Lucky Number Seven...

I was tagged by the lovely Rebecca Scarberry on her blog, scarberryfieldsForever, to play a Twitter game called “Lucky Number Seven.”

by n3lson

The rules are simple: go to page seventy-seven of your latest work, published or in progress, count down seven lines, then copy the following seven lines to your blog. The next step in the game *evil grin* is to tag new victims authors.


This sample is from my WIP, tentatively titled AVENGERS OF BLOOD, book two in the Forney County series. The scene takes place at the county medical examiner's office. Detective Cass Elliot, English forensic anthropologist Bernie Winterbottom, and Forney County's ME, John Grey, are examining a murder victim. Bernie has just asked Cass what she notices about the body:

Cass leaned closer. “The area around the mouth is significantly more burned than the rest of the face. Goober said the zombie’s mouth was on fire when he found the body.”

“Very good," Bernie said. "Grey’s autopsy identified charring in the esophagus and lungs.”

“What does that mean?”

“He drank an accelerant, probably gasoline, or had it forced down his throat,” Grey answered quietly. He joined them and studied the man’s torso. “It wasn’t much, perhaps a few ounces. The damage to his throat and lungs means that he was alive when he was set alight.”

And now for those Lucky authors who get to carry on the Number Seven Game, four friends from across the pond *drum roll*:

Stuart Haddon, author of thriller THE BUTTERFLY AND THE BULL


Clive S. Johnson, author of mysteries LEIYATEL'S EMBRACE and the newly released OF WEFT AND WEAVE (April 2012)


Sinclair Macleod, author of The Reluctant Detective Series, including THE RELUCTANT DETECTIVE, THE GOOD GIRL, and newly released THE KILLER PERFORMER (March 2012)


D.G. Torrens, author of memoir AMELIA'S STORY


(Book links are to Amazon.com, but all books are also available on Amazon.co.uk)