That's the very first line of our novel 'Wish You Were'. Well one of them. Let's just say it's under review. In fact our first chapter more resembles a pile of lego bricks as we take turns dismantling and rebuilding in a new order.
It's not going to win any future “Best first Line” awards is it. By comparison, here's Denis Lehane's favourite first line – from James Crumley's wonderful novel about drinking, 'The Last Good Kiss.'
"When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon."
I can relate to this. I have a dystopian vision of the future, 99% unwritten, in my shoe-box of abandoned projects. It starts “Eartha is running”, which personally I think is rather good. So good in fact, I was unable to get any further, apart from killing off poor old Eartha halfway down page four.