The 777 Challenge: An excerpt from The Nameless Novel

So, I was tagged by the phenomenal Samantha Chaffin for the 777 challenge [check out her writing, now.]  The 777 challenge works like this: you post 7 lines that are found on page 7 of your current novel-in-progress, and then you tag 7 bloggers.

Well.  I break rules.  So I'm posting seven lines found on page seven of chapter TWO in my novel, instead of chapter one.  Because I do things like that.

So this is an excerpt from The Nameless Novel [as I like to call it] because it has no name.  Yet.

Usually, I start out with a name for a novel before I even start writing.  I work from the name up [i.e., The Lightcatcher].  A name ferments in my head, going round and round, before finally demanding that I tell its story.

So this novel has really been frustrating for me because I cannot think of a name.  I just know that a story started forming under my fingertips, nameless, and I had to capture it.


It has the same feel as The Lightcatcher, which is to say it has ocean and wind and sky [because deep in my heart, I long to live in a place like that].  But there are no sentinel balloons or islands or redheaded boys who are strangely enticing.

Instead, there are horses.  And a boy.  And a beach girl with long tangled hair.
It follows the story of Lee O'Flaherty [Oh-Flair-ity] who is an exercise rider/trainer for Heller Stables, which mostly profits in selling jumpers at Foundland Heath.  But it deals with some darker themes: social issues, mental issues, brutality, betrayal, friendship, reform, and guilt.  It deals with a lot of issues that I have longed to write about, but have been afraid to attempt.

Anyway, here is an excerpt from page seven of chapter two [it is seven lines in the document, not on here]:

In the distance, I spotted the grey colt fighting Kelly on the lunge line, spooking at some unknown terror that plagued him.  He lunged and bolted, spinning around when Kelly set his feet into the sand and pulled on the lead line.  Heath was glued to the saddle.  Suddenly, the colt twisted away from Kelly and flung his body backwards.  Down, down he crashed, sand and frantic scrambling and more sand.  Heath Blakely underneath it all.  My mind slowed it to play in slow motion.  Then the colt was up, hooves churning the sand—Heath’s body—and more sand before turning and bolting down the shore.

There you have it. I'm trying to work through this story as best I can. I want to do it justice. I want a person to fall in love with it because it speaks to them deeply.  It's not just a story about horses, or a boy, or a girl with tangled hair.  It's a story about a boy who witnesses brutality. It's a story about the horses he breathes upon. It's a story about a girl whose friend is pain.


It's a story about living with ghosts; about living with the consequences of your past and someone else's decisions. It's a story about watching a living being being shot in cold blood; about wanting to make your father proud.

And it's a story about love; about twisted and raw lust; about forgiving; and about looking at one person and promising to protect them as long as you're able.

I want to tell that story.


And I'm tagging three bloggers instead of seven: Cassidy, Kim, Lydia.

Because I break rules.  It should really be the 773 challenge.  Comment if you post a response on your blog!