Lucky 7

17 April 2012 |

Author VRChristensen

A Game of Excerpts

As some of you may know, Of Moths & Butterflies was recently reviewed by the lovely Mirella Patzer. I was not only extremely pleased by her kind praise of my debut novel, but I was really honoured to be noticed by Mirella, for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration. As if her magnificent review wasn’t enough, she also tagged me to take part in this little Lucky 7 game that’s going around, where authors are chosen to share seven lines from their current work in progress. The timing could be better, for I return this week to working on Cry of the Peacock. It’s about time, too, as the publication date, October 2012, looms before me.

The contest rules are:

1. Go to page 77 of your current work in progress.

2. Go to line 7.

3. Copy the next 7 lines or sentences as written and post them onto your blog or website.

4. Tag 7 other authors.

5. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Cry of the Peacock is the story of Abbie Gray, who has spent her life on the Radcliffe Estate as the daughter of the overseer. When her father dies, she finds herself the recipient of an offer to assume a place within her wealthy landlord’s family. She’s sceptical of the motivation behind such an extraordinary invitation, but having nowhere else to go, she accepts. But from the moment she enters their home, her suspicions that there is more to their kindness than meets the eye increases. Neither is she universally accepted among them. While the eldest brother and heir to the estate seems to have taken an exaggerated interest in her, his younger brothers are determined to expose her as a mercenary and an upstart, and to give her every reason to leave. But things, as Abbie feared, truly aren’t what they seem, and the outcome turns out to be more dire for the family than for Abbie. Of course, along the way, she forms allies, even if they are reluctant ones (at first).

Here’s a taste:

He spoke of piazzas and Palazzi and basilicas until it was all a blur of incomprehensible language. Antiquities, gallerias and musei littered the air and now and then he would drop into Latin or Italian—she was not always quite sure which was which—as his mother nodded and smiled and offered the perfectly placed “I see” whenever it was convenient.

“It sounds as though you had quite a time,” she said when it seemed he had at last finished.

“Yes,” he answered. “If I had not to drag James around to see the sights- At least his idea of sightseeing was somewhat different than mine,” and he darted a telling glance in Abbie’s direction…

See the Trailer

Now to tag seven authors whose works I have both read and love. I hope they’ll be able to participate, but considering how busy some of these wonderful people are, I’ll excuse them if they cannot. Do check out their blogs anyway. They’re definitely worth a look.