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First lines of things I should be writing.
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cristalia points out, today is the first day of the second half of 2009. I'll take my arbitrary, manufactured symbolism where I can find it, so here's that first-line meme, this time in order of urgency:
1. Maiah woke abruptly from a dream of the Great Lock of the Istandaartha to the grip of his cousin's cold hand on his shoulder. (The Goblin Emperor, novel)
2. Vethulf and Skjaldwulf did not get along. (A Reckoning of Men, novel, withmatociquala)
3. Marmaduke Stone is waiting for the phone to ring. ("On Faith," Shadow Unit)
4. With a shriek of protesting metal, the hatch opened, and Mule fell out of the palace-ship into the long grass of the Edrin Valley. He was trying to run before he made it to his feet. (Cormorant Child, novel)
5. Lord Harimex was lord of nowhere, lord of nothing. (untitled post-apocalyptic story with knights errant, eco-wizards, and windships)
6. Kyle Murchison Booth
a.) The current owner of Thirdhop Scarp claims that the name is a contraction of "third hope," but this is etymologically dubious in the extreme; still improbable but far more likely is the local explanation: that if you fall off the escarpment, you reach the bottom in three hops. ("Thirdhop Scarp")
b.) The terrible irony in Katharine Blood's name became apparent in her death. (short story which will NOT be titled "The Mercy Seat")
c.) I cut off her head before I buried her. ("To Die for Moonlight")
7. Ghoul Hunters
a.) They hadn't caught the shoggoth larva smugglers yet, but the head of the BPI's southeast hub had other things on his mind: "And, ah, how are you and Sharpton doing, Keller?" (Blue Lace Agate, novella)
b.) Mick Sharpton's howl of outrage--"oh fuck no!"--was clearly audible in the junior agents' office. ("Under Babylon")
c.) Think of it as a vacation," Jamie suggested. Mick's reply was physically impossible, but very creative. ("Crossing Styx")
d.) The Renault case refused to break. ("The Brides of Nyarlathotep")
8. There were four in the game. Deep play, deeper than the pockets of at least two of them. Lydia Nash might be as collected as a woman choosing a new hat, but Esme Collier and Kori Fletcher were out of their depth, and Fan Carpenter didn't look any too comfortable either. (untitled gender-reversed Western)
9. Long ago, in a world none of them can remember, the vampires were taught to dance. (untitled short story)
10. The Emperor's head hit the floor with a wet thud. The body stayed upright a moment longer, and then simply collapsed; the blood jetting out of its neck soaked Moth through before he could think to move. (untitled novel)
11. Mallory sighed and pushed back from his desk. ("The Werewolf Laura Stiles")
12. On [date], in the former asteroid-city of [name], in what appears to have been a pleasure garden, five bodies were discovered: one woman, two men, and two children. (unfinished first line of untitled short story)
13. Sanspiro Base is a company town all the way. (The Marriage of True Minds, novella)
14. When Sebastian Marlin became a man, there was no one to celebrate with. (The House at the End of the World, novel)
15. Since I was a little girl, I've always told my father my dreams. Except for one. (The White Devil, novel)
16. Nephael cannot remember Heaven. (Dark Sister, novel)
17. Denise Blumenthal died on a beautiful spring morning in the polity of Greater Manhattan. (Schrödinger's Parable of the Cat, novel)
18. My mother was kitsune. When I was born kitsune, too, she cursed the fates and slew the midwife and raised me as a daughter. (The Kitsune's Tragedy, novella)
19. On the twenty-fourth of April, Medraut dreamed of Loheris again. (The Second Son, novella)
20. There were five queens in the creche. Beulah, Pauline, Camille, Thelma, and Katrina. Beulah was the favorite, and one night after the nurses had gone to bed, the others ganged up on her. There were only four queens after that. ("The Queen in Winter")
21. The Mistral Freighter D35-692N-C, Queen of Liverpool, had been grounded for thirty years, since the successful implementation of Chen and Tiedemann's q-curve drive had made her and all her sisters obsolete. (""The Queen of Liverpool")
22. Once upon a time, there were two dead mice, white and small and sleek. ("The Tale of Two Dead Mice")
23. Jefferson Finch was a lousy pitcher, but he was the best we had. (The Sidhetown Tigers, novel)
24. The pain is intense, sharp, and localizes itself gradually, as Vij comes closer to consciousness, into a throbbing knot on the back of ser skull, just behind ser left ear. Se reaches to touch it, groans as that wakes a whole new set of pains through ser left shoulder and arm, and only then wonders why se is corporeal at all. ("(Un)fallen")
25. The crime-scene tape was gone from the basketball court. (untitled short story)
26. The woman in my office had been dead for five days when I found her. The smell was unbearable, but the ghost was worse. (untitled short story)
27. "What are you doing, sister-wife?" (untitled short story)
28. Queen Titania was dead. (untitled short story)
If you are now thinking as how Mole desperately needs to finish something, you, sir or madam, are not wrong.
cristalia points out, today is the first day of the second half of 2009. I'll take my arbitrary, manufactured symbolism where I can find it, so here's that first-line meme, this time in order of urgency:1. Maiah woke abruptly from a dream of the Great Lock of the Istandaartha to the grip of his cousin's cold hand on his shoulder. (The Goblin Emperor, novel)
2. Vethulf and Skjaldwulf did not get along. (A Reckoning of Men, novel, with
matociquala)3. Marmaduke Stone is waiting for the phone to ring. ("On Faith," Shadow Unit)
4. With a shriek of protesting metal, the hatch opened, and Mule fell out of the palace-ship into the long grass of the Edrin Valley. He was trying to run before he made it to his feet. (Cormorant Child, novel)
5. Lord Harimex was lord of nowhere, lord of nothing. (untitled post-apocalyptic story with knights errant, eco-wizards, and windships)
6. Kyle Murchison Booth
a.) The current owner of Thirdhop Scarp claims that the name is a contraction of "third hope," but this is etymologically dubious in the extreme; still improbable but far more likely is the local explanation: that if you fall off the escarpment, you reach the bottom in three hops. ("Thirdhop Scarp")
b.) The terrible irony in Katharine Blood's name became apparent in her death. (short story which will NOT be titled "The Mercy Seat")
c.) I cut off her head before I buried her. ("To Die for Moonlight")
7. Ghoul Hunters
a.) They hadn't caught the shoggoth larva smugglers yet, but the head of the BPI's southeast hub had other things on his mind: "And, ah, how are you and Sharpton doing, Keller?" (Blue Lace Agate, novella)
b.) Mick Sharpton's howl of outrage--"oh fuck no!"--was clearly audible in the junior agents' office. ("Under Babylon")
c.) Think of it as a vacation," Jamie suggested. Mick's reply was physically impossible, but very creative. ("Crossing Styx")
d.) The Renault case refused to break. ("The Brides of Nyarlathotep")
8. There were four in the game. Deep play, deeper than the pockets of at least two of them. Lydia Nash might be as collected as a woman choosing a new hat, but Esme Collier and Kori Fletcher were out of their depth, and Fan Carpenter didn't look any too comfortable either. (untitled gender-reversed Western)
9. Long ago, in a world none of them can remember, the vampires were taught to dance. (untitled short story)
10. The Emperor's head hit the floor with a wet thud. The body stayed upright a moment longer, and then simply collapsed; the blood jetting out of its neck soaked Moth through before he could think to move. (untitled novel)
11. Mallory sighed and pushed back from his desk. ("The Werewolf Laura Stiles")
12. On [date], in the former asteroid-city of [name], in what appears to have been a pleasure garden, five bodies were discovered: one woman, two men, and two children. (unfinished first line of untitled short story)
13. Sanspiro Base is a company town all the way. (The Marriage of True Minds, novella)
14. When Sebastian Marlin became a man, there was no one to celebrate with. (The House at the End of the World, novel)
15. Since I was a little girl, I've always told my father my dreams. Except for one. (The White Devil, novel)
16. Nephael cannot remember Heaven. (Dark Sister, novel)
17. Denise Blumenthal died on a beautiful spring morning in the polity of Greater Manhattan. (Schrödinger's Parable of the Cat, novel)
18. My mother was kitsune. When I was born kitsune, too, she cursed the fates and slew the midwife and raised me as a daughter. (The Kitsune's Tragedy, novella)
19. On the twenty-fourth of April, Medraut dreamed of Loheris again. (The Second Son, novella)
20. There were five queens in the creche. Beulah, Pauline, Camille, Thelma, and Katrina. Beulah was the favorite, and one night after the nurses had gone to bed, the others ganged up on her. There were only four queens after that. ("The Queen in Winter")
21. The Mistral Freighter D35-692N-C, Queen of Liverpool, had been grounded for thirty years, since the successful implementation of Chen and Tiedemann's q-curve drive had made her and all her sisters obsolete. (""The Queen of Liverpool")
22. Once upon a time, there were two dead mice, white and small and sleek. ("The Tale of Two Dead Mice")
23. Jefferson Finch was a lousy pitcher, but he was the best we had. (The Sidhetown Tigers, novel)
24. The pain is intense, sharp, and localizes itself gradually, as Vij comes closer to consciousness, into a throbbing knot on the back of ser skull, just behind ser left ear. Se reaches to touch it, groans as that wakes a whole new set of pains through ser left shoulder and arm, and only then wonders why se is corporeal at all. ("(Un)fallen")
25. The crime-scene tape was gone from the basketball court. (untitled short story)
26. The woman in my office had been dead for five days when I found her. The smell was unbearable, but the ghost was worse. (untitled short story)
27. "What are you doing, sister-wife?" (untitled short story)
28. Queen Titania was dead. (untitled short story)
If you are now thinking as how Mole desperately needs to finish something, you, sir or madam, are not wrong.
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Ok basically they all sound good. But I could really use some more of him right now.
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Seconded.
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And those Ghoul Hunters sound particularly tasty, too.
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Also I just have to say that one of my favorite things about fantasy is how many made-up names one can sometimes find within the first sentence. Generally, the more there are, the more ballsy I figure the author is, which means either a) the book is going to be nothing but made-up names and will suck or b) the awesome made-up names are just a hint of all the worldbuilding the author has done, and the book is going to be awesome.
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And, yeah. I should totally write a scene where Booth has to explain to somebody that he's not one of those Booths.
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This reminds me a little of the Chris Van Allsberg book I had as a kid that was supposed to be a mysterious collection the author received that had a single ilustration and line from a number of stories. That book freaked me out but it was great for trying to imagine the rest of the stories (90% of which would have been creepy as hell).
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I've seen this line pop up a few times in your first lines memes. Each time I read it, I am completely drawn in yet again. I cannot put into words how badly I long to read the rest of the story that accompanies such an opening.
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All of them intriguing actually, hope you finish one so I can read the whole work :)
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18, 22
18 has that well-told fairy tell feel that I'm a complete sucker for.
22 is similar, but more like a kid's story, with a Neil Gaiman feel. (Is that okay to say? Rhetorical question, nevermind.)
Next favorites:
14, 15, 5
Ones I like and call cute, for some strange value of cute:
6b, 20, 26
Ones I'm not sure if i like or not (they're too blatant?), but i want to know what happens next anyways:
4, 24
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