First Line Competition Results

Apologies for the absence of paragraphs in this post - I'm still having problems, but didn't want to delay this posting. Thank you to everyone who entered. I thought this would be an easy competition to judge, but it wasn’t – far from it. It was tough and I had far more entries than I expected (not that I’m complaining – I enjoyed it!) Some entries made me laugh out loud, some made me gasp and some made me nod my head and identify with the narrator at once. Before I go any further, I just want to thank Lynne Hackles for her generosity in sharing her experience and wisdom when it came to the final judging. What I asked for was a line to make me want to read more. I couldn’t come up with an outright winner because as soon as I chose one, one of the other three would call to me. So I have to declare a draw. I will be chopping a copy of Diamonds and Pearls into three equal parts and…. No, I won’t really. Three winners will each receive a copy of Diamonds and Pearls. So without further ado… Congratulations to: Beryl Brown for: 'Outside the door, on the pavement, lay a red umbrella; it was the third one that day.' Susan Wright for: ‘I’m sure my granddaddy told me that human flesh is akin to beef, but Tanya’s leg sure tasted like pork to me.’ Heather Parker for: ‘Sarah trembled as she stared around the empty cell, whitewashed walls hiding the evidence of other interrogations...’ Congratulations Beryl, Sue and Heather on three very different intriguing winning lines. I would love to see where all these are leading. Your books will be winging their way to you tomorrow.