| Tuesday, July 18, 2006 |
| Great First Lines |
| As a writer, you always hear that the way to pull in an agent, editor, AND the reader...is a great first line. It's called a "hook." And if you can grab your reader, whoever it may be, from the beginning, then they'll be sure to read your story.I've been delving into the *cozy mystery*...because I'm thinking about writing one, along with a YA mystery, and I've come across these great first lines or hooks.Slay It With Flowers by Kate Collins. Just for the record, I am not, in the true definition of the word, a meddler.Better of Wed by Laura Durham. Planning a wedding can be murder.Dead Men Don't Lye by Tim Myers. As I looked down at the corpse sprawled on the back steps of my family's soap shop and boutique, I knew in an instant there wasn't a cleanser made anywhere in the world strong enough to get rid of the acid stains and burns on Jerry Sanger's face.Snuffed Out by Tim Myers. I was hunting for the short circuit that knocked out the power to River's Edge when I stumbled across Aaron Gaston's body.Killer Hair by Ellen Byerrum. Lacey Smithsonian looked down at the unfortunate woman in the coffin and thought, Oh my God, that is the worst haircut I've ever seen... Through The Grinder by Cleo Coyle. She had to die.Latte Trouble by Cleo Coyle. Men are pigs.The Chocolate Mouse Trap by JoAnna Carl. "I'm sick and tired of killing this stupid inspirational junk," I said.Chocolate Dipped Death by Sammi Carter. "I can't believe she had the nerve to show up."Invitation To Murder by Elizabeth Bright. "You've got to tell her I won't stop it!A Flicker Of Doubt by Tim Myers. As my kayak brushed against the woman's body, I thought I'd hit another half-submerged log.Death Waxed Over by Tim Myers. I didn't hear the shot that killed Gretel Barnett, even though her life was extinguished just fifteen feet from where I stood.And let's not forget the queen of romance, Nora Roberts/JD Robb. Her *In Death* series is awesome for hooks. "The dead were her business..." , "Getting married was murder...", "The alley was dark and stank of piss and vomit...", "The business of murder took time, patience, skill, and a tolerance for the monotonous...", "Death surrounded her..."I could go on and on..by I'll stop now. So, what do you think? Did you like these one-liners? How about sharing some with me that you remember, or sharing the first line of your current wip. Post away. Let's see what you got!:-)Lyric |
posted by Lyric James @ 6:52 PM  |
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| 9 Comments: |
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Dang woman, I didn't know you had a blog up and running...shoot. I've added you to my blog sidebar. Now I can visit you!!!
~Ann :)
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Those are some good lines, Lyric but you didn't post what you're working on. ;) I have two WIP's now. The opening line for CTM is "Jackson took one last long look around the Community Hall and walked out into the night." TEC has an opener and an alternate lol. The first is "The barbell was almost to his chest when the doorbell rang.". The alternate is "When they pulled the blindfold off, she squinted in the sudden glare and looked around."
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Oh, I love writing cozy mysteries. Best of luck with yours. I did a book called Frisk and Miss that I had so much fun with! Here is the first line.
Gynecologists have a totally warped sense of humor.
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My favorite opening line (that I wrote) right now is:
Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be.
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Those are some great first lines!
Book I'm reading now: "Laundromats made good hunting grounds." (EVIDENCE OF MARRIAGE by Ann Voss Peterson)
The Sort-of WIP: "They'd found her body in the trunk."
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Hi Lyric,
I'm trying to visit Cobblestone blogs each day and yours is great.
My first line in my very first book I sold, I think sold the editor. "Listen, lady. I'm not posing in my underwear." Hero was a tough down on his luck rancher and his sister set him up to pose for an underwear ad.
I agree with you. First lines are fun and I often love to go thru the books on my shelf to see the catchy lines.
Charlene
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Thank all of you for visiting and commetning. So check this out...I'm thinking about this for a first line in the cozy I'm plotting. ***When I walked into my aunts dessert shop, the last thing I expected to do was trip over her dead body and land face first into a cake shapped like a penis.***
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I love first lines....they're SO important. I keep meaning to write an article for my RWA chapter on them.
Ok so here's mine from my current wips: Dressed in my sleaziest, shortest, reddest, come-fuck-me dress, I climbed into the limo with the Seven Dwarves and my quarry—Theresa Peccini.
AND
I drained the last of my wine and set the glass down on the snowy white table cloth with a clink of finality. “I left Cliff.”
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Hi Lyric,
Wow great first lines. Loved reading them :)
Hugssss
Linda.H.
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Dang woman, I didn't know you had a blog up and running...shoot. I've added you to my blog sidebar. Now I can visit you!!!
~Ann :)