First Lines from Stories of Hope & Disaster for Earth Day

It’s April and Earth Day is right around the corner (the 22nd). That seems to make climate change stories an appropriate choice for this month’s First Lines post.

As writers, we’re often told that the first line of a story must hook the reader (particularly if that reader is an editor.) Implied is that the editor will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. But the editor is a single person with an opinion, often based on significant experience in selecting books. Still, it’s one opinion. The opinion that counts is that of the reader.

First Lines is a series of blog articles posted around the first of the month. Perhaps these will offer inspiration and great reading opportunities for writers and readers. No guarantees. After all, the hookiness of the first lines is in the eye of the beholder.

When There Are Wolves Again

by E.J. Swift

Post-Apocalyptic, LGBTQ+ Science Fiction

The cover of When there are wolves again has a beige background with the title over the top half of the book and the author's name at the bottom. There are four lines representing trees with a few leaves on their branches, the trees or their limbs weave behind and in front of the title text and the trunks of the trees slice through a photo of a standing wolf. the trees and the photo of the wolf are in color gradients from pink to blue to green.

Lucy | 2020

Speaking to the filmmaker, Hester Moore in 2070, in the Cairngorms

Please, Hester, come closer to the fire. Let me get you another blanket – there. We’ll keep it going all night, it is Beltane after all. May Eve! What better time for telling stories?

So where would you like me to begin? I should warn you, this is going to be a purely organic recollection, with all the whimsy that implies. I never did get on with the fad for memory digitalization in the 40s – I had enough going on in my head already. But I’ll do my best to give you an honest account, at least so far as these capricious minds of ours allow.“

Wild Dark Shore

by Charlotte McConaghy

Women’s Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction

The cover of Wild Dark Shore reads New York Times Bestseller Wild Dark Shore a Novel Charlotte McConaghy the type is in a muted orange and equidistant from top to bottom. The image is a dark sky in browns and blue-grays over an angry ocean of tumultuous waves in browns yellows and white. There is a seal on the book that reads Reese's book club.

Rowan

I have hated my mother for most of my life, but it is her face. I see as I drown.

* * *

The face I see when waking from drowning is different. It is rough and wind-bitten and scratchy. It is what I’m looking at when the sudden arrival of pain overcomes me, and I know the image of him will forever be as one with this pain. Whenever I see this face, I will remember the burning sting of being dragged upon rocks and flayed open, left raw, I will feel that bursting pressure in my chest; the sensation will be so vivid. It will be like it is happening all over again. His face, a return. A drowning.“

Hum

by Helen Phillips

Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Technothriller

The cover of Hum reads "A narrative tour de force." -Jeff VCanderMeer above the Title: Hum which is enclosed by the black outline of a box, the words a novel are inside the U of the word hum. There are 8 white almond shapes scattered in between the title and the author's name, some appear to be mounted at an angle on a stick with a round knob beneath the center of the almond shape, one has a green circle with a black dot as if it's supposed to be an eye, others have circles outlined in black at various points on the almond so that some almonds look like rings, some look like scattered shapes overlaying one another randomly.

The author's name is at the bottom in a similar box and under it reads Author of The Need, longlisted for the National Book Award. on the page-edge of the cover running the length of the cover vertically are the words a new york times editor's choice.

The needle inched closer to her eye, and she tried not to flinch.

Above her, the hum hovered, immaculate, and precise. The steadiness of metal, the piece of a non-biological body. She had heard of elderly people who, at the end, chose hum company over human company.

The hum paused to dip its needle finger in antiseptic yet again, then re-extended its arm, a meticulous surgeon. It’s labor was calm, deaf, as hum labor always was.

Yet the pain grew crisp as the needle moved across your skin toward the edge of her eye. A slender and relentless line of penetration. The numbing gel must be wearing off.“

The Light Pirate

by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Magical Realism, Action Adventure

The cover of the Light pirate has a photographic image of a still lake with trees on the opposite shore, the trees are reflected in the lake, the blue sky above is vertically streaked with lighter blues and a little purple. Above the title and to its left is an oval medalion that reads Dayton Literary Peace Prize Fiction Runner-up, an international award. Centered below that is the title in white with the words a novel centered below that. To the right of the words A novel is a round medallion that reads Good Morning America Book Club, A GMA book Club Pick". The author's name is across the bottom.

Somewhere west of Africa, so far from land, the sky is empty, and all directions, a storm begins. The water is warm, the waves are high. The air is heavy with moisture. A breath of wind catches, then circles back, turning itself into something new: a closed circuit gathering power, tighter, and tighter. In this way, the storm grows. It matures. Learns to hold the shape. The warm water feeds it, fattens it, then urges it Westward. Electronic eyes watch as it skims across the Atlantic. Soon enough, it earns a name. Reports are written about its speed and size. Preparations are made. There are other storms in this ocean, other pockets of hot, moist, wind, and rain-heavy cloud. But this one – this one will outgrow them all.“

The Climate Machine

The Athena Disasters Book 1, Susan Kemp

Science Fiction Adventure

Was that a raindrop? Marella Wells felt her arm, disappointed to find her skin dry. But of course, it wasn’t raining. The sky above the bakery was a cloudless powder blue, interrupted only by this flying saucer-like top of the space needle. The windows of the city’s, towering icon gleamed silver in the morning light. A dozen shiny gold objects clung to the saucers edge. From several blocks away, they looked like beatles, though they had to be much larger. One detached from the space needle and began to fall, edge is rippling in the wind.

It’s arms flailed.

Marella gasped… It was a person!

The Two Dogs Who Stayed

by Matthew Caldwell

Literary, Small town, Rural fiction

The cover of The Two Dogs who stayed is an image of looking at a snow covered bit of ground. The title is in the top third, in the middle of the second third is a dog's paw print in black below that and to the right is a small round medallion that reads "Reader Views, Bronze Award, Reviewers Choice Award" and the author's name is centered at the bottom.

It was my 58th birthday. December 31st. A day people pretend means something. I bought lemon cake.

Snow was falling in that heavy, hushed weight that makes the world feel like it’s holding its breath.

I didn’t plan to celebrate.

Bought myself that slice of lemon cake from the grocery store and a can of whipped cream. Some traditions deserve to live, even if no one’s around to notice them.

I was halfway home when I heard it. A whimper. Or a dog cry, maybe?

Sharp. Ragged.

Then nothing.

Stopped me cold.

I looked toward the old abandoned house on Birch Street. The one with peeling paint and plywood nailed across the windows.

Then I saw her.

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. Usually, I pull these titles at random. They are from Amazon, my personal library, my area public library, or other online booksellers.

Do You Want to Read More?

Do these first lines hook you? Do you want to read more? They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

Like this post? Check out previous First Lines posts.

Remember to Post a Review

No matter what book you’re reading, leave a few words on the site where you bought it, a reader’s site like Goodreads, or the author’s website. Just say what you would tell a friend about it. Reviews help writers and readers alike.

Did you find any first lines in this post that intrigued you enough to get the book? Please share which ones you thought were especially good. Or share your planned Earth Day activities.