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Thursday, June 14, 2007

TT #57



Memorable First Lines
click or highlight the space after each quote to see where it's from


  1. "Many things are not as they seem: The worst things in life never are." --White Night by Jim Butcher

  2. "On the day that his grannie was killed by the English, Sir William Scott the Younger of Buccleuch was at Melrose Abbey, marrying his aunt." --The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett

  3. "She woke in the body of a dead friend." --Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts

  4. "Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it." --Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

  5. "If I'm dead, why does it hurt so much?" --Crimson Moon by Rebecca York

  6. "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'" --The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams

  7. "The unbelievable horror began when Fred walked in on her parents making love on the living room coffee table." --Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson

  8. "I am haunted by a memory I can't recall." --Living Dead Girl by Tod Goldberg

  9. "God, how I do love being cold and wet." --Rogue Warrior: Option Delta by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman

  10. "Lady Rowenna gasped in horror at the sight of Lord Raoul's majestic purple-helmeted warrior of love." --Improper English by Katie MacAlister

  11. "A piece of advice: If you ever follow someone in my neighborhood, don't wear pink." --Sacred by Dennis Lehane

  12. "Nobody ever tried to stab me when I did corporate work." --Blondes Have More Felons by Alesia Holliday

  13. "It wasn't every day you managed to lose your king while on a security mission to an alien planet." --Parallel Attraction by Deidre Knight
*whew* That was harder than I'd expected it to be. This was supposed to be a quick and easy TT, since today's the last day of school. It's partly because I'm rather picky about what I wanted to post as memorable first lines. They needed to be one sentence, entertaining or intriguing in and of themselves, and convey both the tone and the story of the book. And I wanted to use only one per author. So many have fabulous first scenes, but the very first sentence just isn't much on its own.

Here are a couple of extras, though, just for fun:
So, what are some of your favorite first lines?




Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

  1. Christine: 30-second bunny theater
  2. Ann Aguirre: up-and-coming authors
  3. Angela/SciFiChick: Nancy Drew
  4. Starrlight: women who rock
  5. Carmen: summer
  6. Tempest Knight: menopause
  7. May's plans for Jaynie
  8. Candy Minx: cabbage
  9. Tilly Greene: punk turns 30
  10. Susan Helene Gottfried is stressed
  11. Red Garnier: Father's Day
  12. Dragonheart: Spain
  13. Robin L. Rotham: Rod Stewart
  14. Joy T is thankful
  15. Elle Fredrix: visiting countries
  16. Emma Wayne Porter: potential plots
  17. Julia bought books!
  18. Crimson Wife: pre-mom life
  19. Caryle's kick-butt plans
  20. Thomma Lyn: elements of a reeeallly good novel
  21. Jessica Morris: freebies
  22. Sophisticated Writer: elements of a reeeallly good novel
  23. Lisa: back from vacation
  24. Melody: Life's Golden Ticket
  25. Doug: questions
  26. ANCSweetNSassyGal: jailing celebs
  27. Tink: online communities
  28. Spyscribbler: Perfectly Plum
  29. You're next!


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!


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My book store never has any of Jim Butcher's books in stock. I'm going to go order a bunch and read them. Those lines are awesome!
 
Those are great. Jim Butcher is fantastic.
 
I only knew the Jim Butcher and MJ Davidson ones. Great idea for a list!
 
One of my all time favorites, "Last night I dreamt I was at Manderley" from Rebecca.

Good list!
 
Jim Butcher is my new favorite writer. I'm just chomping at the bit for the next Dresden book.
 
Yep, those first liners must be grabbers if you want to keep the readers' attention. :) That's why I spend so much time trying to come up with a good first line.
 
I hate coming up with first lines. It takes forever and ever and ever, and sometimes even the good ones Just Aren't Right. Ugh.

I love Marjorie M. Liu's for the novella that kicks of her new urban fantasy series. "My mother used to say that the tale of the world is drawn in blood, blood in flesh, veins forking into destiny like the branches of the tree from which the apple hung and the serpent danced, trading whispers for the corruption of innocents."
 
These are all fantastic.

One of my favourite opening lines is...

"My wound is geography" in Prince of Tides.

Your quotes here make me want to read all of these.

Hey happy last day of school. I can't believe it's this time of year already...hope the kids are having fun, I bet they are excited!

Here is mine:

http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2007/06/forget-corn-remember-cabbage.html
 
What a great list...and it looked difficult to do as well! I think I might have to try Jim Butcher :-)
 
LOVE that, Darla! Great first lines -- and one surprised me. I thought it would be something different.

Man, I need to read more...
 
Darla, wow, these were amazing. LOVED THESE! Great TT, and thanks visiting mine. Happy Father's day to your troop too. =)
 
Great list of first lines! :) I like #6, probably because my humans are Douglas Adams fans!
 
Awesome TT, Darla! I especially love the Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. =)
 
What a fantastic idea for TT. Love how I could scroll over and see the title of the book at the end. Very cool. Enjoy your summer!
 
Wow, what a list. And you thought that would be simple!?
 
I really, really need to look into this Jim Butcher character. And if I wasn't already sold on Nora, I would be.

Great list, D =)
 
Darla, great first line! One of my favorite is the one you listed for Nora Roberts, from Carolina Moon. It happen to be my favorite book. It cool to see first line from some of my favorite authors, even when I have not read that book(s) yet *duck head* hehehe

Thanks for visiting my blog, Happy T 13!
 
Interesting idea for a TT!

Thanks for sharing and also stopping by my blog!
 
Douglas Adams makes my heart happy. :)

I'm terrible at remembering the first lines from books that I adore, so your list is wonderful!
 
Oh, good one, Starrlight--that one's even on my shelves. Don't know why it didn't occur to me to check Rebecca for a good first line. (like Caryle said, I can't remember most of them--I had to look almost all of them up)

May, that Marjorie M. Liu first line is very intriguing. If she weren't already on my must-buy list, that would convince me to check her out.

Thanks, Candy! So far, my youngest has done four loads of laundry--washed, hung it on the line, folded, and put it away. I know better than to expect THAT to last, but boy, is this nice!
 
Hee, that's a great list! I read some of them out loud to my hubby -- they definitely captured my interest.

Happy TT, and thanks for visiting my blog!
 
It is a great list! I didn't know where most of them came from though ...



My TT is up - 13 (+6 bonus!) free samples available online
 
This is too cool, Darla! Great list!
 
Wow, I just discovered John Weisman. I definitely have to check out #9, LOL!

Happy TT!
 
Funny thing, I almost did this today, too!

I only recognized Night Watch and Long Dark Teatime. But that purple-helmeted love warrior, that looks like a must-read.
 
Amazing first lines! I'll have to check out some of those books!
Thanks for visiting my TT. I'm not very active in all those communities though, except for LibraryThing maybe. :-)
 
I love to read, but I don't think I've read any of these. The Nora Roberts line sounds really interesting. Great TT. Happy Friday!
 
# 11 sounds like the kind of thing my hero in my current-novel-in-progress would say ;-) Great first lines.
 
Great list. I really need to read those Dresden files.
 
A really nice list. But this one "She woke in the body of a dead friend." definitely sounds strange to me. And not in a good way.
But I love the Pratchett and Douglas quotes. Both of them never disappoint. ;o)
 
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