Posts
About a week ago, Devon Rhodes posted an author meme on Opening Lines on her blog that she'd seen over at Val Kovalin's blog. Then Shawn Lane copied Devon and did her own post. Their posts got me thinking about my own opening lines. Of course, I couldn't resist checking my books to see if there was any sort of pattern.
“How much?”
-Bound by Deception
Under normal circumstances, the sight of a gambling hell wouldn’t put a smile on Lord Vincent Prescot’s face.
-Bound to Him
Fifteen minutes until midnight. Exactly on time.
-Beyond Reckless
Raphael Laurent dropped down onto the tree branch and blinked against the bright light spilling from the window.
-From Afar
Don’t touch him. Don’t you dare touch—
-Object of His Desire
The deep amber rays of the setting sun gently receded, cloaking the study in twilight shadows.
-Convincing Arthur
“There ye are.”
-His Client
The familiar press of hot, silken skin against his thigh roused Vincent from sleep.
-Bound Forever
The click of a lock sliding home echoed in the study.
-Convincing Leopold (work in progress)
I think of myself as more of an opening paragraph kind of gal vs an opening liner. When I first started writing, I heard all about how opening lines are supposed to grab a reader and yank them into a book. For a while, I tried to come up with cool opening lines then I gave up. Kind of how I've given up on super cool book titles. They just aren't my thing. Anyway, I don't see much of an obvious pattern to my opening lines besides that they tend to be setting oriented.
“How much?”
-Bound by Deception
Under normal circumstances, the sight of a gambling hell wouldn’t put a smile on Lord Vincent Prescot’s face.
-Bound to Him
Fifteen minutes until midnight. Exactly on time.
-Beyond Reckless
Raphael Laurent dropped down onto the tree branch and blinked against the bright light spilling from the window.
-From Afar
Don’t touch him. Don’t you dare touch—
-Object of His Desire
The deep amber rays of the setting sun gently receded, cloaking the study in twilight shadows.
-Convincing Arthur
“There ye are.”
-His Client
The familiar press of hot, silken skin against his thigh roused Vincent from sleep.
-Bound Forever
The click of a lock sliding home echoed in the study.
-Convincing Leopold (work in progress)
I think of myself as more of an opening paragraph kind of gal vs an opening liner. When I first started writing, I heard all about how opening lines are supposed to grab a reader and yank them into a book. For a while, I tried to come up with cool opening lines then I gave up. Kind of how I've given up on super cool book titles. They just aren't my thing. Anyway, I don't see much of an obvious pattern to my opening lines besides that they tend to be setting oriented.
In other news, I got the final line edits for Bound Forever yesterday. They're due 1/30, but I've almost got them done. Just need to give the book a read through. Haven't made much process on Convincing Leopold since I've been back from vacation, but I'm planning to kick it back into high gear over the weekend. The book's due at the end of Feb, so yeah, time to really kick it up.
Hi, Ava! I like yours very much. They're all so different that I don't really see an obvious pattern, but that only tells me that you're open to a lot of approaches. Some start with dialog, some start in a deep third-person viewpoint with a thought, and some start in more of a distant third-person viewpoint with setting details. Very intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI like the variety of opening lines.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Val!
ReplyDeleteChris - apparently I like variety, too ;)
Variety is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteJust remember I have Shayne's whip!
ReplyDeleteEyre - Well they say it's the spice of life...though not sure who 'they' are. But I figure it's a 'they' who know what they're talking about. ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, Shawn, no fair borrowing Shay's whip!
I love the opening line of Object of His Desire. :)
ReplyDeleteI like that one a lot, too, FV :)
ReplyDelete::heads desk:: How do I keep missing your posts???
ReplyDeleteI love your variation in opening lines. Of course, I love everything you do. *grin*