The Queen's Meme #21

Posted: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by Travis Cody in
11

I haven't done one of these in awhile, but the latest version of The Queen's Meme looks like fun.

The Queen's Meme #21: The Wisdom at 21 Meme

1. Find the nearest bookshelf of your favorite reads, cookbooks, tech books, magazines. It doesn't matter. This will work for all print media. If you don't have seven books lined up on a shelf, grab the first seven you see around the house.
2. Book #1: Turn to page 21. Read the 21st sentence (you may have to turn the page).
Write it down.
3. Do the same with the first seven books or articles you see. The sentences will make a paragraph. You must write them down in the order you found them.
4. When you are finished, read over your "story" and title it.
5. Show us your bibliography at the end of this meme. Hmmm...I wonder if we'll be surprised at the reading material we may find. I just did mine. It was rather shocking! I didn't cheat. I promise! Don't you either....or it's you-know-where for you.

This one's a bit of a challenge because my bookcases are jumbled up due to the construction project. Plus, I have a lot of multi-book series, so I want to avoid choosing books in the same set. So I'm going to bend the rules slightly to grab 7 books I can use for this.

Oh...I misread rule #2 and used the first sentence on each page 21 instead of the 21st. Oops!

Here's my borrowed story.

Zane's Regret

He took a deep breath. The mind is limitless in certain ways, and so my father was probably unaware of just how much I took from him in that single instant when his hand touched my head. Someone hammered on the door. My reflexes don't generally work that way. Forward he heard the metallic clash as a round was racked into the 40mm cannon. He would probably die, and Zane could not bring himself to feel much regret. Crap.

The End

Wow. That actually works. The point of view is a little wonky, but other than that the paragraph has a certain rhythm to it.

Bibliography

Book 1: First Lord's Fury, Book 6 of the Codex Alera, by Jim Butcher
Book 2: Polgara the Sorceress, by David and Leigh Eddings
Book 3: Annals of the Black Company, by Glen Cook
Book 4: Taltos, by Steven Brust
Book 5: Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy
Book 6: On A Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony
Book 7: Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:
    20 January, 2010 05:49

    That was COOL, actually. Hmmmm have to check my bookshelf tonight.

  1. Anonymous says:
    20 January, 2010 05:52

    A great mix!

  1. Finding Pam says:
    20 January, 2010 06:04

    It all makes sense.

  1. Linda says:
    20 January, 2010 06:44

    Ya know, Travis, it really DOES make sense in a twisted sort of way! I thought for a moment there I was reading something from Vonnegut!

  1. Charles Gramlich says:
    20 January, 2010 07:36

    I could see some bizarre stories coming out that way. Perhaps especially with my weird collection.

  1. Vinny "Bond" Marini says:
    20 January, 2010 12:19

    Wow..it did work

    cool

  1. Terra Shield says:
    20 January, 2010 21:14

    It sure does look like fun. I'm definitely gonna tag myself for this one...

  1. Anonymous says:
    21 January, 2010 16:09
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
  1. Lana Gramlich says:
    21 January, 2010 22:36

    That's neat! I suspect I won't have the same kind of luck, primarily reading only non-fiction relating to various, scientific disciplines & the occasional art book, but I may have to give it a shot, anyway!

  1. Durward Discussion says:
    24 January, 2010 13:13

    It's amazing how seven random sentences from seven different sources can actually make sense. Shame we both killed someone doing it. :-)

  1. Mimi Lenox says:
    24 January, 2010 13:43

    I started laughing at "Someone hammered on the door. My reflexes don't generally work that way. " and then the rest just kept getting better. I think you should credit the authors and continue the story. That was kinda spooky. But I'd expect no less from a dancing bee.

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