday Present
It was a sunny morning. Dew still sparkled on the grass. Birds cheerfully sang in the lush trees. The flowers along the paths bloomed with colorful blossoms. The snow melted off the knickknacks.
Chapter 5: The Cold, Cold Castle
Someone had painted
them to look like real animals. But Cornell wasn’t afraid of them. Ceramic
animals, no matter how savage-looking, cannot hurt anyone.
Chapter 6: In Like a Lion
The lion turned and smiled gently at Cornell.
“If you want to see real magic,” the lion said softly. “Come to the stone table tonight.”
Chapter 7: The Witch’s Folly
“Don’t you have ears?” Cornell said.
Upon closer inspection, Cornell noticed the fairy did not, in fact, have any ears. Still, since the fairy appeared to hear, Cornell decided to finish telling the fairy off.
Chapter 8: The Bric-A-Brac Battle Back
The lion was now shaking his paw at the Frost Fairy.
“It’s very rude to keep people awake with your whispering,” the lion said sternly. “I am grounding you to the castle to think about your actions.”
Chapter 9: Kings and Queens
The barnyard animals harmonized with the zoo animals and the wildlife. They filled the great golden hall with sounds no one ever heard before or after that night.
Chapter 10: After the Hunt
Cornell the Clever recalled another Cornell, but he couldn’t see the other Cornell. It was like trying to grasp a dream fragment after the alarm clock rings.
Epilogue
As he reached for the next sandwich, he felt something hard.
Right away Cornell deduced this was not a sandwich. Sandwiches, even stale ones, are soft and squishy. Mrs. Beaver did not serve stale sandwiches.
No, this could only be one thing.
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