Posts Tagged ‘#FirstLineFriday’

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: August 21, 2015 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

It’s Friday again, so you know what that means: it’s #FirstLineFriday! On Fridays, I title one post #FirstLineFriday, hashtag and all, and I post the first or first two lines of a potential story, story-in-progress, or published work. It’s something I picked up from a writer’s group I belong to on Facebook, and I’m hoping to spread it through the blogosphere (I already know one author who’s trying it as frequently as she can).

This weeks entry comes from the second novel of a potential trilogy I plan to write some day soon (if I can ever get that far, between everything going on in my life):

As I get older, it seems humanity finds more ways to be afraid of, hate, and hurt itself. If I still believed in God, I’d thank Him that I’m a recluse, but of course I don’t believe in Him and with good reason too.

Thoughts? Errors? Critiques? Let me know, I’m happy to discuss.

All for now, my Followers of Fear. This weekend I plan on working on a short story and looking for whatever job comes after this internship. Wish me luck on both and have a great weekend!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: August 14, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
3

It’s that time of the week again, Friday. You know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday! On Friday, I post the first or first two lines of a potential work, a work-in-progress, or a published work here on the blog, titling the post #FirstLineFriday (like just now). It’s actually a lot of fun, and I’m hoping that other bloggers will get into it as well and make it a habit.

Today’s entry comes from a novel I might potentially write someday. Remember that short story I was struggling with for over a year before I decided it’d be best if I turned it into a novel someday? Well, here’s what that novel would open with if I were writing it today:

If you are reading this, then it probably means I’m dead. Not an unexpected fate for someone from Whitechapel at the time I knew it, but considering how abnormal my life became after I joined the staff of Strong Manor, my death was probably just as abnormal.

I bet at least a couple of people here see the word “Whitechapel” and are thinking of just one person. Well, I’ll give you this much: you’re on the right track.

But what are your thoughts? Sound interesting? Are there grammatical errors or something I should correct? Let me know.

Well, the weekend’s coming up, and I’ll be resting at home this time around. Hope to get out a few blog posts, work on that audio book, finish a story, and upload a bunch of photos online. And get my laundry done too. Can’t wait to see how I do.

Have a good weekend, my Followers of Fear!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: August 7, 2015 in short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

It’s Friday, so you know what that means: it’s #FirstLineFriday! And it’s our tenth #FirstLineFriday in a row, to boot. Wow, hard to believe ten weeks have gone by (five of them here in Germany, I think). Thanks everyone for reading these posts and giving your feedback on them. It’s really appreciated.

For those of you who don’t know, #FirstLineFriday is something that originated in a writers group on Facebook that I’m trying to spread through the blogosphere. What you do is you label a post #FirstLineFriday, then you post the first or first two lines of a potential work, work-in-progress, or published work and ask for feedback from your readers. This week’s entry comes from the short story that I mentioned a couple posts back, the one that’s quickly turning into a novelette. Here’s how I start it off:

Let me just start out by saying that besides computer programs and exam essays, I’ve never been very good at writing, so my apologies if my attempt at memoir narrative sucks.

Funnily enough as I was writing this, I was thinking to myself, “Exact opposite of me.”

But what do you guys think? Critiques? Errors? Let me know.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Tomorrow I’m finally going to Munich, which means I’ll probably be out all day and won’t come back to blog about my experiences till Sunday. I hope the wait isn’t agonizing for you until then.

Until next time, have a pleasant weekend!

#FirstLineFriday (Plus My 1000th Post!)

Posted: July 24, 2015 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6

It’s Friday again! You know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday!

It also happens to be my 1000th blog post. Yes, you read that right. This is my one-thousandth blog post. Nearly four years after I started blogging, I’ve reached this momentous milestone. And I couldn’t have done it without all of you. In the early days, when I only got one or two views every couple of days, I thought a lot about giving up. But you guys kept coming. From the far reaches of the globe and the farther reaches of the Internet, you came, read, liked, commented, and even followed. So thanks everyone. Without your help, I would not be here today.

And now, it’s #FirstLineFriday, so let’s dive right into it. Here’s what you do: on Friday you post the first or first two lines of a potential work, a work-in-progress, or a published story. This week’s entry comes from a novel involving ghosts I might work on after I get through Video Rage, Laura Horn and Rose (yeah, I’m planning that far ahead, apparently). I’ve had an idea for what the opening lines would be for awhile now, so here’s a good way to test them out and see how people react to them. Enjoy:

I awoke, feeling very uneasy, though why I couldn’t say. Sitting up, I scanned my bedroom, sure I’d heard somebody scream just a moment before.

Thoughts? Errors? Critiques? Let me know.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. This weekend I’m spending time at home just relaxing (especially since Sunday is Tisha B’Av, a big holiday with a fast in the Jewish calendar. Don’t want to do anything crazy, do we?), maybe planning a trip to Munich, maybe cleaning and doing laundry and editing Video Rage. If I have something to post about, I’ll let you guys know.

Ein schonen tag, mein Anhanger der Angst! Let’s stick together for another thousand posts, shall we?

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: July 17, 2015 in ideas, Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

It’s Friday again! So you know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday, when I post the first or first two sentences from a potential story, a work-in-progress, or something I’ve already published. This is my seventh #FirstLineFriday post, and my hopes that this will become a trend seem not to have been disappointed (thank you Joleene Naylor for helping to spread this with me).

This week’s lines comes from a story I had the idea for earlier this week, a creepy supernatural thriller taking place in turn-of-the-century Missouri (which coincidentally is where I was born. Missouri, not the turn-of-the-century). Enjoy:

John awoke to the smell of his mother’s cooking in the other room and turned over, smiling. He had a feeling today would be a good day.

Thoughts? Comments? Errors? Let me know.

I’m hoping to get something else out later today if I can, so keep an eye out. I’ll be telling everyone what working at an Army base is like…without giving away any classified information, of course. That would be a stupid thing to do in so many different ways.

Have a good one, my Followers of Fear!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: July 10, 2015 in short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

It’s that time again. #FirstLineFriday. Every Friday I post the first one or two lines of a potential story, work-in-progress, or published work. This week’s opening comes from a potential short story I had the idea for yesterday:

Captain Leyla Janx, fifteen years old and feeling her life shortening with every second, ordered her aircraft carrier to turn fifteen degrees to the port side.

Thoughts? Comments? Grammatical errors? Let me know.

That’s all for now. If I get the chance, I’ll write a post about my first week in Germany later  today. Until then, I’m off to work. Einen schonen Tag, my Followers of Fear (please say I wrote that right!).

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: July 3, 2015 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6

It’s Friday again, and you know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday, where I take the first one or two lines of a potential story, a story-in-progress, or a published story and post them here (and in one of the Facebook groups I belong to). This week’s entry is from a story I started yesterday, and which I’m currently working on:

“Max gots a boyfriend! Max gots a boyfriend!” Danny sang, laughing as he ran.

“Shut up you little twerp!” shouted his elder sister Max, chasing after her brother through the sand.

Ah, sibling rivalry. I remember it well.

Thoughts? Comments? Grammatical or punctuation errors? I know, Danny’s saying “gots”, but he’s four, so I think we can let that one slide.

Have a good weekend and Fourth of July everyone. It’s my last one before I leave for Germany day after tomorrow, so I’m hoping to make it extra special. Wish me luck!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: June 26, 2015 in Novel, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
4

Bit late in the day, but it’s Friday, so it’s #FirstLineFriday! On this day, I post the first or first two lines of a published work, work-in-progress, or potential story. Today’s selection comes from my first published novel, Reborn City. I hope you like it.

Zahara and her family had decided to eat out at a restaurant in North Reborn that served kosher meat, the closest they could get to halāl.

Thoughts? Comments? Grammatical problems? Let me know. Have a good weekend!

 

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: June 19, 2015 in Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

It’s Friday again, which means it’s #FirstLineFriday! This is when I post the first or first two sentences of a current work, a work-in-progress, or a potential work. As I know a lot of the people who follow me are also writers, I’m hoping to start a trend. Here’s this week’s entry:

Whenever it snows, I start to feel the old depression and anxiety rise up in me, and I remember those horrific three days. The worst three days of my life.

Thoughts? Grammar or spelling errors? Want to know more? Let me know, I’d love to talk about it.

All for now, I’m busy editing and doing other stuff, so I’ll get back to that. Have a nice weekend, Followers of Fear!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: June 12, 2015 in Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
7

It’s Friday, so it’s time for #FirstLineFriday. This is something that started out on an author’s group on Facebook I belong to and that I’m trying to start as a trend among other writers elsewhere. What you do is on Friday you post the first one or two lines of a published story, work in progress, potential story, or just something you picked right out of the air. It’s a lot of fun coming up with what to write.

This week’s selection is from what I hope will be the second draft of a story I worked on earlier this year. Still trying to figure out how exactly I’m going to edit it but I have some ideas. Enjoy:

“…and in New Orleans, a woman gunned down by police may be the person responsible for the murders of several dangerous criminals. Police say the DNA of the suspect, who at this time has not been identified, matches that found at several other crime scenes of involving the deaths of people convicted or suspected of murder, rape, arson, or drug trafficking, all who died under mysterious circumstances.”

As you can probably tell, this is the beginning of a news report and would be much longer in the opening paragraph. But what did you think? Errors? Questions? Reviews? Let me know.

And if you haven’t, check out the Big Birthday Sale going on through Sunday. All Rami Ungar titles are marked down or free of charge at Amazon or Smashwords. Head on over to those sites to get a good book at a great price.

Have a nice day!

Older Entries
Newer Entries