First Impressions

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

Welcome to summer 2025!

If you’ve been here for a minute, you might remember that last summer was a little different. Most notably because I gained a nemesis.

He’s at least four times bigger this summer and no less insistent. He also thinks he’s a lap dog. We think he’s part-gremlin.

Last summer I was revising my Time Loop Project (now on submission) and this summer I’m drafting my Tornado Project. Despite evidence to the contrary, I still feel like I don’t know how to write a book—or at least, not this one. I know how to write my last book. Although when I was in the thick of it, I absolutely did not.

Meanwhile, I had an idea about a currently shelved project the other day while listening to a very smart author (more on that) talk about their process. It’s so hard not to want to jump feet-first into an exciting new idea, especially when tornadoes are messy and complicated.

I’ve been thinking about trying out a new 4-week goal system to get this Tornado book finished. I wonder whether anyone would want to tag along with me?

A SECOND LOOK AT FIRST LINES

This weekend I got to immerse myself in craft paradise. I’ve joined a wonderfully supportive group called Finishing Lines, facilitated by Aaron Zimmerman. (You should check out his other offerings!) I also participated in the Hamlin 2-day MFA lectures, and attended V.E. Schwab’s book tour. (How do they find the time to sleep?!) My brain has been swimming in so much craft goodness, but there’s one thing that has risen to the top: what makes for a truly GREAT first line?

First things first: how about some examples?

• I’m not a shitty person, but I’m about to do a shitty thing. (HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE by Jennifer Niven)

• I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay. (MOSQUITOLAND by David Arnold)

• By the time school ends on Tuesday, my mother has died seventeen times. (THE WEIGHT OF OUR SKY by Hanna Alkaf)

• First things first, I wasn’t suffering under some kind of delusion, because that was the first thing people thought when they heard about the Masked Man. (DISPATCHES FROM PARTS UNKNOWN by Bryan Bliss)

• The day I turned twelve, I was certain it’d be my favorite birthday yet, but then I got the letter. (FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON by Janae Marks)

I could have included so many more, but I chose these because right away, in the first line, you’re hooked. AmIright?

I know I’m hooked. These are all books I’ve read multiple times, some I’ve tabbed and annotated and studied like I’m back in college, and if I can just find the right passage, the key to it all, I might just be able to write like this. (I’m looking at you, Bryan Bliss.)

But here's the thing I’ve noticed about all five of these first lines: there’s a formula that hooks you in. And here’s what it is: WHO + WANT + QUESTION.

That’s it. That’s the magic formula. Let’s break it down:

• Shitty person + a shitty thing + what shitty thing? and WHY???

• Mary Iris Malone + wants to be okay + why is she not???? how is she not?????

• A worried daughter + for her mother to be okay + why has her mother died SEVENTEEN TIMES?????? And how???? (read on to find out how… 😉 )

• Non-delusional person + for people to think they are not delusional + who is the Masked Man???? What does it mean????

• Twelve-year old (at least at some point) + a fantastic birthday + what is in the letter?????? Who is the letter from????

The thing that I find most exceptional about these first lines is that most writers strive to incorporate these elements into a first paragraph—and these all fit into a neat (and beautifully crafted) sentence. But now that we know the secret… it should be pretty easy to write some amazing first lines, right?

If you try out this first line formula, let me know! I’d love to see what you come up with!

BACKLIST BOOK CLUB

This time around I had to ask myself a good, hard question: what constitutes “backlist” these days? Does 2021 count? Even just asking this question gave me the chills because 2021 hasn’t happened yet, right? And 2019 was just a year ago. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, but I decided that it’s not quite time to delve into the “backlist” of 2021 (the same year my sophomore title, OF WIND AND TIDE released, coincidentally). So this month’s backlist book club comes to us from 2016, when we were all so much younger.

Mosquitoland (quoted above) is about quirky Mim Malone who takes a spontaneous and misguided trip from Mississippi to Cleveland (a city which still has my heart) on a Greyhound bus. Along the way, she meets some unlikely (and unsavory) characters, and ends up taking pit stops that change her world.

I give this book 5/5 shiny clean truck stop bathrooms.

That’s it for now! I’ll be back next month with updates on my own projects! Until then…