Dunno if you've heard of this already, but it's worth a
second post...
The First Annual Great First Line Contest
Blame Chuck Dickens. He started the whole "great first line"
thing, with "it was the best of times…" Now we all have to
have to keep up.
Happily, nobody does better first lines than mystery
and thriller writers.
"Shortly after the death of the failed Quaker, Steadfast
Haynes, the Central Intelligence Agency received a telephoned
blackmail threat that was so carefully veiled and politely
murmured it could have been misinterpreted as the work of
some harmless crank. But it wasn't misinterpreted."
Read that and I dare you to close the book without reading
on. In recognition of the art of crafting great first lines,
several of us in the mystery community have decided to launch
the Ross Thomas Award
(named with the permission of Ross's widow, Rosalie). It will
be given to the best first line of a mystery or thriller
published in English in 2004.
Nominations can be submitted through Jim Huang's website: http://themysterycompany.com/firstline/firstline.htm.
Anyone can submit a line - as long as the work from which it
is taken was published in English in 2004. (You absolutely
can nominate yourself.) The top ten "great first lines" - and
the winner -- will be selected by a panel of booksellers,
fans, and writers and will be announced at Midwest MWA's Of
Dark and Stormy Nights Writing Conference, June 11, 2005, and
be featured in a forthcoming issue of The Drood Review. Those
who nominate the winners will also be recognized.
We hope to make this an annual event, and we encourage
everyone to submit their favorite first line. And if you're
interested in becoming a judge or otherwise being involved,
please drop an email to samhill@samhillonline.com.
Some of my favorites?
"By the time Jerry Pankow was ready for breakfast, he'd
already been to three bars and a whorehouse." (Small Town,
Lawrence Block)
and
"They found out about him in July and stayed angry all
through August." (Without Fail, Lee Child)
Not that there aren't a million more... If you can think of
any others
- send 'em to Sam Hill!
Maggie webmaven
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