7-7-7: Renée writing excerpts!

Amanda Brice tagged me on Facebook for the 7-7-7 meme. Basically you are supposed to go to either page 7 or page 77 of your work in progress, go down 7 lines, and then post the next 7 lines. 

So I opened up my two sadly neglected WIPs: Rachel Richards Hates Rats, my middle-grade novel that I discussed in the Roundtable Podcast, and the as yet unnamed sequel to Dreaming of Deliverance. 

But I couldn't decide which page and which WIP to use, so I decided to post all of them here!

Rachel Richards Hates Rats p. 7, lines 8-14:

I took a couple of steps backward, so Ev couldn't grab the phone from my hand and hang up, which he'd been known to do. "I gotta go, Gwennie."

"Aw, I wish I was there! Your own pool in the backyard. Rachel Richard's dad coming over to your house. You're so lucky!"

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Ev was hopping up and down again. "Bye, Gwen." I pushed the phone's off button while Ev pulled at my arm. "Okay! Just let me get my swimsuit on."

Rachel Richards p. 77, lines 8-14

I thought of what it felt like to sit there alone while everyone else seemed to be having such a good time. I looked down at Ringo. He jerked his head to the side in Rachel's direction. "Go to her, Ellen," he said in his quietest voice. "Make this right."

Why should I? I almost said. This is Rachel Richards we're talking about. She's been terrible to me from the first day I met her. But for some reason, at that moment I couldn't remember all the reasons I didn't like her.

And these are the excerpts that might interest you more...

Dreaming of Deliverance sequel p. 7, lines 8-14

“Barren rock! Yeh’re back!”

“Oh yes, pet. Our dear friend is right. It’s that little girl!”

“I see her, love. I see her. Doesn’t she look pathetic? But we can’t stay here. We must flee. They will come now that a jut has been opened.”

Rough hands pulled me upright.

“Come on, Lindsay! You have to walk. We can’t carry you.”

I blinked at the man standing in front of me. It was twilight but I could see him well enough.

“Michael?” His face was thinner and white tufts streaked his beard, but the restless eyes and gruff voice were the same.

DoD sequel p. 77, lines 8-14

He led me down a short sandy path to the edge of the river while I admired his ability to communicate with the sisters without addressing them directly. The water was quiet and slow-moving, trickling musically through a cluster of smooth-topped rocks, the largest of which stuck up a couple of feet from the surface at an angle and acted as a natural dam. The resulting pool was big enough for skipping stones or wading, but too small to swim. Clumps of bushy willows, their branches swaying in the breeze, surrounded us and blocked out the view of the cave—of everything really, except the rocks and the water and the starry dome overhead. It was like being in a giant nest.

So there they are! I found it interesting which parts of each story came up: they connect, which is pretty cool. It also made me realize how much I miss these stories. Back at the beginning of this blog, I posted here to motivate myself to keep writing. I need to start that back up again. I love narrating audiobooks, but I'm also a writer and I miss my own stories. I'll get back to it now.

Thanks, Amanda!

Well, this is awkward...and great!

Long time, no post. Yes, I say that a lot. Yes, that should probably be the new title of Pointed Sqiuggle, I say it so much. And while this might have been my longest gap between entries, that doesn't change this very familiar sentiment

But it feels especially awkward today. The difference this time is that I'm at the New Media Expo or NMX (formerly Blog World), surrounded by people who are experts at blogging and new media. Since I break probably all of the rules when it comes to successful blogging, I'm feeling a little sheepish.  Tomorrow I'm doing a presentation here, and it occurred to me that some of the attendees could check out my blog, so I should probably post something more current than the hot weather entry from four months ago.

And lots has happened since August. I'm now narrating audiobooks full time! It's been very exciting, but somewhat stressful since the deadlines have been tight. I've worked on a wide-variety of great books, each of which has had its own joys and challenges. I'll be sure to let you know about them, when they are released.

And that's what's led me to NMX! My experience with podcast fiction has resulted in a career in audio book narration. It's pretty darn wonderful how things have worked out, and I look forward to sharing what I've learned tomorrow in my session.

Here's a link:

Tone and Emotion: The keys to compelling podcast fiction narration

The best part of being here is that I'm getting to meet some of my podcast fiction friends in person for the first time! I've loved hanging out with Abbie Hilton, the Dunesteef guys (Big Anklevich and Rish Outfield), Bryan Lincoln (who is doing the presentation with me), and Lauren "Scribe" Harris. Marshal Latham (also doing the Tone and Emotion presentation) arrives today. What a great group! Abbie, Big, Rish, and Lauren's session is also tomorrow and covers comedy in podcast fiction, which is difficult to do successfully, but so effective! Here's a link:

Using Comedy to Humanize Characters and Hook Listeners 

Scott Sigler is here as well! He has a "Super Session" tomorrow called The Art of Podcast Storytelling. Unfortunately, it's in the morning before my session, but I'm planning on attending most of it.

I think it's fabulous that NMX is featuring podcast fiction this year! I feel honored to be a part of it.

And now my blog isn't so embarrassingly out of date!

More...okay I won't say "soon"...but eventually!