Saturday, May 01, 2010

Last-Line Blogfest

Today is I'm participating in my second blogfest. This one is writing-related and just looked fun.

Lilah Pierce of The Good Grief Writer is hosting today's fest, where writers put up the last several lines of something they wrote, whether it's the end of a chapter, a story, or an entire book. I thought it sounded like a ball, and I look forward to reading the other participants' last last lines.

We're allowed to include up to 25 lines (so there's enough back story for the final bit to make sense). Instead of making my entry that long, I'm throwing out three endings to chapters (mostly because I'm indecisive).

They're all from Band of Sisters. (Not THE ending, mind you. I'm not going to spoil stuff, but here you'll get to see three of the five women in the book and their personalities: Kim, Jessie, and Nora.)

End of Chapter 5 (Kim):
Until now, she'd pictured the baby as a mass of tissue that was making her feel sick all the time and making her pants tight. Now it looked real. She'd seen it moving around. She'd seen the heartbeat. It was a real person.

Darn it.

End of Chapter 23 (Jessie):
"Here I was feeling guilty for getting the bigger steak because I'd have to cut down on diapers or something else in this week's budget to make up for it. Running out of diapers wouldn't have been good."
End of Chapter 30 (Nora):
She'd send a note to Russell demanding that he stay at the base from here on. Being a colonel should offer a few perks, and one of them should be not turning your wife into a widow.

Find the links to the other blogfest participants HERE.

Shameless plug: To download the first three chapters of Band of Sisters, go HERE.

20 comments:

Carolyn V. said...

Awesome last lines!!! =)

Charity Bradford said...

What a great idea to post several throughout the book. I liked seeing the flow and progression of the story.

Unknown said...

I love the idea of multiple options - I have trouble with darn - crap?
As for the colonel, he sounds bad from here! ;)

sarahjayne smythe said...

Very nice. I really like the three last lines here. :)

Anonymous said...

All of them were so well written I got a sense of the characters themselves. I agree with Elaine. I thought "crap" would have been more realistic than "darn".

Annette Lyon said...

Good idea--maybe I should have used "crap." I think I was trying to about the other D word, since my publisher wouldn't let it through. :)

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Nice! I love that I'm going to read this soon! Yeah, I confess...I read one of David Farland's first. What can I say? I'm all about fantasy. No wait, that could totally be taken wrong...umm...yes! Can't wait! I've a two foot high stack of books that I picked up at Storymakers. Wonder how long they'll last...

Dawn Embers said...

Nice work. I like the first one the best of the three, but that's just me. It draws me in with the first section and amuses me with the last words. Well done.

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Yes, one of the perks for being a colonel should be not turning your wife into a widow! Sadly, many generals don't take that view.

Your endings splendidly introduce us to the distinct personalities of your heroines. Great job, Roland

* said...

This looks so fun! I've done a poetry blogfest, but nothing like this yet!

Susan Fields said...

Great last lines - I like the idea of posting three different ones! Their personalities shine through.

Eric W. Trant said...

Um. Wow. Nice lines!

"Darn it."

You sure know that little tidbit about snipping the reader to keep em turning to the next page. I'd probably hate your book because there'd be no good stopping point.

(That's a compliment)

- Eric

Happy Mom said...

I started Band of Sisters after lunch today. It was a my reward to myself for cleaning the kitchen. I was only going to read for a few minute and then tackle folding the laundry, but then I looked at the clock and it was past dinner time and the family was hungry and I was almost done and could NOT put it down! I'd cried and laughed and loved and sorrowed and joyed (can that be a verb?) and it was sooooo GOOD!!!

...contented sigh. You write good, girl! (and this book was the goodest!)

Anonymous said...

Great entries and thanks for participating!

Raquel Byrnes said...

The one about the steak and feeling guilty was my favorite. Nice idea with the chapter downloads.

Cynthia said...

Very cool! I'll have to check out the others. I love it when the last lines make it impossible to put the book down because you MUST know what happens next. That's why I have been known to stay up all night reading if the book is even halfway decent. Compulsive reader here.

JoLynne Lyon said...

It was nice to meet you, Annette. I've seen your books and wondered if we're related by marriage. Now I'll hit the books and find out!

Heather of the EO said...

good stuff. funny stuff. I love good and funny! :)

Cluttered Brain said...

I love the diaper and steak quote! That was sweet of her to buy the meal...:))

Anna Maria Junus said...

Great lines and funny too. I want to read the book!

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