L is for Language

from Rebekah Loper’s book called The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch

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The language of Zebulon is English, but of course it has changed over the years. There are some words that are all but obsolete. Most animals can only be found in books. Cats are the only animals that have survived, and that was because they went down underground with the people. There were once a few dogs, but there weren’t enough to carry on the species. Other animals may exist outside the confines of the community, but no one sees them.

Otherwise, language is much as it once was. Although texting and pictures were once the primary mode of communication among young people, that technology didn’t exist for a long time, and has fallen out of favor. Living close together meant that it wasn’t necessary to communicate that way. In fact, children aren’t allowed personal devices until they turn 16, and then they are heavily restricted until they turn 18. At 18, the restrictions are lifted, but being glued to their technology isn’t the norm.

So, most of their communication happens face to face. Once a week meetings for each floor of their community buildings, and once a month meetings for each building are the norm. Four times a year, delegates from each building come together to discuss how things are going, and the host is rotated among buildings.

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Above you see my description that I wrote based on the extensive questions in The A-Zs of Worldbuilding. Below, you can read an excerpt of Chapter 19 from Exploration: An Erotic Novel, available now!

Remember this (and most) of my posts contain adult content!

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Chapter 19: Connection

I knew Marchand was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. I took a deep breath and tried to get my body to understand that this wasn’t going to be sexy time. The rush of feelings in the last 36 hours had been intense, and keeping my hands off of him was proving to be difficult.

“Can you call Nicole?”

“Yes,” he said, and he reached for his phone. I hadn’t even realized he had it in there. He hadn’t used it once in the time we were together. He fired off a text message and then wrapped his arms around my waist.

“You had better let me go, Marchand,” I said. My voice was choked.

He did, and I moved so that I was sitting next to him instead of on top of him. “So,” he said, “do you have any brothers or sisters?”

I blinked at him a few times. My brain was having trouble keeping up with the topic change. “No, my parents only had me.”

He nodded but didn’t volunteer any information.

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Yeah,” he said, “I have an older brother and a younger sister.”

“Oh really?” I said, my interest piqued. “How old is your sister?”

“She’s a year 17.”

“So, she’s getting ready to do what I’m doing,” I said without thinking.

“Well,” he chuckled, “not exactly what you’re doing.”

I blushed hard. “That’s not— I meant—”

He laughed and brushed his fingertips along my jaw. “I’m just teasing you, Mara.”

My skin tingled where he touched me, and I was thinking about climbing back into his lap when his phone dinged. He reached for it, and I held my breath, waiting for what he was going to say.

“Nicole said to give her half an hour, and she’ll get cameras here.”

I blinked. Half an hour. That was so long. Way too long to sit in this bathtub. “We should get out of the tub,” I said.

“Yeah,” he agreed. He got out first and picked up a towel. I expected him to wrap it around himself, but instead, he motioned for me to get out. I did, and he wrapped me in the fluffy cloth. I shivered just a little, but before I knew it, he had wrapped his body around me. He kissed me lightly on the side of the neck, and my knees started to buckle. “Woah there,” he said, and he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. He set me down gently on one of the couches and went back for the camera. When he had it set up, he sat down on the couch next to me but made sure he was far enough away that we weren’t touching.

“This is torture,” I said.

“I know,” he replied. We sat in silence for a minute, and then he said, “Let’s talk about something.”

“Such as?”

“Anything.”

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Why do they need Nicole and the cameras?

What are they going to talk about?

And what will they do once the cameras arrive?

Find out all that and in Exploration: An Erotic Novel available now! Or come back tomorrow to learn more!