It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

[leahbobet]

I would really like to write words sometime this fall. So we are going to have a go-round with the first line meme.


Above
The night of my last supply duty before Sanctuary Night, I get home and Atticus is waiting.

The Patron Saint of Nothing
Catherine liked high places.

Rosemary, For Remembrance
After the accident, there were things Mary forgot.

Caravanserai (and I'm not sure if it's a book or a story yet)
The difference – or so say the caravanserai of the inner flats and environs – the difference between man and sand is entirely a matter of texture.

"Farm School" (uh, that's a working title)
"This," he says, "is a seed."

"Feed"
(no first line yet, just notes)

"Harvest"
Rooni brought the pig's head home on a blustery day just past midsummer.

"The Knife-Thrower Story"
(no first line to this one either, just a lot of middle)

"Language Lessons"
Naanaa's house smells like blackberry tea on Sundays, the day Helen takes the streetcar across to Cabbagetown for language lessons.

"Mister Oak"
--was in love with the girl in the picture window, and when the wind blew he sighed and sighed until the whole back garden drowned in the noise of his wailing leaves.

Nineveh, Texas
This time I knew better.
This time I killed it.


"Rain Story" (aren't I great at titles?)
I told him to bring back some rain.

"Rose White, Rose Red" (I've had this one for five years.)
They fed you red beans and rice on the day your mother died.

"Swing Shift"
Got the call Tuesday-first, sun going down under the dome, right at shift-end coming into sleep time.

"Tell It to the River"
Only have one line in the middle: the king of Chrysopoeia has two horns upon his head

"The Earthly Ascension of Ducky Cheung"
It's Bastille Day in The Pond, Independence Day, revolution.

"The Ground Whereon She Stands" (aka the hedgewitch lesbians)
Alice sent me flowers.

"The Mad Scientist's Daughter"
My first memory is the lab.

"The River God's Son"
The river bore only daughters. This was a vexation.

"The Whole Story"
You will never get the whole story.

"Tinker, Tailor"
There was in the city of Ter'etzlan a great maker of hearts, and his clockworks ground and clanged through the towered night.

"Un Annee Sans Neige"
January without snow and the city trembled.

"Wedding Dress"
They wed her to a sailor when she refused all others, and everyone knew sailors go to hell.


I should probably follow my own advice. When in doubt? Write about hockey. *g*

Comments

[coppervale.livejournal.com]

First line from my first novel:



"I killed and ate the paperboy this morning."

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

O, splendid.

[johnaegard.livejournal.com]

Icon love!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Hah!

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

Look at all those lovely creatures, like a green velvet bag full of hand-blown marbles.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Yes, like a room full of debutantes -- soft and beautiful and not a one of them puts out. :p

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

Teases!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Entirely!

[samhenderson.livejournal.com]

"Rose White, Rose Red"
They fed you red beans and rice on the day your mother died.

I would especially like to read this one.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I have just that line, and a bunch of notes. It's been thus for about 5 years. However, I showed the line to ringwoodcomics and he went "oh, jazz funerals", so I think I may have the missing piece...

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It's all about hockey, really. Deep down. It's a metaphor.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

One day I will structure a story like a hockey team. And the world will tremble.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

And I will squee. While trembling.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Re: The Patron Saint of Nothing-- I really like that song too. I'll (finish and) show you the story that came from it if you (finish and) show me yours.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Deal. :) Although mine's a novel, so beware! what you are agreeing to... *g*

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Mine... isn't a novel. Yet. I'm keeping a careful eye on it...

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Just take it out behind the woodshed if it gets uppity like that.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

But then it will put down roots. I could have entire trilogies back there come summer, man, and then I'd have to make a machete out of Strunk and White.

I think I'm gonna go with care and caution and sidling up on it.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Good luck, soldier. *g*