I'VE GOT THE "LOOK" - ziggy zig zag tag

Thanks to a fellow author, Gay N. Lewis, for tagging me with
the ziggy zig zag tag—“You've got the LOOK!"




As part of this tag, I have to take my most recent work in
progress or my current manuscript and search for the word "look,"
then post the surrounding paragraphs/text.




Now, look here, peeps...do I look like a writer who'd use the word "look" often in a manuscript?




Well...looking into my current release, Jewels for the Kingdom, I looked upon the word - or forms of the word - "look" 47 times...and Jewels is a short novella (only about 20,000 words total)! It appeared twice before I was halfway through the third page.




Looks like "look" could be a word I'll need to look out for in the future!







Come
along...let's take a look at the first occurrences of "look" in
Jewels for the Kingdom.




But
first...a look at the blurb:




Pia Peretti’s past could
destroy her future. Thanks to her pre-Christian lifestyle, she can’t marry a
believer, and she won’t marry a non-believer. Minister David Myers wants to
help Pia release her guilt and trust that God has forgiven her...but the young
minister is working through his own trial of faith.




After a failed counseling
session with a wounded soul, David's confidence is shaken. He accepts a new
pastorate, and moves to Angel Falls to find a haven for his wounded heart.




Is it possible these two
hurting hearts are meant to mend each other’s brokenness with some divine
intervention?




And here's the occurrences of
"look" you get a look at—taken from the very first words of the very
first chapter:








Pia Peretti’s scream froze in her throat but never made it
past her lips.




Inside her head, however, it echoed and re-echoed as the car
in front of her skidded off the road and over the edge. She had no idea as to
the depth of the drop off, but it was deep enough to swallow the little sports
car, which tumbled out of sight. Already praying for whoever was in the crashed
vehicle, Pia veered with as much care as possible to the side of the rain-slick
road.




Dialing 9-1-1 even as she leapt from the car, she reported
her location while she ran the hundred yards or so to the spot where the small
car had disappeared. Peering through the downpour at the wreckage, she realized
the gulley cut only about ten feet into the earth. Certainly no Grand Canyon,
but still a dangerous fall for a speeding vehicle. She found it somehow wrong
that the wheels on the overturned car continued to spin as if traveling some
invisible, upside-down roadway.




“God, please be with whoever’s inside.” Pia’s fervent prayer
caught in her throat when the cracked passenger window bulged and fell to the
ground with a thud. A pair of feet clad in what looked like spankin’ new
athletic shoes kicked out a few tenacious shards of glass.




Having been assured help was on the way, she tucked her
phone into a pocket and gaped as two long legs extended through the opening. A
muscled torso squeezed through, and finally, a head appeared, accompanied by a
loud groan, and a lean figure slid onto the slick earth beside the wreckage.




“Are you all right?” Pia started down the wet, slippery
incline toward the man pulling his long length off the ground. He gazed around
the area as if not quite sure how he came to be there. And no wonder—with a
two-inch gash on his forehead. Blood gushed from the wound, liberally coating
one cheek. The driving rain did a great job of washing it off enough to reveal
that the unsightly red ooze came from the single gash and mercifully not from
multiple cuts on that near-perfect face.




The injured man raised his gaze and fixed it on her but said
nothing.




“Sir?” What should one say to a stranger who just survived a
car accident and, even though he stood upright on wobbly long legs, looked only
half conscious? “Are you OK?”







That was fun, wasn't it? :) If you'd like to...um, look at the rest of the story, you can download it on Amazon for only $2.99.




And now I get to surprise five other zig zaggy author friends by tagging them in the "I've Got the Look" tag game. Readers, if you're ready to look at a few more over-used "looks," follow me...




Tanya Stowe: Tanya's Topics




Marianne Evans: A Minute with Marianne




Donna B. Snow:  Donna B. Snow




Marian Merritt:  Lagniappe




Dora Hiers:  Heart-racing, God-gracing Romance