Favorite Book Quotes – Part 1 – First Lines

So I stumbled across this list of 100 Best First Lines of Novels the other day, and it got me to thinking about some of the best first lines of books that I’ve come across. So I decided to do a little review of my own favorite first lines (though I fudged just a bit, and have included some first lines of chapters/sections, rather than first lines of whole books – but it’s my list, so who cares?). I’m not going to include any that were on the other list linked to above, as that would be repetitive. The result is likely to be a list that goes heavy on the science fiction and fantasy, as that’s definitely the largest chunk of my reading repertoire. Lines are chosen because they were surprising/random, really funny, intriguing, or beautiful (poetically or philosophically). Or any other adjective that means it caught my attention. I will probably be adding to this occasionally as time goes on, or maybe doing a variety of different lists, not limited to first lines. Time will tell.

1. “No shit, there I was.” – Dragon by Steven Brust, first line. This line persuaded me to buy this book, and hence got me hooked on the Vlad Taltos series in particular, and Steven Brust’s writing in general. Good stuff.
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Writing Update

Just a quick update on all of my different projects, on the theory that if I make their existence known, someone might ask me about them and I might then have an extra prod to actually work on them and get them done.

Saerglen (Screenplay): I’m attempting an historical fiction screenplay. It takes place in Ireland around 400AD. I started this back in 2005. For about 2 years, it sat at around 30 pages with no progress made. In the last 8 months or so, I’ve added about 25 more pages, and seem to be getting back in the groove of the story. I do hit spots where I get stuck or agonize over a bit of dialogue. My overall goal is to finish this by the end of the year, though I’m going to try to make it sooner (for those who don’t know, a typical screenplay is about 120 or so pages – think a page per minute).

Untitled (Short Story/Novella): This is a shorter piece I’m working on, though it remains to be seen how long or short it will end up being. It’s a science fiction character study, basically. The interactions between this worlds-famous writer and his new assistant, and the secret behind his particular talent. I’m feeling more momentum on this than the screenplay at the moment, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t have a particular deadline/date in mind for this one, because I don’t know how long it may end up being. Suffice it to say my goal is to work on it steadily and finish it, haha.

New Poetry Project: I think poetry remains (and will likely always remain) my forte when it comes to writing. But I don’t write it nearly as often as I used to, and this is something I’d like to remedy. So, starting on Sunday the 15th, I will be embarking on a new project: to write one poem each day for a month. I will be posting them mainly over on my PPS library, but will post some of them on here, too. I toyed with the thought of calling this project something like the Ideas of March (Ides of March… get it?) but decided that was too cheesy. So it remains simple ‘poetry project.’ **update on this: due to sudden influx of ‘real’ work, procrastination, and it being brought to my attention that April is National Poetry Month, I will be postponing starting this until April 1st.

Untitled (Trilogy of Novels): This is on hold for the moment. Probably until after the screenplay is done. My brain can’t handle two giant projects at once.

In other writing news, my story Perspective (see old blog post) was not deemed quite good enough to catapult me to the 2nd round of that writing contest. I’ll be getting feedback next week hopefully telling me why. Bit of a disappointment, of course, but there will be other times, other contests.

Recapturing Childhood

A few months ago I did a stint at a local elementary school as a Reading Buddy – helping a kid who has trouble reading learn to read more/better through one-on-one storytime sessions. As the end of the ‘semester’ drew near, I wanted to get her a book that she could keep and read and hopefully enjoy as much as I did when I was her age. I immediately thought of one I had checked out repeatedly from the school library back in 2nd grade. It had magic, fairies, adventure, heroism, and above all, these absolutely gorgeous illustrations. Only problem? I could not for the life of me remember the title of it.

I thought it was something to do with a place called Sun Mountain or the magic tapestry that is at the center of the story. An extensive Amazon search revealed other versions of the same tale, but not the brilliantly illustrated one I remembered. Then, finally, just last month, I FOUND it. It is, in fact, called ‘The Weaving of a Dream’ by Marilee Heyer.

I promptly ordered it, and then gloried over the color-filled pages when it arrived.

This whole saga made me think back on other books from my formative years that played a big part in shaping my reading taste and love of books. Learn more »

New Place!

Ok, so some kind of Happiness Fairy must’ve been looking out for me and reading this blog, because literally the day after I wrote the below poem, I found the PERFECT place. Looked at it one day, got approved the next, and signed the lease the next. I have spent the last week moving in, and it is wonderful. I don’t even mind all the mess of unpacking.

My favorite things about this new place:

1. The quiet/sleep-a-bility of it. It’s in a nice neighborhood. I’m in a 1-story, so no people above me. Only one neighbor attached on the right, and she’s never here, so no noise through the walls. It’s my first place completely on my own, too, so no roommate making noise when I’m trying to sleep or things like that. I’ve slept better/more peacefully this past week than I have in YEARS. It’s frickin’ awesome, and I didn’t even have to change zip codes!
2. DISHWASHER! It may be absurd for me to be so excited about this appliance, but when you’ve lived the last 3 years washing every dish by hand, this becomes a huge deal.
3. Laundry machines all to myself. No more sharing the washer and dryer with 5 other people, and having to haul everything out to the garage and hope no one pokes around in my unmentionables. Washer and dryer here are newer, indoors right across from my bedroom, and all to myself. Yay!
4. It’s just plain pretty. Vaulted ceilings. A fireplace (a fireplace!) with a mirrored wall around it. Nice fresh white paint, clean carpet, spotless tiles, gleaming appliances in the kitchen. It’s new and shiny, and I’ve always been a fan of shiny new things (like when I got the MacBook Pro I’m typing this on… it’s silver and pretty. I pet it sometimes).
5. The view! Not only do I have a nice little covered patio area outside, complete with white picket fence around it (I kid you not), but I have a backyard! Full of green and grassy things and big sprawling trees. MUCH better than the flat brick wall and wire fence I saw out of my old office/back door view. AND, it’s not just the sights, but the sounds, too. I open the patio door to just the screen, and what do I hear? Not music pounding from next door, or people arguing/talking in the driveway, or cars driven by guys who think mufflers are optional. No. I hear BIRDS. And other nature-y sounds, like wind amongst the leaves, and the occasional squirrel chatter. If this is not the ideal environment for me to get more writing done, I don’t know what is.

There’s more (I could go on and on, I really do love this place), but here are a few pics of the lovely abode:

My new place!