Page 99 Blogfest

So, I found out about this blogfest last minute but it sounded like a great idea. Who knew it would be so difficult just to find page 99.  Turns out the copy I had of my novel, Standing Ground, was in a program called Pages, which my old Mac had and the new one doesn't. I had it online too in chapters on Writing.com so I spent the time copying each chapter over into a regular word document until I reached page 99 and it's the end of a chapter. How convenient.

(If looking for No Fear Blogfest, that post is coming after this one.)

A collaborative blogfest, here is a link to one of the blogs and the list of entrants to go check out: 99th page blogfest reminder.  The rules are pretty simple. Post the 99th page of a novel draft. Readers should consider a few things when considering the entry:
"1. Would you turn to page 100?
2. Why or why not?
3. Based on what you read, how likely would you buy the book?"

Like my friend who I discovered the blogfest from (Loralie) I won't explain the gist of the novel. Just check out my page and we'll see. Though at least consider the fact that it's a first draft. It will look better after edits, I promise. ;-)


End of Chapter 17 in Standing Ground (Page 99)
First Draft

After a moment of thought, he struggled to come up with his next question. "I'm going to assume you won't tell me why you wanted to break in here." The stares back gave him the answer so he went a different direction. "Do you know anything about missing SS members? Do you think it's a coincidence or that something else is going on?"

"We have nothing to do with that." Ty gave an answer at last. He didn't sound pleased and spoke slow, as if weighing his words and making decisions with each one. "However, I don't think it is a coincidence."

Before Noah could ask another question, Ty kept speaking after he gave the others a wave to keep them from speaking. "This isn't some connected movement. We don't know the other groups that are called renegades, as SS is calling us. It's not an underground system that is working together to lash out. Different groups have different goals and methods. There is no organization and no leader."

Even though he wasn't quite sure he understood, Noah nodded. It did kind of make sense to him though he was surprised that Ty would even share that much information with him. He couldn't help but wonder about the different movements. They all couldn't be wrong, like K had suggested, could they? He didn't know and stuffed the intrigue away for now.

He spent the next half hour asking questions and received very little responses. None of the information he achieved was relevant to the situation but neither were most of his questions. He couldn't explain it but he didn't feel right trying to get to the bottom of their movement. They didn't seem to be of a real threat at this point and it was obvious they had nothing to do with the real problem that SS was worried about. After finishing with the questions he thanked them and stood up, ready to leave.

"Could you maybe do us a favor?" Michael asked, standing after Kelvin had moved off his lap.

Noah waited.

Michael seemed almost shy as he made the request. "Could you talk them into letting us share cells? I mean, we won't be able to escape and this would be easier to deal with if we had someone to talk to instead of the walls. It hurts being kept away from him..." He stopped speaking after referencing Kelvin.

"I'll try." Noah felt bad and made a conscious decision to help them a little. If they were going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future they should have contact with each other. Keeping them separate seemed a bit much at this point.

"Thanks." Michael gave him a cute smile.

Noah walked out and went to deal with the rooming issue. He soon was able to leave, relieved to be out of there after over 3 hours. It was much longer than he'd intended but he didn't regret any of it. He had a lot to think about for the next few days as he returned to studying Dominic's dreams. He was determined that they were overlooking something and he wanted to find out what.