Writing the perfect first line. A number of years ago I heard an agent speak and the one thing she said that has stayed with me was: "The first line will sell the book. The last line will sell the next book." This really began to hit home the more I wrote, because the more I wrote and had that "internal editor" taking up permanent residence on my shoulder, it made me hard to please when it comes to reading fiction. An author really has to grab me from the get-go to keep me reading these days... read more
