Writing Wednesday-meme and award COMBO

I'd been planning to partake in Lori M. Lee's brilliant Writing Wednesday-meme for several weeks now, and since I've been bestowed The Versatile Blogger award again, along with The Irresistably Sweet Blog award, I've decided to incorporate an improvised version of the meme into this post. 

Yes, I'm changing the rules of these particular blog awards, folks! Or, at least giving the recipients the choices between ye ol' rules, and some shiny new ones. I'm a rebel, what can I say? ;)

So, off we go!

Thank you, Caitlin Vincent

Bequeathed to:

Lea Zeqiri

Liesl

Taryn Tyler

Brenda St. John Brown

Marigold Lott

The original rules:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 deserving blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them

OR

My new rules...

Replace #2 above with this improvised meme from Lori's post: List the first and last lines of the first five chapters from one of your manuscripts. Can you see a story taking shape? Does it intrigue and intensify, making you want to read what's between?

I chose chapter snippets taken from my historical literary love story, Forgotten Silences (think Jane Eyre meets A Certain Slant of Light) with a unique love triangle between a deaf woman, the ghost that only she can see and hear, and a dark and mysterious viscount tied to the ghost's death.

Chap 1:

Melancholy ... melody; separate words, separate meanings, united by a memory pressed upon my heart.

Taking a breath of cold air, I opened the door and crossed the threshold, alone.

Chap 2:

In my youth, a spot of hot chocolate savored in tandem with a cranberry crumpet could evaporate the rain from the soggiest afternoon.

Then, using the grosgrain ribbon for protection, I picked up the flower, grabbed my lantern, and scrambled along the path and into my home, locking the door behind me.

Chap 3:

It took me half of the hour to plant the blossom, as I wore thick gloves to avoid getting pricked by its stem or touching the poisonous pollen within the raised cone.

“Either I am having a vivid hallucination, Sir, or you are a ghost.”

Chap 4:

I did not have to be a lip-reader to analyze the skepticism within his expression.

Then, as I clasped the chain around my neck and the locket fell between my breasts beneath the throw, my ghostly companion reappeared … this time to stay.

Chap 5:

Morning broke with a reluctant sunrise.

How could anyone withstand the vision of their own grave, knowing what lay beneath the dirt?


 Next:

Thank you, Cherie and Lisa Ann

Bequeathed to:

Lani Woodland

 Stephanie Alexander

Jamie Handling

 Sylvia Ney

 Rene Nightingale

And along with the strawberry goodness comes these original rules:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated me.
2. Share seven random facts about myself.
3. Pass the award to 15 blogging friends.
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them.

OR

The new rules...

Replace #2 with: List three of your favorite sentences from a WIP or finished MS. 

And, in the interest of time, you can be creative with #3 and pass the award to as few as five friends.


My favorite three lines (from the same MS as above):

1. Winter had settled in her heart, and was freezing her from the inside out.

2. Yet I could not shake the foreboding sense that each page turned would be another ribbon snipped away from Pandora’s box of beautiful misery.

3. Flames of fear have crisped the memory to a nightmare, which snows like ash over my dreams.

 ~~~

Congrats, nominees! By now I've contacted you. I hope you enjoy the award. You earned it!**

On Friday, my QueryTrackers successful author interview will be with Kaylie Austen. Kaylie's story is atypical in that she's found a trade publisher sans an agent. She has several new books coming out in the near future, so be sure to drop by and congratulate her!

**Award winners: Please don't feel obligated to post the award or partake in the rules unless you're so inclined. The gesture on my part is like a thank you card, and I don't expect everyone to save their cards unless they want to. We all have our own decorating tastes and expectations for our "online home." But, if you choose to post it, here are some helpful hints:

Right click on the picture here and "save picture as." From your dashboard go into 'design' and 'add a gadget' and download the picture.