Heather Day Gilbert

Author

Tag! I’m…NOT Going to be IT! (But I’ll Let you meet my Vikings!)

Statue (in Iceland) of my heroine, Gudrid, and her baby boy, Snorri
I’ve gotten tagged by a couple of my writer friends: TC Avey and Michelle Griep. In this tag (detailed on Michelle’s site here: http://writerofftheleash.blogspot.com/2012/04/tagim-it.html or on TC’s site here: http://tcavey.blogspot.com/2012/04/lucky-seven-meme.html), you’re supposed to:
 
1. Go to the 77th page of your book or current WIP.
2. Count down 7 lines.
3. Copy the 7 sentences that follow and post them.
4. Tag 7 other authors.

My problem here is that I have only about two sentences on page 77! AND those sentences are going to be confusing without giving you lots of backstory. SOOO. As an alternative, and so you can get a little taste of my book, I’m going to totally cheat and handpick a passage.
I’m also not tagging other people. 
I also tend to break rules. But I’m truly trying to quit.
So, as I looked over my manuscript, trying to find a cool passage, I decided on a touching scene as opposed to a fight scene (to overturn any thoughts that Vikings are merely heartless brutes–I’m trying to give them some good P.R. with this book! But don’t worry, there are fight scenes too!). I’ll fill you in a little bit on what’s going in this scene.
Gudrid (the one who’s speaking throughout the book, my POV character), has to say goodbye to her husband Finn, who’s leaving the camp to look for cool stuff to plunder farther down the coast, in Vinland. Gudrid is currently in a camp at Straumsfjord, also in the new lands (upper North America). 
Basically, she can’t kiss Finn goodbye, or even get close to him, b/c their son is feverish and sick and she’s been taking care of him. Gudrid won’t risk exposing Finn (thus, his entire crew) to illness for their voyage.

So…here’s my selection. It may or may not be seven sentences. Most likely, it’s not. However, I’m doing this for my friends who want to see some of this Viking story before it hits bookshelves, someday in the not-yet-specified future…
Here you go! A selection from God’s Daughter. Please ask me any questions below, if I didn’t make it clear what’s going on here. Finn’s talking first, to Gudrid.
“Do you think it matters if I become sick?” he asks. “Nothing matters, until I get back to you.”
I swallow, fighting the urge to turn and be pulled into those strong arms, so I can kiss him all over his face.
“I can’t.” I pull my arm away, then walk out the door into the rain. It quickly drenches me, the heavy drops pounding my head. Surely Finn knows what I’m feeling, that I couldn’t be the one to make him sick.
Since I grew up surrounded by rocks and cliffs and sea, I know how to pull the strength of the rocks into myself. I become hard and cold and untouchable. I go into myself, and I won’t come out until I see Finn’s face again.

****Thanks for the tags, TC and Michelle! Enjoyed reading yours too! And now, fire away if you have any questions or comments!****


 

Comments

  1. Graeme Ing says

    Now I absolutely need to know more about those two, and this voyage he is setting off on. I adore the concept of Viking explorers, navigating their way across entire oceans in boats that were surprisingly small.

  2. Michelle Griep says

    I'm curious how Gudrid connected the dots about the possibility of spreading germs to her husband since germs hadn't been discovered yet? Granted, you could've very well cleared that up earlier by mentioning she's been a healer or worked with healers enough to have made such an observation, but if you didn't, you probably should for curious readers like me.And I totally loved the last paragraph. Excellent! I'm sure glad you're a rebel.

  3. Heather Day Gilbert says

    Thanks, Graeme, you're right, those boats were small but held a LOT…kind of like Dr. Who's TARDIS! OOOOH, great question, Michelle! It was definitely an intentional thing. My Gudrid IS a healer, as you figured out, and she's seen lots of feverish illnesses (they took her father, 1st and 2nd husbands, and her godparents!). She's noticed that those who are the caretakers are the next to get sick, as well as those who handle the clothes of the sick (when it's puking, etc). I think that's a pretty believable observation. My girl's pretty forward-thinking in her medical observations! Thanks so much, glad you liked it. And I try to be rebellious about the right things, but don't always succeed! Hee.Thanks for the comments, Graeme and Michelle!

  4. TC Avey says

    Fun! And don't stop breaking the rules (at least those worth breaking)! Your book sounds intriguing. Love the vision I got of someone being hard and unmovable- like a mountain. A mountain is strong, determined and cannot be easily shaken- great job!Look forward to reading more!

  5. Lindsay Harrel says

    Hey Heather! Fun to read some of your book! I like this line a lot: "I become hard and cold and untouchable. I go into myself, and I won't come out until I see Finn's face again." Happy Monday! 🙂

  7. Heather Day Gilbert says

    Thanks, everyone! Gudrid doesn't tend to wax poetic (since she's mostly just surviving for most of the book!), but I did like that last line! She's a practical, giving, beautiful woman…yet she's generally closed-off with her emotions, due to something that happened in her childhood. A little more info for you!