Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Sevens Meme


Jo Schaffer and Lara Schiffbauer tagged me for this Sevens meme:

The rules are as follows:
1. Go to page 77 of your current ms
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating
4. Tag 7 authors
5. Let them know

I'll admit right off: I did cheat a little bit. I wanted to use the manuscript I'm currently working on, but page 77 is a mess. Only the first 15 pages have had any sort of revision at all, so I took this from page 7. Sorry! But at least I'm honest. :)

Okay, here goes...

My arm moves without consulting my brain, and the next thing I know my fist is connecting with Phoebe’s nose. She shrieks so loud I can almost feel the hearing damage.

"Hey!" Claudia screams. “You’re going to regret that.”

My mouth opens. I don’t know what I’m going to say but I know it’s going to be good, but then Mr. Fletcher runs out of his classroom and shoves himself between us. “What’s going on here?” he asks.

“Ivy broke Phoebe’s nose,” Claudia says. Phoebe’s screaming and clutching her nose and blood is gushing everywhere – splattering her Clorox-white Manchester East hoodie and dripping into her brassy red hair. While it does give me a certain satisfaction, it also sort of proves Claudia's point.

And I'd like to tag the following seven people:
Sharon Mayhew at Random Thoughts
Lenny Lee at Lenny's World
Robyn Campbell at Putting Pen to Paper
Kelly Polark
Jackee Alston at Winded Words
Lynda Young
Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances

I missed you all last week, but I had a fantastic spring break! My husband took the two younger kids skiing in Colorado while I stayed home with my oldest daughter who plays high school sports and couldn't miss a week of practices. We had a terrific time together and I had plenty of quiet time to do my favorite thing: write! Are you going anywhere for spring break? Or are you a homebody like me?

35 comments:

S.A. Larsenッ said...

I love the end of this. It totally makes me think. Very visual. :D

Annalisa Crawford said...

lol, that's brilliant. Love the last line!

Lauren said...

What a great clip from your MS!

DL Hammons said...

We just finished our spring break and although we had plans to go camping, mother nature decided we should stay home instead. :) MY wifes a travel agent and loves to travel...me...I'm the homebody!

DEZMOND said...

oh, poor Phoebes!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I love Ivy! Phoebe deserved the punch...for sure!

I'm glad you had a good spring break. I'd always rather be anywhere than home...I love to travel!

AguiLeon.com said...

nice share go in the line :)

Old Kitty said...

Oh that Claudia is such a tittle tattle! LOL! Yay for a fab extract! Thank you for sharing Susan!!

Oh wow! I am tagged! Yay! LOL!

Welcome back!!!!! I am so looking forward to a nice quiet Easter break and lots of hot cross buns and chocolate easter eggs! Yay! Take care
x

Brian's Home Blog said...

Sounds like you are gonna all be in seven heaven for sure!

Carol Riggs said...

Great excerpt! I had to chuckle more than once, just the way you worded things. :) I didn't go anywhere for spring break, mostly cuz I'm not sure when it is...last week? this week? My kids are grown so I don't keep track of vacation times like that. :D

Hema P. said...

Great lines, Susan! Looks like you're going the contemporary route with this one?

We went on a road trip to New Mexico for spring break. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time :).

cleemckenzie said...

Very satisfying punch in the nose! Glad your spring break was great. I'm thinking the quiet of my deck would be nice. Homebody, here.

Talli Roland said...

What a fun excerpt. Glad you had a great spring break!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

She probably had it coming!

Lara Schiffbauer said...

Glad you had a great break. Sometimes it's nice to just relax at home. I'm finding that true more and more as I get older. Soon I won't be leaving the house, ever!

I loved your excerpt. I'm wondering what got these girls intot this situation!

Carolyn V said...

Awesome! Love the writing.

Our spring break is next week. I'm teaching our son to drive. I'm a little scared.

Clara said...

Hey, that's pretty great! : D

Oh and I'm so happy for you! To be honest, I miss the time when it was just me and my mom. I love my dad and brothers, don't get me wrong, but having my mom all to myself for a couple of days wasn't bad at all : )

Tess said...

love this scene, Susan..

and, we will be going to Zion National Park for spring break but that's not for a couple more weeks yet. still, I'm looking forward to it.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

haha Love the excerpt! Love the voice you've captured too.

Thanks so much for passing on the meme.

Velva said...

Glad that you had a great Spring Break-the alone time and quality time that you spent with your daughter is precious.
I had a good spring break too. I read the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo- A good read. I did plenty of cooking too, which is always a good thing (smile).

Velva

Deniz Bevan said...

Love love love the voice you've got in this snip, Susan. Love your word choices, right from that first line. More please!

Lydia Kang said...

I've been loving reading everyone's 7 memes, and yours is no exception. :)

Leslie S. Rose said...

Love the way you play with the different reds - hair and blood. I'm having hip replacement surgery for Spring Break, I'd rather go to Vegas.

Ruth Schiffmann said...

Great snippet, Susan! I can picture this scene clearly.

I'm a homebody too. Glad you enjoyed spring break with your daughter =)

Cynthia Chapman Willis said...

Glad you had a wonderful spring break with writing time. And congrats on the award. Nice seven lines, but they made my nose hurt. : )

LindyLouMac said...

Sounds intriguing!

Shelley Sly said...

Your excerpt is very well written! Sounds like a story I'd like to read.

I'm glad you had a fun spring break! I'm going to visit my family, 4 hours away from home.

Robyn Campbell said...

*waves and jumps up and down* Homebody here! :-)

I love the excerpt, Susan! The characters, the words, the idea. It's awesome, pal.

I'll do mine Monday. :-)

LynNerdKelley said...

Great excerpt. I can tell your novel is packed with tension. Well done!

Margo Berendsen said...

WOw great job with using sensory details! I havent' been brave enough to check out my page 77 yet (or page 7)!

Theresa Milstein said...

Ha! I like the voice here!

Romance Reader said...

I liked the ending and loved how you told it!

Riya.

Anonymous said...

Poor Phoebe. I'm wondering what happened before and what happens after.

Great piece.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I would taken a pass on skiing too. (Don't tell my hubby that though. He loves it) LOL

This year we're going to Puerto Rico. (more MY style) LOL

PS. Love your first person voice!

Kelly Polark said...

Ouch! Great sneak peek into your story, Susan. And thanks for the tag!