#luckyseven Book Excerpt - The Serpent Sword

Last week, Charlene Newcomb, tagged me in a writer's exercise called #luckyseven. 

You can see details of her post here. On her blog, you can also find out about her novels, the most recent of which is Battle Scars (book 1): Men of the Cross.

The rules are simple:

• Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
• Go to line 7
• Post on your blog the next 7 lines or sentences – as they are!!
• Tag 7 other people to do the same

So here are 7 lines from Page 77 of THE SERPENT SWORD. I am actually working on the sequel at the moment, but as The Serpent Sword hasn't been published yet, I thought I'd stick with that.

I don't think the excerpt needs much of an introduction. It is an atmospheric section, taking place in a brief moment of peace after some quite cataclysmic events.

"On waking Beobrand felt refreshed. His body still ached but he had slept through the afternoon, all through the night and long into the morning, and the rest had done him good. He lay for a while and listened to the movements of the people around him. He could hear the crackle of the fire on the hearthstone and feel its warmth against his cheek. There was the sound of someone stirring something in a bowl, and the cloying scent of malt and honey. Underneath the smell of ale being prepared, Beobrand detected the subtler aroma of baking bread. He could hear a woman's melodious voice intoning a ditty quietly, absently, under her breath. Life was going on normally, despite the tragedy of the last days. The woman had been right about their safety. The Waelisc had not returned."

So the final part of this is for me to tag seven other writers. Here goes, but be warned I have not asked them first, so they may not participate. They are, however, all great historical fiction authors, who you'd do well to check out.

My #luckyseven tagged writers are: Justin Hill, Edoardo Albert, Elaine Moxon, E.M. Powell, A H Gray, Carol McGrath and Paula Lofting.

Keep an eye on their websites for their #luckyseven posts soon.