7-7-7.

The 7-7-7 challenge pops up on the blogosphere quite a bit, most recently for me by Linda Cassidy Lewis (go read them. Go read them now, I’ll wait, because she’s got some good ones!). So what is this all about? Well, you go to your current WIP (I’ll be doing three, I think, just like Linda). Go to the seventh page. Go down seven lines. Then share the next seven lines. It’s one of my favorite games out there, so, whenever I see it posted, I jump on the chance to play along. Hopefully, they pique your interest and make you want to read more. So have a look, let me know what you think!

WIP #1: The Slayer Saga: Soulless.

      Veroh straightened her back, tossing her dark hair behind her shoulders. “Many of them have,” she said, voice tight and restrained. She tried a smile, but it was forced and lacking any mirth. “That is why they have come to Paravelle, for safety, to escape the terror of the outside world. The Baron’s own wife is actually a refugee from the south, you know.”
      And his mistress probably was, too. “Tell me about the Baron’s wife,” the Slayer said.

WIP #2: Serpent in a Cage.

…Then there were temples and shops, all opulent and exotic in their designs, and, finally, flanked by apartments with wide, open balconies, were the Devahs arches. Devahs, an ancient legend and local hero, had fought two draygens with his bare hands, his feats etched forever into the bold gateway to the square. Locke was always fascinated passed through this way, taking in the crude outline of the man himself, the two writing beasts with their long necks dangling from each clenched fist.
     The bubble of conversation and trickling fountains greeted Locke the moment he passed through the arch, and he was pleased to see that it wasn’t so busy that the crowds would shred at his last nerve. It must be that festival drawing most of the people away, but it wasn’t so quiet that he’d be suspect or noticeable, either. Most of the shops were engaged in business, demonstrating fine steel or bartering with each other over fruits. A woman in a small top and gauzy pants twisted her arms and wrists and hips in an enticing dance to the tune strummed by the harp player at her feet.

WIP #3: The Mutineers of Starvation.

She waved one hand dismissively and found a screwdriver with it the other. “Not impossible,” she said, digging into the holo. “Just incredible. Clearly, the Empire figured it out. It just took them a lot longer than a few years. I’ll get there, though. And if not? Then the next generation will. Or the one after that. Or even after that. After all, when your granddad was knee high to a june bug, I doubt they thought even holos were possible out. We’ll figure it out. We always do. And when that happens…”

I was going by sentence lines, not spacial lines, so I cheated a little with the last one because those lines were so short, and just gave you the paragraph. The second is a little rough; that WIP needs a lot of editing, but I’m particularly pleased with the third one, as that character is one of my favorites from the story. Typically, the next step is to tag people to follow suit, but I’m never much of a tagger. I open it up to anyone who would like to share, either on their own blogs or even in the comments below.

Happy writing!