The fantastic Erin Funk tagged me in the 7-7-7- challenge. How does it work? Post the 7th line on the 7th page of your WIP, followed by the next 7 lines. Then, tag 7 other writers to take part in the challenge too. This challenge was deceptively hard.Good thing I had several projects to look through. The scene below is taken from PHOENIX RISING. During this scene, my character is in jail. (Not for the first time either.) Over the din of conversation, Walker picked up the clang of a steel door in the distance. The only time it opened was when a guard brought food in, but it was too early for that. And if it weren’t, it would be only one pair of feet with a cart. Walker clearly heard two pairs. One of which had a definite limp that he knew all too well. Rage overtook Walker’s fear as his master’s mocking laugh echoed against the walls.  “I’m serious, Ianos. You should consider it as an alternative to… you know.”  Walker barely registered the officer that stopped in fro...

Today is the last day of Dawn Embers' Broken Hearts Blogfest . So if you're coming from there, hello, and why don't you enter a contest while you're here ? If you say you're from this blogfest, you'll get an extra entry. What is that? I'll let Dawn explain: "... the basic idea is to write about a heart breaking or one that is already broken. Show us the wretched emotions, the anger, depression, fear, whatever happens after the happy honeymooon lovey-dove V-day stuff is over and all that is left is a broken heart." This blogfest has been on my radar for a while, but wasn't sure if I'd enter it. I'm twitchy about sharing excerpts from WIPs, but I'm trying to get better at it. Feedback is a good thing to have, after all. The below is a bit from my co-authored yet-to-be-titled WIP. The MC, Laurel, is seeing her ex-boyfriend for the first time in almost two years. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Mass Marketing Day, Lurkdom. Instead of ranting about how much I hate this holiday, I thought I'd be productive and participate in Stina and Christina's Just Kiss Already Blogfest . The rules are simple: post a 250-word scene where actual kissing happens. Then read and comment on at least three other participants. While trying to find something for this, I realized that I don't have a lot of kissing scenes in my writing repertoire.* Because of this, I'm sharing a scene from my recently finished WIP**, Phoenix Rising. So if it's still a little rough, that's why. Kyla wanted to go home. She should’ve never made the initial arrangement in the first place. Should she call Janice and tell her she wouldn’t be coming home tonight? What would she say? “I’m paying my debt of gratitude to the police for not hauling me to jail.” She was over her head. The water stopped running. A moment later, the bathroom door opened. “Found your way back here already?” A...

Finally, the day has arrived for the... When reading this page and all the others, you should focus and answer the following three questions: 1. Would you turn to page 100? 2. Why or why not? 3. Based on what you read, how likely would you buy the book? In true Page 99 test fashion, I'm giving you anything about the story except the genre. Oh and I'll give the title as well. Phoenix Rising Urban Fantasy "Eating dinner." Walker tore into another portion. He felt barbecue sauce smear across his chin and with sick amusement bet it looked like blood. "You should be out finding that girl." Walker could now hear the irritation in his voice. Good. "The redhead? She's in my seminar." "That's some of the best news of the day. Tell me: have you conversed with her yet?" Walker didn't answer; he was too busy worrying a stubborn piece of meat off the tendon. Ianos cuffed him off the back of the head. Walker let a small...

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you link your blog in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's topic : What is your favorite line from your WIP? If you're in the Northeast, I hope you're surviving this blizzard safely and full of hot chocolate . I have about 50% of that down and the day job has been dogging me all day. Now onto business. Disclaimer: I always get twitchy about sharing excerpts on the blog. No one has told me why, but there you go*. So with my sharing paranoia shoved deep down, I out FALLING TO NORMAL** to find one of my favorite bits.  The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile of sorts and had my stomach drop to my toes. I didn’t have a clear concept of what “sexy” was, but I thought Luke’s half-smile fell into that category. Because of his face, he was what some of the girls would call a “p...