Hello, everyone and woohoo for FRIDAY!
Writing something about the sentence this week proved quite challenging. Nothing worked without it being a spoiler, so I’m taking a different approach.
What we know right now, either from the flap copy or my posts:
- Rae Lynn has disguised herself as a man in order to get a job at the squalid turpentine camp known as Swallow Hill
- A camp like this is filled with danger from the environment, snakes, heat, insects, risk of disease and infections
- The work load and expectations of the boss men are relentless
- She is in a precarious position, given her true identity, and must keep up
Given all of that, Rae Lynn is either sick or she’s in some sort of trouble.
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Chapter 16
Rae Lynn
She lay soaked with sweat, yet shivering.
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GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!!!
The Goodreads Giveaway ends at midnight, PST (if I’m not mistaken) August 29th! Have you entered yet?
Of course there are still chances for an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from me for this week as well! Eventually, I’ll have finished copies to give away too, so I hope to make some readers happy!
FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY THIS WEEK:
When asked what’s your favorite first sentence out of any book you’ve read, it’s too hard to pick! So instead of that, for this week, tell me:
What’s the first sentence of the book you’re reading right now? Were you immediately hooked?
I’m going to play along. Here’s the sentence out of the book I’m reading called Enemy Women, by Paulette Jiles:
“Young men joined up by the thousands in their eagerness to go to war for the state of Missouri; they would go to war and come home with stories to tell as their fathers had come home from the Mexican War with tales of faraway places and the bold charge the Missourians made at Saltillo.”
An intriguing sentence, and yes, I wanted to keep reading! That’s because in that one lone sentence she has managed to convey the thinking of these young men, who, I believe, wanted to experience what their fathers had, and who wanted their own stories to share.
A winner will be randomly selected and announced Monday!
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NETGALLEY
Are you a NetGalley reviewer? The Saints of Swallow Hill is available for request! I’ve started seeing a few reviews. It’s so exciting to read what people are saying about the book!
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Last, but not least, don’t forget to:
- Add The Saints of Swallow Hill to your Goodreads “To Read” shelf
- Share this post with your reader friends
- Follow me on Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Bookbub, or my blog
You might win a copy, but, you can always give away one as a gift! 🙂
I just finished a book so don’t have one in progress right now. But I have an answer. The first sentence that really stuck with me was actually yours: “The only memory I have of Mama, she was on fire.” It drew me into the story, yanked me in really, and I was hooked. I’ve read lots of first sentences. But that is one I quote to people all the time.
Oh wow – thank you!!! I don’t know that I’ll ever top that one again . . .
Here’s a real kicker – it’s based on a true story. I saw my own mother catch fire in a grilling incident gone wrong. She ended up perfectly fine – but I never forgot it – I was three when it happened.
Wow! You’re kidding! I had no idea it was autobiographical. I typically don’t really remember first sentences. But that one struck me right away. What a picture it leaves behind!
Only part that relates to my family is that sentence – no moonshiner’s – but my grandfather was a bootlegger! (didn’t find out until AFTER I wrote the story! 🙂 )
I am almost finished reading Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens. The first sentence is:
“No one ever wakes up thinking, I’m going to die on a dark road tonight, but that’s the point, isn’t it?”
Yes, I was definitely hooked! I knew it would be a great thriller.
Burma – that one is a doozy for sure!
I’m not reading anything right now so I don’t have a first sentence.
Charlene and Dwight Carson unloaded their three children at the Whitman’s lakeside cabin like a courier with a cardboard package.” this is from “No More Words” by Kerry Lonsdale , and yes it hooked me right then. Thank you for the chance. Have a great weekend and stay safe.
That first sentence says a lot! Same to you!
“Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday.” – Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Book 1) by Louise Penny
WOW – and there it is, the sentence that sucks a reader right in. I’ve never read any of Louise Penny’s books, but I know she’s very popular.