Into the Fire

Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God

The other day, Becky Miller (A Christian Worldview of Fiction) plucked some first lines from books and posted them on her blog. Several others of us added some we liked.

 

These are the first lines from my seven complete novels and three from novels I haven’t finished yet.

 

The colors were awakening beneath a sky filled with the intensity of a striking sunrise.

(Hope Of Glory)

 

Attending this funeral on Easter Sunday seemed especially sad to me—but fitting, nevertheless.

(The Famous One)

 

Claudia Madelyn Rutheford hated her name.

(Sweet Release)

 

Faith Daniels looked up as the tiny bell over the door tinkled quietly.

(Wounds . . . and Healings)

 

Why he thought this would be a good idea he now wondered as he stepped onto the first of five stairs that led up to the front door.

(Destination)

 

The rain assaulted the trees, the gutters, hard and cold, leaving even the midday seeming like the darkness of evening.

(The Fixer)

 

She could make smoking a cigarette look elegant, seductive . . . and dangerous even.

(Breath of Life)

 

It had been a long drive.

(For His Glory)

 

I was 8 years old when I saw Jesus Christ in the flesh.

(Seeing . . . [previously titled Nightcrawler])

 

The first time he looked over the half-empty pitchers of beer on the round rough-hewn table and past the cheeky smiles and loud laughs of the men seated there, he caught a glimpse of her pulling the tap lever while smiling across the counter at a kid he’d swear was under 21. Immediately his mind drove straight to the recollection of how long it’d been since he’d been with a woman and parked there. [These two sentences seem inseparable so I included both of them.]

(. . . in a love song)

 

Feel free to include your own in the comments.

 

Father, once again I thank you for the stories. Apart from you I can do nothing. How well I know. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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4 responses to “First things first.”

  1. Jessica Thomas Avatar

    Hi! Long time no “see”. I’ve been working on a reorg/rewrite of The Exception based on yours and others comments. Here’s my new first line:
    “The western sky glowed red as Laine’s car filed off Commuter-242.”

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  2. Nicole Avatar

    Jess, so good to hear from you! How are you?!
    Cool that you’ve been working on The Exception. Good first line for that story. How’s it going?

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  3. Jessica Thomas Avatar

    Nicole, I eat and I sleep and I eat and I sleep and I eat some more and sleep! That’s one hungry little human parasite. 🙂 Somewhere in there I get some work done.
    My rewrite is going well, just wish I had more time and energy for it! I’m making a lot of structural changes and dramatizing some of the things I let hang until the end. Somebody called my ‘final reveal’ a Scooby Doo moment. Ouch. Unfortunately I couldn’t argue, so I knew I had to do something. I also got a lot of comments about how it starts out slow…if I were an accomplished writer, that might work, but I decided as a new writer, I better get to the point a little quicker.
    p.s. I really like this one (and the title) “The rain assaulted the trees, the gutters, hard and cold, leaving even the midday seeming like the darkness of evening.”

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  4. Nicole Avatar

    Good for you, Mama. Keep taking care of you both and the rest of the family.
    I’m excited for your rewrite. Good for you, Jess. Sounds like you’re using some good stuff to amp it up. It’s a good story, Jess, and, as you know, timing is everything.
    Thanks for that (The Fixer).

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