A writing contest for readers/writers of romantic suspense, thrillers,
and all genres! 

Join us for our eighth annual

Best First Line contest!

Have the next Great American novel inside you screaming to get out?
 Okay, how about just the first line? 

Then this is the contest for you!  

Write the most compelling first line in the history of literature and email it to me

(See Rules below)

 CASH PRIZES!

First place: $75 and autographed book of your choice*

Second place: $25 and autographed book of your choice*

Third place: autographed book of your choice*

 * For international winners, prize will be a gift certificate at B&N.com in the same amount.  Autographed books subject to availability.

All entries will be posted here as I get them, taken verbatim from your email.  Contest begins February 1, 2008 and ends March 15, 2008.  Winners will be announced and notified April 10 or sooner.

Keep checking back to see what’s been added! 

Contest is open to all writers and readers.  There is no charge to enter.

See last year's entries to spark your imagination.

Entries so far

Rules

So that entries can be posted in a timely fashion, please check your entry carefully before you send it in.

  • Format your entry as follows:  My great line. –Name or initials

Example:

She looked at what he held in his hand and asked, "Just what do you intend to do with that?" – Ima Greatwriter

(Look at the previous entries for further clarification.)   

  • Don't use quotes unless the line is spoken dialog.  NO CAPS, please.  Just your line, two dashes, and either your name or initials. (Be aware that if you include your whole name, someone who Googles you will find your entry.  This actually happened, and the "Googler" made fun of the entry, which wasn't very nice and shame on you.)
  • This is the Best First Line contest, not Best First Line(s). Please limit each entry to one sentence. (Long, run-on sentences are scored lower and two or more separate sentences will not be posted.)
  • Entries will be posted verbatim, typos and all.  Entries cannot be edited once they are posted.
  • You must include only the words Best First Line in your email's subject line.  Otherwise it might get lost in the deluge of SPAM.
  • No more than 3 entries per person, please. And no trying to sneak them in under different names!  Write out all of your wonderful lines and then pick the best three.  You can send all three lines in one email.
  • No profanity, pornography or depravity, please.
  • Your line must be your own original creation and cannot be from a published book.
  • Your line will not be used in any way by Tina Wainscott other than on the website and/or other contest promotion.  It may be used as a Round Robin type project, however.
  • An impartial panel of published authors will judge the contest.  Their decision is final.
  • Include your full name in your email.  It will not be posted unless you attach it to your entry as in the above example.
  • By your entry, you certify that you are at least 18 years of age and agree to the rules and conditions of the contest.  You will hold Tina Wainscott harmless for any misdirected mail or emails and hereby release her from any liability that may arise out of any claim. You grant permission for your entry to be posted on the website and used for promotion.
  • If you use spam filters, please add TINA at TINAWAINSCOTT dot COM (in proper format) to your allowed list.  If you cannot be reached, your prize will be forfeited, and that would be an awful thing.

 A big fat thank you to my contest judges:  Marty Ambrose, Barbara Meyers, and Joyce Henderson!

Check out Joyce Henderson's next Native American romance, TO THE EDGE OF THE STARS in December 2007.  [www.joycehendersonauthor.com]

Watch for Barbara Meyers's new release, A MONTH FROM MIAMI, coming in March 2008 from Samhain Publishing [www.barbmeyers.com]

Also watch for Marty Ambrose's new mystery series, coming in 2009 from Avalon!

We have our winners for the 2008 Best First Line Contest. Congrats to all and thanks to everyone who entered! 
Check here for news of February 2009's contest!

First Place:
The calendar read February 2008, so why was Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans standing in my backyard next to the birdfeeder loading his musket? –  Bernice S. Renkawek

Second Place: 
After having lived 1267 years, nothing was supposed to surprise me. –Christy Kennedy

Third Place:
Everything was fine until the first head rolled out of the bag. – Julie Cunningham

Honorable Mentions:
I didn't see, I didn't breathe, but I heard that velvet voice when it whispered in my ear, "Live." – K. Moore

This was the first time I'd ever hidden a dead body in my closet beneath my $300 red patent leather stilettos. – Cady Walker

 

February 2008 Entries

Kelsey Merrill tried not to move as she counted body parts. – HMH

On the whole, visiting the park near her home proved a much better idea than re-plotting the death of her ex-boss. – HMH

This would get her into so much trouble. – HMH

How can a man of my dreams become my worst nightmare? –Dee Gold

Alana turned the computer off but she can still read the words, Die Alana! DIE! –Dee Gold

Cara knew that there was hope when she heard him breathe. –Dee Gold

Ye gods, it's not tomato juice; it's blood--real blood! -- B.A.

As I opened the coffin lid, I looked around in disgust. - Janean Sparks

 

As his fangs sank deep in her satin skin, she could smell the fear of his last victim. - Janean Sparks

 

The smell of her sweet blood sang to his eternal soul.- Janean Sparks

Who knew that sex could be murder? – DD

 

Eva felt the rough, masculine hand slide around her waist just before she plummeted down the 200 foot cliffside. – DD

 

There is only one way to get hide a dead body: pretend he's your boyfriend. – DD

 

It was on her wedding night that Payden discovered she had made a deadly irreversible mistake.  BSR

 

"I don't want your heart, Angelina," the demon hissed in her ear, "I want your soul!"  BSR

 

The calendar read February 2008, so why was Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans standing in my backyard next to the birdfeeder loading his musket?  BSR

 

It was quite a surprise to wake up and discover I was dead --CB

 

Everyone thinks I'm crazy, and even I'm not sure if what is happening is truly real--CB

 

I could tell by the smell of blood this was going to be a another bad one--CB

 

Everything was fine until the first head rolled out of the bag. – JC

 

There she was looking in his eyes, looking at the man she loved, he had the face of an angel, it was so hard to believe this was also the face of a cold-blooded killer. -Leslie Dempsey

 

Carli Ann Hennessey had done a fine and wonderful thing - she'd saved her mother's life. - Kevin Lucia

 

 What if I hadn't murdered Grayson? --Patricia J. Hale

 

It was butt-ugly, bloody and still warm. --Patricia J. Hale

 

My heart was pounding, I was sweating profusely and my eyes were bulging out of their sockets. --Patricia J. Hale 

 

As the terror filled eyes of the young girl stared back at me, I realized I don't like bouncy balls anymore. -- jw

 

I knew I would run into him – literally, and no matter how I tried to stop the impending embarrassment, I couldn't change things. – jw

 

This was the first time I'd ever hidden a dead body in my closet beneath my $300 red patent leather stilettos. --Cady Walker

 

“With the quietness of a feline night stalker, the child rose to her feet to begin the hunt.” – JC

 

I lied. -- CLK

 

After having lived 1267 years, nothing was supposed to surprise me. -- CLK

 

Do you really call this living? – CLK

 

I learned just then that it's almost never good to say "I hate you" to someone when the have a gun to your head. --Cady Walker


She awakens to find another date, lying dead beside her. -- DLS

As the warm mourning sun arises, Karen opens her door to find not only cold fresh milk, but the milkman's cold dismembered hands holding the bottles. --- DLS

As I stroll lazily down the street, I ponder to myself, just how can I mail a dead body. --DLS

Eyebrows were raised when Jillian LaBeau showed up at her sister's
wedding draped in a white Chanel ballgown and her sister's ex-fiance.
--KOL

It wasn't everyday that Peter Blake woke up in bed with his
girlfriend's grandparents; even he wasn't that kinky. –KOL

No good ever came from opening a door without first looking through the peephole. -- SC

First came the screams.  –SC

Waking up with a mouthful of fur was not a good way to start the day. -- ME

 

What you are doing is illegal, dishonest and wrong I told myself as I navigated the narrow alleyways. -- ME

 

Sunneyville would have been the perfect town if it wasn't for the people. -- ME

 

I stared at my bed in disbelief, out of all these body parts and not one came close to perfection.--CS

 

I often wondered what else could go wrong in my life, but as I layed in bed that night, staring up at the stars, I couldn't help but wonder "Where the hell did my roof go." --K. Moore

 

I didn't see, I didn't breathe, but I heard that velvet voice when it whispered in my ear, "Live."--K. Moore

 

I always said that if I was going to burn in the hellfires of damnation I was bringing hotdogs and marshmallows, I just never thought it would be this hot. --K. Moore

 

Today I learned how to kill someone and only get a traffic ticket. --Cady Walker

 

Picking up a pair of panties from his chair Robert tries to stifle his laughter as he watches his secretary's bare bottom wiggle under his desk. ------WW

March 2008 Entries

If there was a Hell, Sky Taylor was going to it. --rbc

When my next-door neighbor, friend, and sometimes babysitter for my kids threw an open bottle of beer at me, I knew that what I’d been saying all along had to be right. --rbc

“Get in.” –rbc

As I was lying on the ground dying, I was only able to watch without breath as I saw a cop, the cop who I thought was my best friend, the one I trusted for so long, gun down my wife in front of me with the same smirk that 'He' had so long ago.--JS

 

Rohin stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the platform and the funeral pyre directly behind it. -- MJ

 

Misty, grey clouds drizzled rain onto the blue-grey stucco of the small clinic and dotted the dirty, pock-marked sidewalk in front of Rachel Cullen’s car.  --MJ

 

Reed pulled the collar up on his Pendleton and mumbled into his coffee, “Protect yourself.”  -- MJ

As he shoved his pressure gauge in her face, Elaine saw the needle inching into the red and thought, Mister, you’re gonna die.  -- SD

She  did not plan to end her day floating twenty five miles off shore with no boat in sight.  -- SD

So now I know what it is, but the real question is -- will it eat me?  -- SD

When my mother brought me to summer camp, I never thought that I would be accused of murder when my missing bunk mate was dead, in MY bed. -- JS
 
Winter, full of love, passion, and tenderness, that is until your cheating wife/husband and best friend turn up dead in your now missing daughter's bed." -- JS

Karley lie still in bed as the streak of lightening shown a familiar shadow in the window beside her, a shadow she knew would unleash the nightmare that she prayed had ended three years ago. – Kimberly Rogers

Karley Adams clutched her fiance in her arms, her hands covered in his blood, as the sound of the ambulance approached.  - Kimberly Rogers

Karley Adams never knew true love until she met Bryce Peters, then again, she never knew love at all.- Kimberly Rogers

His thick Russian accent, roughened by years of smoking, did not soften his seemingly professional observation when he said, “Ah, such a…how do you say….gorgeous cervix.”   - LAL

Hope awoke in the middle of the night and whispered, "John, I think someone is downstairs!" - KML

"Mike, I have news that will turn your whole world upside down!" - KML

How could you? – KML

 

After living in Japan for a year now I have gotten pretty used to things, but nothing could have prepared me for the man dressed in a full samurai outfit jumping in front of the limited express train at Shioiri station - Julie Haasenritter

 

__________________________________________________________

2007 Entries

Sure, I'll have a drink with you," Milo said, "but then I'm going to have to kill you. -- KS
It didn't matter that she hadn't been here before in her life, she knew with a certainty beyond calculation that if she walked another step past the limbs of the aged and bent sassafrass tree that little Anna would be there ;why,she would be there she did not know. -- Pamela L.Wainscott

So far she had lost her date, her purse, and one bright red stiletto heel--all in all it was turning out to be a heck of an evening.  -- BR

She had been called Bitch so many times in her life she was actually considering a name change. -- BR

 

She smelled the unmistakable whiff of sulfur and  knew that Evil Incarnate had just entered the room.  -- BR

 

 "Sex always has a way of getting me into trouble," the supermodel explained to the handsome newspaper reporter, who was camping outside her Mexican villa after the news of her fling with the fashion designer leaked to the press. --AF

 

Stephanie didn't realize she had left her handcuffs back at the Motel 6 until the plane was in the air-they were her only reminders of her last beau, Aaron, who had a way of creeping back into her thoughts long after the flames of passion had flickered out. --AF

It wasn't Mary's fault she fell in love with a dead man.  --AF 

Noah Taylor was just nine years old the first time it happened--TMG
 
It all started like every novel that Snoopy ever wrote on the roof of his dog house: it was a dark and stormy night... MP
 

  Lucy couldn't believe her bad luck when she saw the hunky cop on her doorstep. MP
 
Dragging dead weight through the forest wouldn't have been her idea of a good time. MP
 

Home at last, she ran up the front steps, little knowing what she would find on the other side of the door. -- VJ

 

When she saw what he had in his hand, she knew it was all over. -- TJ

I woke in the dark, feeling all around…and discovering a cocoon of dirt all around me. --TJ

As I watched the odd little lump that had developed beneath my skin, it began to move. – PR

As I scooped up another spoonful of pudding, I screamed—two eyes were looking at me! – CO

 

When she answered the phone, it would have been great to hear her best friend Marcy's voice on the other end…if she hadn't been dead. – AB

 

This was absolutely the last time I was helping my sister get rid of a dead body. -- PC

 

"Bang, you're dead." – PC

 

Alice woke up feeling like death sucking on a lemon. -- WO  

The redhead inched forward, red-satin chest heaving, and brought the steaming slice of pepperoni pizza towards her rose-slathered lips. --CT

Men and women fall in love with men or women but some of us fall in love with both. --CT

The second biggest mistake my wife ever made was getting pregnant and giving birth to a kinkachu. –CT

  

  
 

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