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Friday, June 8, 2012

The Lucky 7 Meme




Susanne Drazic of PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER tagged me for the Lucky 7 Meme last week. Thank you, Susanne!

I hadn't heard of this meme before I was tagged, but I think it's a fun one. Here's how it works:

 Lucky 7 Meme Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current manuscript.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them as they're written.  No cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers to pass this meme on to.
 
I went to page 77 of my novel Polar Night and followed the directions, only to discover that, since the excerpt involved the start of a conversation, if I stopped at 7 lines there was really nothing to it. So I thought I would just cheat a tiny bit and double the 7 to 14. But then I realized that what was 14 lines on my Word document isn't 14 lines on a blog post. Somehow, I managed to turn a fun meme into a source of stress and I was on my way to needing a straightjacket once again LOL. So please just leave your counting ability at the door and pretend my excerpt is either 7 or 14 lines. ;) 

Excerpt:

For the first time since he had moved to Alaska, Danny took out his phone and called Chicago. He briefly wondered what time it was there, and was momentarily confused about whether he was ahead of Chicago time or behind it, but then decided he didn’t give a damn anyway. He didn’t want to waste any more time, and this had to start now.

“Hello, this is Agent John Fisher.”

“Hello, Agent Fisher. This is Danny Fitzpatrick.”
 

Danny wasn’t surprised to hear silence on the other end of the line.

“Fitzpatrick?” John finally said. “Are you kidding me?”

“Not at all.”

“What the hell? Where are you?”

“I’m in Alaska. I work in Fairbanks now.”

“Alaska? Are you kidding me?”

“Still not kidding you.”

“Why haven’t you called anyone? I haven’t heard from you since…”

He stopped talking in mid-sentence, illustrating exactly why Danny hadn’t called anyone.


Writers I am tagging: 

Susan Oloier
Madeline at The Shellshank Redemption
Michael Pierce
LG Smith at Bards & Prophets
Cecilia at CeCe's Reading and Writing Safari
Tara at Tara Tyler Talks
Tonja at Tonja's Musings

Thank you again to Susanne for tagging me for this meme! Happy Friday to everyone and best wishes for a great weekend ahead. :)

23 comments:

  1. Thanks for picking me. I totally get the stress picking lines for this kind of thing.

    And I get the feeling of your character - finally calling and then regretting it.

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  2. Tonja, I was just heading to your blog to let you know LOL. I hope I didn't stress you out by picking you, I know these things can be a pain sometimes. Thanks about my character!

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  3. Wait, what happened? Why didn't he call anyone? You have a bad habit of always leaving us hanging!

    And, hah! Already got tagged for this one, which I think leaves me immune. :P

    Have a great weekend. Hope you and Clancy have nice weather for an outing together.

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  4. @LG, oh, I must have seen your post when you were tagged so I am apparently wrong that I didn't know about this Meme before. LOL, I can't keep anything straight lately! Thanks and I'm hoping for good weather too, Clancy and I have been lazy lately. :)

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  5. Loved your lines, totally got it and wanted to know more. (This stuff stresses me out too but you did great.)

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  6. OK I have no idea if this was 7 lines of 14 and it doesn't matter, I want more!!!

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  7. Now I want to know why ... Great excerpt, Julie.

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  8. Hi Julie,

    Thank you for tagging me. :) Great Lucky 7. It's great you did the full dialogue with this snippet. I'll be posting mine over the weekend.

    Happy Friday!

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  9. I like that snippet!

    Thanks for tagging me. Someone else tagged me, too, so I better get cracking. Maybe I'll use the the page from my oh so messy Camp NaNo novel...hmmm....

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  10. Julie, After reading this snippet and the passage on your blog, I so want to read the whole book!!!! I am yanked into the story already.

    I've done the Lucky 7 before, but it's so fun...I think I'll do it again next week. Thanks for tagging me :-) Have a great weekend!

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  11. @Kittie, thank you, I'm so glad you liked it!

    @LynnMarie, LOL, thanks!!

    @Mary, thank you!

    @Cecelia, oh, great, I'm looking forward to your post. Happy Friday to you as well. :)

    @Madeline, thanks! LOL, I'm amazed I hadn't seen this tag around at all, apparently I'm the only one LOL.

    @Susan, thank you, I'm so happy you like the story. I'm looking forward to your post next week!

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  12. Now we all wonder since what? Talk about a hook!

    Happy Weekend :)

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  13. Love it! I really want to know what happened to Danny!

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  14. It leaves us wanting more, great excerpt. Thanks for picking me! :)

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  15. @Carol, thanks so much. And happy weekend to you as well! :)

    @Jemi, thank you! :)

    @Michael, thanks so much, and you're very welcome. :)

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  16. Good luck with your MS for Polar Night! Now I want to know why Danny has disappeared from the radar.

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  17. Oh Lor’ you need a maths degree to do a meme!!! Well done for not freaking!!! lol

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  18. @Stephen, thank you!

    @Carolyn, LOL, math is not my strong suit. :D

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  19. That's a great excerpt! Good dialogue too. When I was tagged for that last the part I posted has since been deleted!

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  20. I've got to pat you on the back for your bravery...I wouldn't dare post my ms. I'd probably have fun with it in a smaller, writers group setting though.

    Have a lovely Sunday. :)

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  21. i looked right away and wrote it down to remember and thought i commented...apparently not!

    hanks so much julie!

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  22. and what a great excerpt! want to read more!

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  23. @Honey, thanks! Oh, I'm sorry your post got deleted, that's shame.

    @Michelle, oh, I would love to read an excerpt of your ms, I know it would be great. But I know what you mean, it made me nervous to do this too! Thanks and I hope you are enjoying your Sunday as well.

    @Tara, you're welcome, and thank you!

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