Tagged again :-)

So, the thing about playing tag is that sometimes you get tagged back again. This always used to happen to me at school because I wasn't fast enough to run away, or - occasionally - because didn't realise we were still playing (yep, I was one of those kids who could get side-tracked by a passing cloud - I still can!)

Teralyn at A Writer's Journey tagged me during the A-Z Challenge, so I thought it would be a great post for today. Thanks, Teralyn!

I did The Lucky 7 Meme here, and now I'm going to do it again with my current WIP.

If you haven't heard about this before, here are The Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP.
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.

 Okay, you know that bit about not cheating? Well, I had to. This excerpt comes from page 76, because 77 gave too much away. The character's name has a significance, so apologies if it seems weird here, it's explained in the story. Anyway, here it is:
 

       How dare she! How dare she! Miss Isla Pertwee, of all the people at this atrocious place. How dare she make him look so foolish! In front of everyone.

       They’d laughed. At him! They’d turned and pointed and laughed, and then – worst of all, the very worst thing of all – they’d tutted, disparagingly, and walked away. From him! From Abraham Zephaniah Andrews!

            Now, right now, as he sat there at that table by the window, people were whispering about him from behind the shelves, peering at him through gaps in rows of books. 

I'm not going to tag anyone because after so many of you have just completed the A-Z Challenge I know everyone's feeling a bit shellshocked and trying to get back down to Earth. Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to share an excerpt - it's quite liberating sharing something so brief!

Lucky 7 meme... and some other stuff

Caitin at All About Growing Up and Becoming a Famous Author tagged me in this meme, which I've been following around bloggerland and really enjoying. I love the title of Caitin's blog - it reminds me of all the dreams I had as a child.

Here are the rules:

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'm currently working on a collection of novellas, so I put them all together to figure out which one was page 77.

He edges forward. My breath is shallow, constricted. My face is warm. Why did he have to bring this up? Why couldn’t we just go off into the sunset, happily ever after? In years to come, once we’d settled down and had five children and a dog and a farmhouse in Yorkshire, he could turn round and say, I know it was you.

I move closer and bow my head. My tears are real. They fall down my face in single file. Murray reaches to touch my shoulder. I can’t think straight.

“Did you do it?” he asks hesitantly, barely audible. He draws deep, slow breaths.

This excerpt is quite near the end of the second story. It's lucky I didn't have to paste a page later - it would have given away the ending!

I'm going to cheat slightly, and not tag anyone. I know this is naughty, and that if no one passed the tag on, there wouldn't be a game. But I've read so many, that I know a lot of people have already done this. And I hate missing anyone out of the fun. So, if you want to play, consider yourself tagged. And you're welcome to call me a cheat!

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And now for the other stuff. I rely on email notifications to keep me returning to blogs I've commented on, but I've noticed that on the pop-up comments box that a lot of blogs use, the option to be emailed has disappeared. I just wanted to say, officially - because this has been bothering me for a few days - that I'm not ignoring you. I'd love to know if you replied to my comment, I just haven't figured out a way to remember which blogs I commented on!

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Even as I type, I'm not sure if I want to do this, but here's one of the pictures from my recent photo shoot, which I mentioned in my last post. I'd prefer not to have any comments about it, because I really don't think I come out well. This is the picture Hubby thinks is the nicest.

I had hoped to have my photo taken next to Smeaton's Tower, but workmen were putting the scaffolding up  for its annual clean. Perhaps that's why the day felt so wrong - the image I had in mind wasn't possible.

Anyway... this is Smeaton's Tower...