A Tender Green Time by Leigh Riker



It’s here! After a cold, gray winter, spring has (finally) sprung. In fact, the showy Bradford pear blossoms have come and gone. The daffodils I bought in a pot weeks ago just dropped their yellow flowers. The dogwood and redbud trees’ lacy displays adorn the valley behind my house, and the majestic purple irises are coming out all through my neighborhood. Can you tell I like this season? It’s especially beautiful here in Tennessee. This is my white viburnum in bloom and the lawn looking green before the summer heat browns it out.




With winter behind us, I’m into new beginnings—and as a writer I love great first lines in books. I’m remembering a favorite I’ve reread so many times I can quote from it. Katherine by Anya Seton is an historical novel based on real people (the hero is John of Gaunt, son of Edward III) and events, but it starts like this: 

“In the tender greentime of April Katherine set forth at last upon her journey with the two nuns and the royal messenger.”

Wow. That first line does a lot of work. Who, What, When. Because of the nuns, we can guess Katherine is leaving a convent where she has been raised and educated. “At last” tells us she’s eager to go. Having escorts was the norm in medieval times so that’s not unusual, but what’s this about a royal messenger? The Where and Why are answered on that same page—and every time, I’m hooked.

In my own writing, I try to come up with opening lines that set the tone for the book. I’m not sure I get them right that often, but this is from Danny Boy, my first cowboy book: There were only three songs that could make Erin Brodey Sinclair cry.” She then explains what they are, and why. “Old Lang Syne” (she’s spent so many New Year’s Eves alone), “My Funny Valentine” (she’s had one memorable romance in her life--guess who), and “Danny Boy” (the song, like the man, can make her weep buckets). 

More recently, in the third book of my Kansas Cowboys series (Heartwarming, November 2017), “Olivia watched her ex husband dance with his bride.” The divorce was painful for Olivia in the first book of the series so I thought his second wedding made a good place for her to start.



The fourth book (Wannabe Cowboy, awaiting its new title) will come out in January 2019, and I just tweaked a new proposal for a fifth book in the series. 

Do you have any books on your keeper shelf that you’ve reread until the pages are falling out? Any favorite first lines to share? 

And, oh, here’s another from Cheryl Reavis’s book, A Crime of the Heart: “He hadn’t thought it would hurt so much to see her again.” Honestly, that one just sent a shiver down my spine. Again. Lovely.

Happy Spring!!





Comments

  1. Spring looks lovely where you are. I just read a first line that kept me reading to the second and beyond. I've got lots of favorites, but came across this book in the library, read the first few lines and checked it out: "I come to on a Cessna, bumping through the air." Okay, intriguing. Then the second line: "My head is throbbing, and there is blood on my shirt." So, I needed to find out why. That first line did its job, and the second one got me in deeper! Thanks for the post!

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    1. I’d read that book too, Virginia! Yes, spring and fall are the best seasons where I live.

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  2. I straightened my book shelves yesterday and found a book from high school. "Call me Ishmael."

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    1. That’s like running into an old friend you haven’t seen in ages. I still remember books from fourth or fifth grade like Calico and Crinolines. Tried to find a current edition of that one recently but it doesn’t seem to be available.

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  3. I like your suggestion that first lines need to be memorable. I do know I've read some, but now when I start a book I'll keep this in mind. Thanks for your peek at spring and the idea.

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    1. You’re welcome, Roz, though your books are already great!

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  4. I love first lines. I always read them when thinking of buying a book. It won't stop me if they aren't stellar, but if one gets me, I have to buy it. I love the first line of Pride and Prejudice:

    "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, MUST be in want of a wife."

    That applies to every generation from the day Jane Austen wrote it until infinity.

    One of my first lines that was quoted to me almost daily by people mocking me as a romance writers is:

    "Most people go to Las Vegas for the gambling."

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    1. Ooh, yes, Shirley, that first line of Austen’s is perfect! And I love yours too. It’s just waiting for that other shoe to drop.

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  5. I wrote a few opening lines, and the internet scooped them up!

    There's the famous "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

    This one sets the mood for the book: "Well-trained in the art of reading the subtle cues of body language, FBI Special Agent Vaughn Roberts was quite certain this date was going down in flames."

    And this one is a completely different set up: "The schoolroom in the Parsonage at Heythram was not a large apartment, but on a bleak January day, in a household where the consumption of coals was a consideration, this was not felt by its occupants to be a disadvantage."

    And I still like the first sentence of my first book: "Not everyone who had red hair was short-tempered."

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    1. Wow. You have a great collection here of first lines! From Rebecca is another favorite of mine. So atmospheric.

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  6. Loving all the first lines! So I have a question for everyone. In a book with a prologue, are you still more hooked by the first line of chapter one...or do you put a lot of weight on the first line of the prologue?

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    1. That’s a tough one, Rula. For me, I’d say whatever comes first.

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  7. Three songs that make her cry is an amazing first line! Can't wait to read the rest.

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    1. Thanks, Beth! The heroine wrote that one. 😊

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  8. What a fun post, Leigh! I love the three songs that make her cry line, too. I'm going to go with the first line from one of my favorite books of all time, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: "This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure and what a Man's resolution can achieve." My favorite first line that I've written is "Hold still. I'll kill it."

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  9. A great post! I love first lines, too, although I don't remember them afterward. I agree with Beth about the three songs that make her cry--a great line and a great punch to start.

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