It’s giveaway time! However, this is not going to be your average Rafflecopter entry. Nope. This time we’re going to do something a little different. On last night’s episode, award winning author Shiloh Walker talked about loving the intro of her new novel HEADED FOR TROUBLE. It got me thinking about how important it is to have a stellar first line. Jill Haworth also touched on this on her recent article and I can’t help but think that since it’s coming up so damn much that maybe we can have some fun with it? How many of us read past a crappy first line? Okay, I do, but I also admit when that first line is made of win, I’m hooked from that moment on. I LOVE it when a first line draws me in.
So I want all your made-of-win first lines. That’s right. Say hellloooooo to the Stellar First Line Mini Contest. The first line doesn’t have to actually be from your novel or current W.I.P. Make one up! In fact, I’ll let everyone have a mulligan. You can enter TWO first lines. That doesn’t mean a first sentence and then one to follow it up. They have to be SEPARATE first lines that would belong in SEPARATE books, ya dig? Also, only one line. If you have more than one period, it’s more than one line. If you’re em-dashing or doing anything else to make two sentences one, I’ll know.
Yes, I am that good.
Make them witty, fun, gritty, dark, or whatever you want. Just make it a fantastic first line that will draw me in and be like, “Oh shit, where’s the rest of the story?!”
You may be asking–but why I am I doing this? What’s the prize?
The winner, chosen by me based on totally subjective awesomeness of their first line, will receive their choice of two novels from the following list:
Bones Never Lie – Kathy Reichs
Rules of Entanglement – Gina L. Maxwell
A Tale of Two Centuries – Rachel Harris
The Collector — Victoria Scott
Love and Other Unknown Variables — Shannon Lee Alexander
How To Tell Toledo From The Night Sky — Lydia Netzer
Due to exuberant shipping fees I can only open the physical copies to U.S. entrants. HOWEVER, because I love my international peeps too, if I pick yours, I will gift you an ecopy of ONE of the above novels via Amazon or BN.
REMEMBER:
To enter you must reply to THIS blog post. *points down at the comment section*
You can enter TWO first lines, but they have to be for separate novels.
You don’t have to use the lines from your WIP. You can totally make up new ones.
This is a completely SUBJECTIVE giveaway, so if that’s not your thing, don’t enter.
NO PUBLISHED FIRST LINES. I mean, come on, that’s kinda cheating.
ONE LINE. NO EXTRA PRETTY GRAMMAR TO TRY AND MAKE TWO SENTENCES ONE.
Have fun with it!
I will end the competition Friday, September 25th. That should give you guys ample time to play around with it. I’ll go over the first lines that weekend and announce the winner Monday September 28th.
Venture forth and create those first lines!
Two hours to sunrise and I was already running for my life.
Before his eyes, the corpse began to fall.
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I wore a black sequined dress that hugged my hips, long white gloves, red lipstick, and a feather in my tawny curls to the cemetery.
Tarzan’s cry bellows out from the left hip pocket of my jeans.
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“Who amongst you does not yearn to fly?”
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Bryn’s forever began with a goodbye.
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I’d played many roles in my years as an actress, but until now never murderess.
The explosion covered her in coal dust, but as she did not breathe air, the Little MER girl carried the corpses home.
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Despite standing knee-deep in the icy, roaring sea with a blade to my throat, it was in that moment I knew I was in love with Will.
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It wasn’t even noon yet, and Sheriff John Boone stood in the middle of a trailer park with his Colt 1911 pistol leveled at a piss-drunk, stark-naked white supremacist.
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Line 1: Sheila swims up from dreams of fire to the burn of unwelcome sunlight on her lids.
Line 2: Tucumcari was 50 miles in the past when I saw the horse.
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Logan dropped the log onto the hot coals in the fireplace, sucking in a harsh breath at the pain that shot up his side, a grim reminder he was alive, but his partner was dead.
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If I had known that this day was my last day on Earth, I might not have called my mom a bitch.
Sasha glided her palm along smooth skin, her fingers tracing a path left by her tongue only moments ago on their way to a soft neck.
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Eve Langely’s brother wasn’t so much stroking his tiny penis as he was choking it.
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The bullets ricocheted off the ground and dust flew into my face.
The blood moon beckoned haunted memories.
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“I’m fairly certain this is how cautionary tales begin.”
“There were two men fighting in Haley’s yard, and they were making a horrible mess of the petunias.”
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My best friend’s funeral is so predictable I shouldn’t have bothered coming.
I grew up believing that only three things were always true: blackberries picked fresh in August made the best jam, God always answered your prayers if you prayed right, and I was going to marry Soren de Vries.
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“To think, I was jealous of her.”
“There was a general consensus among her daughters that this would be her last Christmas.”
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What a fun and wonderfully timed contest! I’ve been working on mine for several novels. Let’s see how they fare.
#1: I snuck in the front door of our new house with a gopher snake dangling in my hand.
#2: Music beckons the soul from its darkest places.
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Since my original winners didn’t get back to me, EMILY MOORE-I CHOOSE YOU! I love the gopher snake line. It just lets me know that something mischievous is about to happen. 😀 Email me at Whiskeywinewriting(at)gmail with the book you choose and your address.
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Soooo excited!!!! Thank you so much!
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Thank you so much!!!! So many wonderful lines in this contest! I wonder how you managed to choose any among them all!
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“I’m NOT using my last bottle of Kettle One on a Molotov cocktail to save your ass,” she said.
Trees are not a good braking mechanism for an average compact car.
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LOL Ellay pick novel and email me. These are two fantastic first lines! NatashaMRaulerson(at)gmail
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1. The attitude of new EMTs made me want to pop them upside the damn head sometimes.
2. Now would be a terrible time to sneeze.
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(1) I knew the day wasn’t going to go as planned when I stepped into the shower and found a bloody knife, fourteen dirty socks, and a bemused sheep.
(2) Daddy told me to never trust a four-fingered alligator wrangler; I should have listened.
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Okay, I loved these as much as Ellay’s. So pick your book and email me with your address at NatashaMRaulerson(at)gmail 😀
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#1 Death shouldn’t be pretty, and for Becky Sturman it wasn’t.
#2 The story Grandma told when the wind wrapped its arms around the old cottage always made Mina’s flesh crawl.
Loving seeing everyones first lines 🙂
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While her husband snored in the next room, Olga hunted for a place to stash the stolen $18,000.
Another twelve hours and I could give this day the bird.
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1. I used to be the kid jumping on cracks in the sidewalk while her friends tiptoed around them.
2. Already, Mason was regretting breaking it off with Mindy.
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I love my job, Cemetery Manager, because I make sure no one messes with my mother’s grave, and I hear stories—lots of stories.
After spending the last four hours kissing pumpkins, zucchini, gourds, and a few stray eggplants, I have insecticide lips, but still no prince.
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I’ve been dead for 158 days, but this is the first time I’ve felt like I’m in hell.
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Winners have been picked! You guys are friggin’ talented as hell. Just so you know. 😀
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Haven’t heard from either of the chosen winners. If I don’t hear back by 10/10 I will choose a different winner!
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