Although Twitter and Facebook dominate the blogging and sharing spaces in our lives, there is something pretty special about blog memes. A typical blog meme entails some kind of a list, then you “tag” your friends, ask them to make their own lists, tag more friends, and so on. I fondly remember a few blog “meme tags” when I was a more frequent blogger (2004 to 2006).
I was thrilled when Julia Munroe Martin (“wordsxo” on Twitter) tagged me for the Lucky Seven Challenge, which has some pretty straightforward rules:
1. Go to page 77 of your WIP or latest book.
2. Count down seven lines.
3. Copy the 7 sentences that follow and post them.
4. Tag 7 other authors.
Julia chose to list the sentences on page 7 since page 77 had a huge plot turn, which makes me wonder what it is! I thought about doing something similar because I wasn’t sure I even had 77 pages yet!
I’ve written about my novel’s progress here and at Natalia Sylvester’s blog, and I kick my behind every day about various aspects of the book (progress, plot, characters, setting … you name it). But I saw that I had indeed written a total of 88 pages (on the actual document; there are hundreds of pages scattered in other files and in two Moleskine notebooks).
It turns out that The Lucky Seven tags a few sentences that I like:
“Marik tried to get back in touch with Mike, but he received a generic reply from the office. Not even the secretary was present now. He stood at a nearly deserted intersection deep in the citycore, and his mouth felt dry.
The air felt uncomfortably warm, and he undid all the buttons on his coat. A misting rain blew over him, giving some relief. The residents of Rain walked past him, caught up in their own dramas, happiness, or emergencies. A man about his age, suit-clad, and brow-furrowed walked by, calmly speaking orders to his staff by remote. Marik almost wanted to trade places with him.”
—-
There you have it! Who knows if the words will survive or not, but I like them right now.
And now I tag the following writers for The Lucky Seven:
Of course, if you don’t want to take the Lucky Seven Challenge, you don’t have to, 🙂 But the option is there if you want it. Thanks again, Julia!
I love this excerpt! I’m so curious about the characters, the world, and what happens next! Thank you for the generous shout out too! ps page 77 is indeed a must read–hope you get to! 😉
Thanks, Julia! 🙂 It really means a lot that you're curious about the characters and the world. It's important for me that the science fictional setting is not a roadblock (unless you read SF, too? :-)) And I am, of course, very curious about your novel and characters, 🙂
Thank you for including me in this challenge, wow! I don't have 77 pages yet! As soon as I have, I will take you up on the challenge. I do love your 7 sentences 🙂
You can totally do what Julia did and just post on page 7, if you want to! Thanks, Mom, 🙂
I love it! You really do a great job conveying not just his surroundings, but the mood of the place and the tension he's feeling. I'm loving how this meme is giving us all peeks into each other's fiction after so many months or years of reading each other's blog posts or non-fiction. Why I am I not surprised that the writing is awesome?
Thanks so much, NS, 🙂 I love the meme for the same reason, and thanks for your feedback, which means a lot, as does your kind compliment. 🙂
Hey MRM — just now got around to this. I figured I'd post here from my WIP, A Wild Epidemic of Magic:
"It's just a coincidence. I mean, you only just started learning to fly, Mags."
"Don' ever wanna do id again," Mags mumbled. "And now I'm all oud of dissues. Gread."
Without a word, the small man from the front counter shuffled up with a new box of tissues. He handed it to Mags and stood there awkwardly instead of heading back to his piles of broken shoes.
"You came here from the bookstore, huh," he said in a low voice. It wasn't a question, just a statement.
Kelley nodded, wondering how much of their conversation the guy had overheard. Probably all of it, including the bit about flying.
Whoo hoo! Thanks for posting, Mike! 🙂 I love your seven sentences! Makes me wonder what the heck is going on … in a good way, 🙂