Friday Fun: Double 7's

 

So today I'm back with a Lucky 7 post. I've been tagged twice recently (therefore the double 7s in the title) and I'm going to work it to my advantage. You'll see.

Now, about the people who tagged me... First was Loni Flowers, a writer I met through Triberr, who blogs at Loni Flowers - Author and whose book Taking Chances is available on Smashwords and Amazon. I haven't read Loni's book yet, but I'll tell ya, I had to take the adult content filter off at Smashwords to get to the link. Just sayin'  ;)

And just this week, I was tagged in a Lucky 7 Facebook post by Clover Autrey.  Clover's a Texan, and I met her through the WANATribe network. She blogs here and her new book, Highland Sorcerer, is currently on sale for $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It looks like an awesome read...

There are rules to this Lucky 7 thing. I'm not going to follow them, exactly, but if I was, here's what I would do:

Post seven lines from an unpublished work of fiction:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript (fiction or non-fiction)
Go to line 7
Post the next 7 lines or sentences on your blog as they are (no cheating, please!)
Tag 7 other authors to do the same

 

I mean, those are fine rules, and I'll be really close to what they say. Anywhoodle, because I'm playing Double 7's, I'm going to share snippets of two different works. The first is from a short story I wrote late last year, The Santa Drag that was in the anthology Christmas Treats: Santa's Nice List. Then (and this is the exciting part) I'm going to share a snippet from the SEQUEL, a short story that'll be coming out in the next week or so called The Ring Toss. So see, I've got Something Old and Something New, which is terrifically appropriate, because the name of the new anthology is Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

Clever, huh?

 

So here's the first Lucky 7 snippet, from The Santa Drag. Mack's an unemployed 30-something actress in Seattle who takes a gig playing Santa in the mall because it's the only thing she can find that'll pay the rent. Things are okay until the day HE walks in, Joe McBride, the only guy she ever really loved. He moved to LA and now he's semi-famous with a regular role on that TV show that shouldn't have been cancelled and a speaking part in Scream - 2. Mack's in trouble now...

 

“Ho-ho-ho,” I said, suddenly much louder than before.

After that, time separated itself into layers. The bottom layer rolled past like lava, slow and thick, while the top layer slid by with irregular spurts of speed. The line-up of kids waiting to see Santa didn’t seem to be moving, and then Joe and his kids would be eight or ten feet closer to the gate that separated the Christmas Village from the rest of the mall. I tried not to look at him, because I didn’t want him to think I was some kind of Creepy-Kringle. As time went on, I realized he wasn’t really seeing me at all. He was occupied keeping his kids entertained, and I was just some old dude in a costume.

 

The Santa Drag 

 This shopping mall Santa has secrets only her true love can reveal.

 

And now for the sneak peek at The Ring Toss. Fast forward three years and Mack's in LA, living with Joe and doing the struggling actress thing. She still has commitment issues which get brought front and center when a last-minute switch has her playing The Bride on stage. Can she get over her own fears in time to be a hit?

(Did I mention that the maid-of-honor in this production is played by Joe's ex-fiance? Awkward. This snippet happens as Mack & Geneva get ready to rehearse...)

 

“And he’s forty.”

“She’ll have her SAG card in about another minute. It’s kind of surprising he didn’t give her the part.”

Geneva sighed. Getting older in this town sucked. “Okay, what scene do you want to run?”

We smiled at each other without any particular warmth. Truce declared. In all honesty, I knew most of the lines in the play just from having heard them so often. There was only one scene where she and I were the only characters onstage. If things were going to get weird, it would likely happen then.

  

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Available SOON!

I guess I'm also supposed to tag 7 other bloggers, but a couple weeks ago I tagged just about everyone I knew in the Be Inspired post, and don't want to make a pest of myself. So if you want, consider yourself tagged, grab the Lucky 7 icon and go for it. Just let me know when your post is up so I can come by and say 'hi'. Have a great weekend!

Peace,

Liv

Monday Evening Star: Something For Everybody

The Letter D...

So last week a post by the always cool Shay Fabbro was "brought to us by the letter P". She listed ten things she loved that began with P and said if you left her a comment, she'd give you a letter of your own. She was true to her word, and my letter is D.
Coming up with ten things that start with D was harder than you'd think. Seriously. Here goes:

1. Dunn (because it's my maiden name)
2. Mr. Darcy (well duh)
3. Dogs (a picture's worth 1000 words)
4. Dysfunctional (because that's how I live)
5. Daydreams (because that's how I survive #4)
6. Delicious (because it refers to food, and I'ma lova mah grub)
7. Daredevil (because if it doesn't scare you a little, it's probably not worth doing)
8. Dancing (because you're never too old...right Tami?)
9. Daughter (because everyone needs a daughter to keep them honest...right Sara?)
10. Daybreak (because it means you get another chance)

Now leave me a comment and I'll assign YOU a letter. Good luck!

Lucy 7

Speaking of luck, my friend and fellow Black Opal Books author Jami Gray tagged me with the Lucky 7 meme. The rules are pretty simple...

• go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
• go to line 7
• post on your blog the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are
• tag 7 other people to do the same

My current WIP doesn't have 77 pages (yet), but here are 7 lines (or maybe 8, I lost count) from  page  7 of a piece I'm calling Hell...The Story. Ophelia Rand and her friends Sally Serpent and Jimmy the Ghost are sitting in the lobby of the Hell Hotel, wondering why one of Hell's Escorts tried to bring a live one through. And, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, either.     ;)

I came around in front of my desk, leaning back to rest my butt cheeks on the edge of the marble top. Under our feet, the tile floor showed a naked couple in a garden, circled by the feathers of a giant peacock. My feet were right by the peacock’s eye. “Makes me wonder what Leon’s up to.”

            “Losing it,” Jimmy said.

            “Yeah, dude must be like a thousand years old.” Sally shifted again so she could lean back against the arm of the couch and drape her legs over Jimmy’s lap. He put a hand on her thigh, letting it slide up to the hem of her skirt, which was way too high. Around me, the billowy silks started shifting to darker colors, deep ruby and gold and forest green.

Now the rules say I'm supposed to tag seven other bloggers, but that seems so dictatorial, right? So, if you want to play, consider yourself tagged.  ;)  Grab the Lucky 7 graphic and post your seven lines. Just make sure to ping me so I know to take a look, okay?

 We Have A Winner

Last Wednesday, Diana Brandmeyer was my guest with a fun & informative post about living a gluten-free life. Check here if you missed it. At the end of her post, she said that she'd give a copy of one of her books to a lucky commenter. The winner was Tam Linsey, and while I'll hook the two of them up via email, I wanted to announce it here, too. Congratulations Tam! You'll be able to choose either Diana's nonfiction book, We're Not Blended, We're Pureed or her romance, A Bride's Dilemma.


Final Thought

Let me set the scene...
I was driving my 14 year old daughter to her choir practice this afternoon. We were stuck in traffic on I5 and the radio wasn't playing something she could sing to.
R: Mom, can I ask you something?
Me: Um, okay.
(quickly thinking, I HATE that question. Can I trade you in for a 2-year-old, because they're just EASIER)
R: How come I look Asian?
(Now, for reals, if we lived in Hawaii, most people would assume she was hapa - her eyes have heavy lids and she has high cheekbones and she could be part Japanese or something. She's not. We're French, Irish, German, etc... I have NO idea why her eyes look sort of Asian.)
Me: Why? (thinking. your father really is your father, child; also thinking, this is important why?)
R: Two kids asked me what race I was at school today.
Me: (thinking something articulate like, Goddam kids) Well, supposedly your Grandfather's family has some Native American mixed in somewhere. Just tell them you're part Native American.
R: (sitting up a little straighter) Cool.
And that, friends, is the beauty of Middle School. On the one hand, one stupid question can ruin your day. On the other, Mom can still fix it with a few words. If she's lucky.
Peace,
Liv