tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post811029519283641997..comments2023-10-31T10:59:03.023-04:00Comments on INKSPOT Crime Fiction Blog | A Place for Mystery, Mayhem, Writing and Life: Is that a gun in your pocket . . .Linda O. Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01512430135042480450noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-91866646160415182102007-04-09T17:43:00.000-04:002007-04-09T17:43:00.000-04:00Okay, I have to admit this, even though it's a lit...Okay, I have to admit this, even though it's a little embarrassing.<BR/><BR/>Between the "Is that a gun in your pocket..." title and the positioning of the tree trunk (or whatever it is) in the first cover shot, I really wasn't sure what this post was going to be about. <BR/><BR/>What a relief. :)Karen MacInerneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195077484544376761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-23370764830354491222007-04-03T21:10:00.000-04:002007-04-03T21:10:00.000-04:00I don't know Cowboy in Africa, Julia, but I'm off ...I don't know Cowboy in Africa, Julia, but I'm off to Google it after I post.<BR/>Chuck Connor, hah! Our blog is so cool and campy!!<BR/>And I must say, "Something Wicked" sucked me right in, too, Joe. Anything Bradbury did with his lightning rods and illustrated men and martians and veldts and bats and dandelion wines, well, he's Bradbury. Nuff said. <BR/>So then I'm thinking-- I know my favorite, the Crusie line about the underpants. And I read on. <BR/>Candy, all I can say, is great minds think alike. But I always loved the second line, too: "They weren't hers."<BR/>Bah-dah-boom.<BR/>She wrote that for a class assignment to write a killer first line at OSU. That woman's good at homework.Susan Goodwillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15113679812768298989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-58072140763895334212007-04-03T19:33:00.000-04:002007-04-03T19:33:00.000-04:00I love the first line of The Stranger. "Maman died...I love the first line of The Stranger. "Maman died today."<BR/><BR/>Also, Joe, I love the Chuck Connors poster. The Rifleman was not my favorite, though--I fell in love with Chuck Connors in a little-known show called Cowboy in Africa. Anyone remember that one? Anyone?Julia Buckleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10270211923343731659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-55029231861938906772007-04-03T16:39:00.000-04:002007-04-03T16:39:00.000-04:00Thanks, everyone. All wonderful openers. I'll be...Thanks, everyone. All wonderful openers. I'll bet the ratio of rewriting the first line or paragraph of a book compared to the rest of the manuscript has got to be 100-1. Mark, the line from Glitz is absolutely brilliant. There's no way anyone could read that and not want to read line 2 and 3 and . . .Joe Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00028401465567502250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-19471412281218208222007-04-03T16:13:00.000-04:002007-04-03T16:13:00.000-04:00I can't bare to give just one. Here's my favorite ...I can't bare to give just one. Here's my favorite 3.<BR/><BR/>"The night Vincent was shot he saw it coming."<BR/>--Glitz by Elmore Leonard<BR/><BR/>"I turned the Chrysler onto the Florida Turnpike with Rollo Kramer's headless body in the trunk, and all the time I'm thinking I should've put some plastic down."<BR/>--Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler<BR/><BR/>"I inherited my brother's life."<BR/>--Straight by Dick Francis<BR/><BR/>And I gotta tell you, go ahead, pick any of those books up, read the first paragraph (or the entire book for that matter) and those first lines are promises fulfilled.Mark Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09410424046477699059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-40270803015788716692007-04-03T15:41:00.000-04:002007-04-03T15:41:00.000-04:00"One hot August Thursday afternoon, Maddie Faraday..."One hot August Thursday afternoon, Maddie Faraday reached under the front seat of her husband's Cadillac and pulled out a pair of black lace bikini underpants."<BR/><BR/>Tell Me Lies, Jennifer CrusieCandy Calverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07991835886974318472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-16903656549324887842007-04-03T12:05:00.000-04:002007-04-03T12:05:00.000-04:00"Call me Ishmael.""Call me Ishmael."G.M. Malliethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13805971625496094303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-37853838328973863062007-04-03T11:18:00.000-04:002007-04-03T11:18:00.000-04:00I'll give a shout out to one of our own!"Cape Weat...I'll give a shout out to one of our own!<BR/><BR/>"Cape Weathers just wanted to know what time is was before he died."<BR/><BR/>-Stealing the Dragon<BR/> Tim MaleenyMark Combeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01270361794228887282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-18414775421855771392007-04-03T10:35:00.000-04:002007-04-03T10:35:00.000-04:00"He loved to watch fat women dance." Goodnight, I..."He loved to watch fat women dance." Goodnight, Irene by Jan Burke.Sue Ann Jaffarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09984054116933714621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-23649433735532515612007-04-03T10:20:00.000-04:002007-04-03T10:20:00.000-04:00"Many years later, as he faced the first squad, Co..."Many years later, as he faced the first squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."<BR/><BR/>One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García MárquezBill Cameronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04796321136771189464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529128955266044151.post-70890555565396848332007-04-03T08:58:00.000-04:002007-04-03T08:58:00.000-04:00This is something we all should know, but it's so ...This is something we all should know, but it's so easy to forget how important our own first lines are. <BR/>One of my favorites is from Orwell's 1984.<BR/><BR/>"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."Deb Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11553920518121536568noreply@blogger.com