What is … Turkey and Dressing, Spanish Rice and Peach Pie? And no, it’s not a Jeopardy question, so don’t expect any money if you get it right.
Okay, the answer? My response one night when asked what food I craved while sipping hazelnut coffee on the starlit deck of a cabin cruiser in “Acapulco Cove.” Okay, okay … so the name of the cove wasn’t really “Acapulco” and we were in Lake of the Ozarks instead of Mexico, but allow me some creative license here since we were young and "full" of dreams … not to mention brownies and chocolate chip cookies!
You see, we called it Acapulco Cove because we loved all the dazzling lights that shimmered on the water from three cozy mom-and-pop resorts that twinkled and shined. “It looks like Acapulco,” somebody said, and the name just stuck. You know, just like certain things do with each of us? A favorite food, a favorite outfit, a favorite child … whoops, let’s not go there, because that is definitely not the kind of “playing favorites” I’m talking about today.
Nope, I’m talking about those things we love because they “twinkle and shine” over and above other things in there particular category. You know, “favorites” such as movies like Gone With the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or A Walk to Remember, or those dee-lish blue M & M peanuts (under NO circumstances will I ever eat a brown M & M because they simply do not … oooo, cold chill … taste the same). Or especially books such as the Bible, Gone With the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird. For whatever reason, each one of us “plays favorites” when it comes to things in our life because let’s face it, with the diversity of humankind on this planet, that’s just the way it is. And in our writing? Oh, yeah, especially in our writing.
You writers out there know what I’m talking about, and you readers do too. Yep, it’s that sentence, line or paragraph in a book, blog or magazine that stops you dead in your tracks, making you blink several times while something wonderful slowly dawns in your subconscious. Whether it’s inspirational, educational, challenging, funny or just downright beautiful to read, we derive a sense of pleasure over anything that’s written well enough to evoke a response. Even if that response is wanting to throw a book across the room because the characters were written so true to life, you felt their pain and frustration keenly (ahem, Rel and Renee! :)).
So … that got me to thinking about my “favorite” lines in my books and those of the Seekers, wondering just why they are my “favorites,” and it occurred that this could be a fun teaching tool. I mean if I read a line I love in anyone’s work, I immediately stop and reread it and think, “Wow, that was a great line,” which in my brain translates into “Wow, she/he’s a great writer.” And let’s face it, what author doesn’t want to evoke that type of response out of a reader?
I know, I know, some of you are thinking it’s not a good thing to stop a reader dead in their tracks with writing that is SO good, it pulls them out of the story. And, yes, I have heard that before. But the truth is for me, if a story is that good, nothing can pull me out of it except the need for sleep and if it’s not that good, then the writer has redeemed her/himself with a line that convinces me that yes, they do have talent.
That said, let’s begin with a few favorite lines from Seeker books followed by a lot from my own books (come on, guys, it is my blog …). Here we go ...
TINA RADCLIFFE, FROM OKLAHOMA REUNION:
"Sometimes happiness fills you so completely that it overflows with tears."
TINA SAYS: A single sentence that packs a huge amount of emotion. The visual on this just makes me smile and tear up every single time. I suppose the older we get the more truth there is to this. Or maybe it's just hormones.
***
RUTH LOGAN HERNE, FROM TRY, TRY AGAIN:
She stared up, into his eyes, lips parted, her breathing unsteady but her gaze secure. One hand snaked around his neck, pulling him down. “Us,” she whispered as his lips met hers, the touch soft and warm, heady with invitation. “I need us, Conor.”
RUTH SAYS: I love this moment between Conor and Alicia from my single title, Try, Try Again because they've gone back to where they started... in love with each other. No money-hungry goals stand between them, no issues divide them, they've come to realize that life throws curves and the best batters stay in the box... And refuse to strike out repeatedly.
***
AUDRA HARDERS, FROM ROCKY MOUNTAIN HERO:
"God is stronger and wiser than Grace Davidson and if He wants fences mended, He'll supply the materials Himself."
AUDRA SAYS: It's a simple quote uttered by a simple rancher, yet there's nothing simple about the honesty of placing complete faith in the Lord. I love characters taking the rudiments of faith and branding them with their own personality and conveying the message as simply as if they were talking of the weather. Natural. Unassuming. The best messages are the ones you never recognize until later when the meaning smacks you in the face.
***
MARY CONNEALY, FROM CALICO CANYON:
The Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse rode in. Late as usual.
MARY SAYS: After twenty books and a zillion written words, I still don't like any of them better than the opening line of Calico Canyon. Which is actually kinda sad.
***
JANET DEAN, FROM AN INCONVENIENT MATCH, JANUARY 2012:
As Oscar held up another offering, this one wrapped in toile and covered with tiny silk flowers, Abigail’s gaze traveled down the block to where six empty lots left a cavernous gap on the tree-lined street, as unsightly as missing incisors in a mouth full of teeth.
JANET SAYS: I like the imagery and the emotion this creates. At least when readers understand the context. This line is from a scene where the town is holding a box lunch auction to raise money for six families that lost their homes and everything they owned in a fire. I like the contrast of the pretty box lunch wrapped in toile with the ugliness of missing teeth.
***
MISSY TIPPINS, FROM A HOUSE FULL OF HOPE, FEBRUARY 2012
"Well, if he's your friend, why is he leaving?"
Because sometimes life wasn't fair. "This isn't his home. He lives in Washington State."
"Well, shouldn't he live where his dad and his friends live?"
Good point. She patted his back. "That's where his job is. People live where they work."
He rolled to his back and looked at her with those thoughtful, inquisitive green eyes. "Is Washington State farther away than Heaven?"
Pain snatched the very air from her lungs and left her aching, wanting to lie down in a little ball and join her son.
MISSY SAYS: In the story, my heroine, Hannah, is a widowed mom of four kids. Her children quickly bond with the hero, Mark, who's home in Georgia seeking redemption. Her oldest son is the most sensitive and has come out of his shell since being around Mark. But alas, Hannah and Mark can't be together--too many obstacles. (I'm such a mean author!) :) After Mark tells them goodbye, Hannah has this conversation with her young son. It always tugs at my heartstrings!
***
MYRA JOHNSON, FROM A HORSEMAN’S HEART
“A real horse whisperer-plus, eh? Then why so worried?
“You should worry, too, since Mom asked him if he’d also help with your, uh, males only needs after you come home.”
Nathan squeezed one eye shut. “Huh?”
JULIE SAYS: Myra was on deadline and I just happened to be reading her latest book, A Horseman’s Heart (AWESOME, by the way!!), and I was struck how masterfully she conveyed a clear and concise picture of the character in this scene with SIX MEASELY WORDS in the last two lines, which is not easy to do!
SANDRA LEESMITH, FROM PRICE OF VICTORY
"I came to understand that there might be great satisfaction in winning, but peace only comes from knowing you are doing the best you can in whatever circumstances you're in."
OKAY, MY TURN!!! Those are some of the examples Seekers sent me … now onto some of my own favorite lines and just WHY they are my favorites! And guess what I discovered??? MOST of the lines that turn my head in my books and other people’s books are … drum roll, please … METAPHORS and SIMILES!!!
Yep, nothing makes a line sing more than a power-packed metaphor. Now what do I mean by that? I mean those “comparisons” that do double and triple duty—not only emotionally clarifying something with an apt comparison, but double-punching it with a double entendre or a play on words that may bring a smile, tug a tear or just drive a point home. Here’s the dictionary’s take on what they are:
Metaphor: A word or phrase that means one thing and is used for referring to another thing in order to emphasize their similar qualities.
Simile: A phrase that describes something by comparing it to something else using the word “like” or “as.”
So, to show you what I am talking about, I’m going to give you LOTS of examples of my favorite lines from my books, 80% of which I was shocked to discover are either metaphors or similes. AND … since I just reread Steven’s, book 3 in The Winds of Change series … ahem … four times to edit 50,000 words per my editor’s request, I have lots of examples fresh in mind. This way I can also give you a sneak peek at A Love Surrendered (formerly A Trust Restored) in the process, okay? And at the very end of this blog, you’ll find more excerpts from A Love Surrendered that I included just because I like them! :)
In this following clip, Steven is rescuing the heroine Annie from a creep named Brubaker who makes a pass at her. The reason I love these lines is because of Steven’s flip response AND the metaphor in the last line. LOVE metaphors!!!
Frantic, tears stung her eyes as she tried to push him away, but he only locked her tighter, his breath hot against her mouth. “Oh, babe, I never met a girl like you …”
“Sure you have, Brubaker, dozens of times, at this very railing alone.” Steven O’Connor strolled forward, hands loose in the pockets of his blue serge slacks and lips sculpted in a smile colder than the cast-iron statue she’d passed on the pier.
***
Other metaphors from A Love Surrendered:
“I mean you rattled Steven’s cage when he thought Joe was interested, right? Well, since Joe obviously bailed on you, we just have to rattle it again.” Peggy pursed her lips, conspiracy bright in her eyes. “You know, somebody Agent O’Connor can’t abide?”
Annie blinked and then gasped. “Oh, no you don’t—not Brubaker!”
“Why not?” Peggy asked, a bit indignant. “You want to light a fire under Steven or not?”
Butterflies did the Lindy Hop in her stomach, more swoops and swirls than Steven and Rita on the dance floor during the band’s last song.
***
The fashion plate gave Luke’s shoulder a casual squeeze, and Katie’s jaw dropped. “If you keep buying me dinners, Luke McGee, I’ll be the most spoiled intern in Boston.”
Intern? Sweet chorus of angels, he has an intern?? Katie’s lips compressed, thinking she’d like to do a little “spoiling” of her own—first Luke McGee’s evening, and then his face.
***
Because deep down inside he had had his suspicions, but he’d been too preoccupied with work, too grateful for the help and too blasted cocky to think anything could trip up the invincible Luke McGee. But this, he was reluctant to admit … this had caught him off-guard, something evil and sinister he’d never seen coming, an invitation in a smile, drawing his lips to hers like a lamb to the slaughter. A blood sacrifice of his marriage vow on the altar of lust.
***
Gaze holding hers, he slowly leaned in, close enough to see the long sweep of her lashes, the pale gold in eyes so green, he felt like he was in Oz, about to be granted a wish.
***
Guilt lapped at his soul like the black, murky waters lapped against the dock of the verandah, drowning his peace.
***
With a wayward smile that suggested trouble, he ambled over to sit on the bed, leaning in to skim his lips against hers. The silver at his temples gleamed like the tease in his eyes. “So you decided to wait up and read, did you?” His thumb played with the strap of her gown while his lips played with the lobe of her ear. “Tell me, Marceline, can you read my mind now?”
One of my FAVORITE things to do is to use a simile that refers back to something else in the scene such as food, WHICH I’ve been known to add JUST to glean a simile as in the cases below where the metaphor item (i.e. beets, chocolate pie, etc.) are actually mentioned in the scene prior as something being served or eaten:
Sean winked at Emma, and her cheeks went head-to-head with the neighbors beets.
***
“Law school? Luke repeated, his voice as raspy and thick as if chocolate pie were lodged in his throat.
***
“Humph. I say given him his walking papers right now, Miss Emma. The boy’s a little too big for his britches, if you ask me.” Bert’s tone was as tart as one of those lemon drops she kept in a bowl on her desk.
***
She chewed slowly, savoring both the sweet fruit in her mouth and the sweet fruit she saw in Charity’s little sister.
***
The cup slipped from Annie’s fingers to rattle against the saucer and spill, Earl Gray pooling on the table as quickly as dread pooled in her stomach.
More metaphors/similes from my other books that I just like the humor, sound, rhythm or impact:
It seemed like years since that fateful moment her heart had been severed in two. And now the most cherished half —the man that she loved and needed—possibly lay at death’s door. While she—a woman in dire need of mercy—lay at God’s feet.
***
His lips were white, his eyes red and a vein in his temple throbbed a dangerous blue. Not a good color combination.
***
Her laughter floated in the air like the sound of hope.
***
He hesitated—prey stilled by the scent of the hunter.
***
His statement drifted in her brain, it’s impact silent, slow and deep, like a knick she didn’t know she had until she saw the blood on her hands.
***
A woman who was a feast to his eyes but a drought to his soul.
***
Well, she’d give birth, all right … but not to her dreams. No, she’d spend the rest of her life changing diapers instead of the world.
***
Annie’s innocence and purity had captured him from the start, a glimmering oasis in a parched and thirsty wasteland littered with his own mistakes.
***
She whirled around to where the phonograph circled soundlessly like the guilt in her mind.
***
And then, boom! Suddenly it was Thursday again, and her hampers were full of grimy clothes, and her mind, grimy thoughts.
***
“Why?” he asked quietly, and the word made her flinch, like a sudden shaft of light in a dark cellar where roaches and rats skittered.
***
The parlor was as dark as his mood and the foyer as empty as his patience, but at least a stream of light filtered out from the kitchen.
***
No, they were one flesh, just as God’s Word proclaimed—if her heart broke, he ached, if her dreams died, he mourned.
***
If God had given him the grace not to bash Leo’s head in, he could certainly give him the grace to be friends with Katie again. Week after week. Desire after desire. Ache after ache.
***
Like Luke, she had lived in the gutter all of her life. Not just in the streets of New York, but in the littered ruts of destiny as well.
***
“You’re the love of my life, McGee—yesterday, today and forever.”
“Me too, Bets,” he whispered, then bent to kiss her again.
Yesterday and forever.
FINALLY … as promised, more favorite lines from A Love Surrendered, just because I like them and it’s a good way to give you a sneak peek:
“I love you, Emma,” Sean said softly, “more than Snickers and baseball and beating Brady and Luke at sports.” The tease in his words faded with another tender kiss, and when he pulled away, he caressed her with a look that nearly stole her breath. Never had she known a man more who could make love with his eyes. “I adore you,” he whispered, and sometimes I wonder how I survived without you.”
***
Not hello … how was your day … or even Luke, I need a favor. And yet, somehow it didn’t matter because it was the most important call he’d ever had, reminding him just how much he loved his wife. And how much she had a right to be angry. Because at the end of the day, when all the slivers and pieces of his pride were picked up and swept away like the broken vase on the floor, the truth was that she was married to an idiot … and a pompous one at that.
***
Annie’s innocence and purity had captured him from the start, a glimmering oasis in a parched and thirsty wasteland littered with his own mistakes.
***
“Blast it, Marcy, I’m a man, not an invalid, and I need to make love to my wife.”
“Patrick, please—you were pale as death just last week, and Dr. Williamson said—”
“The deuce with Williamson,” he’d shouted, grasping her shoulders to give her a sound shake. “I will not allow fear to ruin my life, Marceline, do you hear?”
“No …” she said, body trembling, “but you’ll allow your death to ruin mine.”
A nerve pulsed in his cheek as he stared long and hard, finally cupping her face in his hands. He leaned in to gently brush his lips against hers, his touch tender. “Loving you won’t kill me, Marcy,” he’d whispered with grief in his eyes, “but not loving you will.”
SO … what are some of YOUR favorite lines you’ve written??? Go ahead and give us your best shot because we LOVE playing favorites in Seekerville … with great lines, that is! Or give me a favorite food or book or movie, and you’ll be entered to win your choice of a signed copy of any of my books OR a 5-page writer’s critique.
Hugs,
Julie
Hmm... does 'any' include the new one next year? I'm willing to wait :D. Or the critique. Either one would be good.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites [that later got cut :(]:
The fears that in the light of day are irrational and easily shoved aside take on new life in the dark.
Maybe there really are monsters of some kind hiding in my closet. The kind that prey on a tired mind and exhausted body.
I wish I still believed that Daddy could come in and scare them away.
I'm sure there's more but that's one of the ones I loved.
I'll be thinking of more. One of my absolutely favorite lines comes from Grace Livingston Hill's Marcia Schuyler. I'll have to look it up later...
<3 you Julie dear!
carolmoncado at gmail dot com
You know MISSY!!!!! I didn't know we could pick a whole SCENE!!!
ReplyDelete:)
You know this takes guts, don't you?
ReplyDeleteOf course you do. But I'm game.
Here's one that I like, and one reason I like it is that the image recurs in slightly different ways two or three more times in the story:
When he saw that one strand of Ellie's hair wouldn’t stay tucked in her kapp, the minister’s voice droned on, forgotten. Each time he glanced at her, the strand was looser. Every movement of her head caused it to come out a little farther. How far would she let it go before she reached up to tuck it in? What would it feel like if he tucked it in for her? Would the soft, silky strand catch on his newly calloused fingers, or would it glide through his hand like smooth water?
Like you, Julie, I'll stop while reading sometimes just to savor a particularly good line. Tolkein's descriptions are so good that sometimes I'll read the whole trilogy just to enjoy the writing - forget that whole quest thing!
Mary, I love that first line in Calico Canyon, too! It was the first of your books that I read, and that one line set the stage for everything that followed.
ReplyDeleteI still wonder how the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse could be late...
See? The feeling I had when I first read it still sticks with me. Now, is that the mark of a good writer, or what?
Loved this post, Julie---AND all those great excerpts! I read everything and "drank it all in" but want to re-read this post when I'm much wider awake *smile* (am heading to bed now...). ~ Since you said we could mention a favorite food: Georgia Peach Cobbler! Especially warm and maybe with a little whipped cream (YUM). Okay, between your post and my peach cobbler suggestion, I should have SWEET dreams! Hugs, Patti Jo
ReplyDeleteThose are great lines. I find I like similes and metaphors too, but my cps are forever trying to cut them out.
ReplyDeleteI fear you may have opened a can of worms, Julie. I can't wait to read all the favorite lines.
This first one is from Yours for Eternity a Biblical
"I will not abandon you, Abba. Nor will I abandon all of your hopes and dreams to live mine." Her eyes lifted to Ari's. "No matter how big they are."
Ari motioned to one of his kin who brought forth a small wooden table, and then he knelt before Mira. He reached into his girdle and pulled out a leather strap and an awl. With the objects, he raised his hand to her. "Then I will remain forever your bond-servant, Sh'mira daughter of Caleb."
It's so hard to choose favorites from my western. This first one is right after my heroine shoots the hero.
“She your wife?” he asked his jailor with a cool calm that came from too many days working for Fuller and pretending to be someone he wasn't.
“No, siree.” A tentative smile twisted his lips. “I’ve considered it, but to be honest, I wouldn’t make it out of the church alive. The only time I ever tried to kiss her she knocked me on my ear. That was before she learned how to shoot.”
another
“I can't exactly say I hadn't thought of retaliation. You did ruin my jacket.” He fingered the hole where the bullet from her gun had pierced. “And you did graze a bit of flesh. The least you deserve is a switch to your backside.”
The following is from a story I have yet to name.
ReplyDeleteThis shouldn't be.
Yet, it is. It's wrong, so wrong, and I'm frozen to the core of my being. You see... how do I explain it? I'm standing here... watching them lower a casket into a deep dark hole, a hole filling with rain and my tears.
A hole that will soon be covered by earth darker than the black clouds choking the sky above me.
A hole where a white granite slab will stand as sentry over the freshly turned ground. And sadly, this sentinel of time lost will bear my name my name til eternity calls for me.
What a fun post! That line from Calico Canyon is also one of my favorites-so good! I probably have more but I have read too many to remember any in particular. It's to hard to pick a favorite book but a classic I love reading over and over is Much Ado About Nothing,
ReplyDeleteHoly Smokes!!
ReplyDeleteThis post was amazing! And then I read the comments so far... Carol, that sounded EXACTLY like the scary stuff that creeps around in the dark.
Jan, I've never read an Amish story, but that made me want to!
Christina, the jail scene made me laugh out loud! perfect!
Tina, I'm hooked! Where's the rest?? :D
Game on. I have to go find something to post or look like a weanie. Which I am.
Great post, Julie! So, here goes. My first line from my debut novel, coming January 2012, The Shadow Catcher's Daughter.
ReplyDelete“Imagine having to bear a mark like that for the rest of your life.”
OK, it might not be brilliant, but I hope it creates interest. :)
Hours later, staring up at the ceiling, Shelby admitted defeat and rolled out of bed. Wrapping a light blanket around her like a shawl, she quietly unlocked the front door and padded out onto the porch. The breeze carried the scent of rich earth and growing things. The streetlight on the corner bled a small puddle of light but most of the neighborhood was left deep in darkness. She moved under the magnolia tree, putting out a hand to feel its trunk, the grass cool and slightly damp under her feet. The air was calm but for a whisper of air every few moments as if the yard itself was breathing.
ReplyDeleteUhhh, that was the best I could find without resorting to kissy scenes. :)
This line from "Catcher in the Rye" has always stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I really worry about something, I don't just fool around. I even have to go to the bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I don't go. I'm too worried to go. I don't want to interrupt my worrying to go.
Oh, I love this post. I weep at the line in It's A Wonderful Life, "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." Every single time. What power there is in a few words.
ReplyDeleteOther favorites? Right now I have to say my sister's wedding vows in Bali. Yes, I am back and thanks to all of you for making my 30 hour trip to Indonesia and back so much more pleasant.
Peace, Julie the other
LOVE your post! I learned so much just reading those wonderful lines.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone reading the new Nicholas Sparks' book?... In one of the early chapters, the heroine compares her parents forcing her to leave her first love to the otters being caged at the aquarium. The otters didn't play in their cages the way she remembered them doing on the creek when she was a little girl. It wasn't one line, but the whole scene that I loved. I finished that chapter and thought to myself, "Wow! That's how it's done."
One like that comes to mind is from under the Maui Moon by robin Jones Gunn,
ReplyDelete"It's so pretty it looks like a picture," Blake had said. when her realized his delclaration didn't sound quite right, he added, "I mean, it's so real it looks fake."
This was about a the view as they were crossing a bridge in Washington state.
this statement rang so true when recently I was at the cricket looking at the trees on the other side with the mountain background and it was overcast and had a hue about it. what Blake said was so true about what I saw.
I missed the favourite food, book or movie.
ReplyDeletefood well thats hard right now I would love a hagen daz dulce split dazzler really loved them in Hawaii.
My favourite movie is Gettysburg and the MusicMan, book is to hard to pick.
One of my favorite books is Sister Chicks Down Under. I don't have one favorite line, but it lead me to read and study Romans. I spent months contemplating what more love would look like in my life. I tried to love others better. The book challenged me in a good way. My thoughts would drift off during the story, and I'd wonder how I could love others better. I go back to that book time and again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, and please enter me in the contest.
Thanks!
Jackie Layton
Another workshop in a box. This is totally awesome, Jules. (I went back and fixed my comma in case GQ was lurking)
ReplyDeleteHi Julie, Great lines from the Seekers.
ReplyDeleteI sent you why I liked mine from my cell phone on Monday which goes to show you that you can't trust those "smart" or should I say "stupid" phones.
Anyway the reason I liked that line is because Debra tries so hard to win her father's love by winning races and Sterling (the hero) helps her realize that winning isn't where she'll find peace nor will peace depend upon her father's loving her. She will find that within her own heart.
Thanks for sharing with us. Great points to consider on writing that memorable line.
LOL, Julie! Much like your beloved, intricate, well-involved books, your blogs definitely carry forth your signature unlimited word count!
ReplyDeleteOMG, you've filled my brain with your wisdom and clever wit so early in the morning - and very thoroughly, I might add -- I think I'll be mumbling metaphors and similies all day.
I'm printing this out and posting it beside my computer as a clear example of how a few well-placed words can leave a lasting impression.
Thanks, Julie!!
Mary, I loved the Five Horseman of the Apocalypse. I still snicker everytime I read it : )
ReplyDeleteExcellent teaching post, Julie! Great lines and for some, great paragraphs. :-) Thanks for defining similes and metaphors. I'm always confusing those two.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Julie. I love it when a line stops me and makes me reread, savoring every word. For me that enriches the reading experience.
Janet
Morning dear Julie! I'll be out most of the day, but I wanted to stop in. Favorites.... I KNOW I have a favorite line. I'm trying to recall even which movie its from...
ReplyDeleteLord of the Rings:
"No man can kill me!"
Helmet comes off. "I AM NO MAN!"
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!! YES! :D
CAROL! Marcia Schuyler is one of my most favorite books of all times! Love that little gal!!! Her hero, too! :D Rose Galbraith is another favorite! :D
ReplyDeleteOne opening line that has always stuck with me is:
ReplyDelete"Good Heavens! They're auctioning off men."
I think this was a book by Kate Bridges.
My favorite from my book Thief by Night is when the heroine has been talking to a doll and the hero thinks she simple-minded.She has a pistol pointed at him. Trying to calm her down, he asks if the doll would like to be his friend.
“Mister, are you an imbecile or trying to trick me?” She moved closer, the pistol never wavering. “Maggie’s a doll.”
He sunk into the bed as a sharp pain shot down his back. His first assignment as a Pinkerton agent would probably be his last. “I’m an imbecile.”
I love everyone's examples and favorite lines - I can tell my TBR pile is going to be getting a lot larger as these books are published!
ReplyDeleteG'MORNIN', ALL!!!
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't love favorites??? Favorite dress, favorite restaurant, favorite day of the year??
I remember when I first read the following line from a Nora Roberts book long, long ago -- I was stunned by its impact and simplicity because it gave me a profile of a family in nine words!! Using, of course, a simile that for me at least, nailed it in describing this family. Here's the line:
My parents were lace-curtain Irish,
righteous as three popes.
Although I no longer read Nora (I gave up secular for Inspy), that single line convinced me she was one of the most brilliant writers around.
So, let's chat about your favorites -- brilliant lines from your book or someone else's or any other "favorite" you care to mention.
To celebrate, we're going to go with Patti Jo's and my favorite, Georgia Peach Cobbler (Michelle Tuller's recipe that she gave me last year), warm out of the oven with whipped cream, banana chocolate chip muffins (another fave), cinnamon cream cheese coffeecake with rashers of maple-cured bacon and thick slices of him on the side ... whoops, I actually did type that, but I meant ham, so let's just leave that because for me, NO breakfast is complete without a kiss from my hubby! :)
Hugs,
Julie
CAROL!!! I'm convinced you actually hover over the Seeker blog late at night, finger pressed to the refresh button, just WAITING to be first for the next Seeker blog. Honey, that alone qualifies you to win a prize, so YES, if you win, I will allow you to choose Steven's story and put you on the list for one of my author copies when they come in August, okay?
ReplyDeleteLOVE BOTH OF THESE!! The fears that in the light of day are irrational and easily shoved aside take on new life in the dark.
Maybe there really are monsters of some kind hiding in my closet. The kind that prey on a tired mind and exhausted body.
GOOD JOB, CM!!
Hugs,
Julie
Great post, Julie! Loved it and need to read it again AFTER another cup of coffee...which is my fave for now...with banana muffin (unless someone has peach muffins to offer!)! Count me in for your book AHR! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBlogger is happily munching...
ReplyDeleteWhat I SAID was...
Wonderful post Julie!!
And a lot of those have to do with food. Hmmm.
You chose to highlight some of my fave lines as well. :)
This however is something I noticed (probably because I'm working on it myself?)...
Your title changed from a negative to a positive! Huh...
As May would say, "PAWMAZING!"
Put me in for the critique please! Have a happy day everybody!!
LOL, MARE, you have not because you take not ... or something like that. I didn't have the heart to tell Missy only a line or two since I included a gazillion lines of my own ... ;)
ReplyDeleteOH. MY. GOODNESS, JAN!!!! What a paragraph, my friend -- STELLAR!!! Not only beautifully written, but incredibly sensual at the same time. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to write a sexy scene in a sweet romance without even a kiss ... something I don't think I could even do ... :)
Hugs,
Julie
And HA on the ham/him Julie! You rock!!! ;D
ReplyDeleteOh my, I have some favorites but they all escape me now. My latest favorite book, however, would have to be Jody Hedlund's The Doctor's Lady. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this post very much!
And YES, JAN, I DO know this takes guts, but we're all friends on Seekerville at various stages on the journey to publication, so that makes it a wee bit easier, I hope. Besides, with the line you included above, what the heck are YOU worried about???
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with you on Mary Connealy's first line from Calico Canyon ... that was actually the line that made ME sit up and say, "WHOA ... this woman can write!!" I'm sure I thought that in the first book, too, but CC just nailed it to the wall.
PATTI JO!!! Hope you had sweet dreams, darlin', because a sweet Georgia peach like you sure deserves 'em!! I'll have to get your peach cobbler recipe and compare it to Michelle Tuller's!! Like you and me, Michelle LOVES peach cobbler, so she shared that with me. DEFINITELY one of my favorite foods and probably my favorite dessert!! YUM!!
Hugs,
Julie
Julie, I don't think I'm very good at using imagery and making my sentences sound all literary and beautiful and flowy, but I love to share truths, and the truer the statement, the more I like it. And I like simple sentences more than gimmicky ones, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteDid you know, there is this wonderful thing where people reading our books on Kindle can share their favorite quotes from our books. They also do this on Goodreads. I don't know how to find it now, but I thought it was so awesome to see which lines from my books people were sharing as their favorites. I think the most shared line from The Healer's Apprentice was this one:
“Feel better?”
“No. Get up so I can hit you again.”
“I think I’ve had enough, thank you.”
Not exactly beautiful and flowery, is it? Ha! But it is one of my favorite lines too, and it is from one of my favorite scenes.
I just found three quotes that readers have put up on Goodreads from The Merchant's Daughter.
“Perhaps time is an inconsistent healer, but God can purge even the most painful memories.”
And here's another one:
“For us mortals, love is greater than justice.”
That was from what I thought was a powerful scene. I hope readers think it is!
Anyway, this is a fun discussion, Julie. Now, I gotta go write before my time gets eaten up with other things like has been happening lately!!! But I will check back again later. Love ya, girl!
CHRISTINA SAID: "I find I like similes and metaphors too, but my cps are forever trying to cut them out."
ReplyDeleteNooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! Say it so, Christina because I love, love, LOVE metaphors and similes as long as they are not overdone and are done well (mmm ... is that an oxymoron??? Well, some kind of 'moron,' I'm guessing.)
LOVE the punch in the last line of your Biblical, girl! When I read that, in my mind's eye, I saw this itty-bitty thing slowly scan up and keep going to a tower of a man, so GOOD JOB!!
AND your westerns??? Look out, Mary Connealy, because, girl, you have a touch of humor just like her, especially with this paragraph:
“No, siree.” A tentative smile twisted his lips. “I’ve considered it, but to be honest, I wouldn’t make it out of the church alive. The only time I ever tried to kiss her she knocked me on my ear. That was before she learned how to shoot.”
"Can of worms," maybe, but the gummy kind, then, and I don't mind chewing a while when the chew is as good as these examples I've read so far!
Hugs,
Julie
You had me at hello...
ReplyDeleteMy take ... he had me at hello...had me saying goodbye
Man sucked up my airspace like a Hoover vacuum.
And my daughters and I love to quote from Pride and Prejudice. We watch that movie all the time, the LONG one that has all of Jane Austen's best lines in it.
ReplyDeleteAnd we quote from a lot of inane movies too! LOL! And Princess Bride. We love that movie.
Ooooh, great post, Julie! I'm gonna have to come back and re-read the great examples you've given later. Gotta get kiddos off to school. :)
ReplyDeleteLet's see favorite food: chocolate anything, except if that "anything" includes walnuts. :)
A couple of lines I'm playing with in my wip are:
"He twirled her again, landing her at his chest, his arms encircling her. She stole a look into his eyes, which snared her like a girl caught filching her mama’s favorite jewelry. He looked at her, his eyes messaging something Anya couldn’t quite decipher. Beneath the music pulsed an unvoiced melody. And for a moment, she liked …being treasured."
I'll look forward to reading others' favorites later today. Thanks for a thought-provoking post, Julie!
But I didn't mean to imply that any of the quotes here were gimmicky! LOL! No, you guys are awesome. :-)
ReplyDeleteTINA!!! LOVE the first line, girl ... oh, heck, LOVE ALL of it if truth be told, especially when one realizes it's the corpse speaking ... :) I can see why it's a fave of yours. It's a mystery, I presume?
ReplyDeleteHey, ABBI ... I am ashamed to admit that I have never read Much Ado About Nothing, probably because I find Shakespeare so hard to understand. WHICH is why I had the following exchange between Charity O'Connor and her grandmother in A Passion Redeemed:
“Good morning! How was the theater last night?” Bridget Murphy asked, glancing up from the bacon she was frying.
“Very nice, Grandmother, although I don’t know what all the dither is about with Shakespeare. Personally, I find the language a bit tedious. Why not just speak in the dialect of the day? As far as I’m concerned, it’s ‘much ado about nothing.’”
Her grandmother flipped the bacon over with a chuckle. “Dear me, Heaven forbid you should get any culture.”
Yes, heaven forbid!! :)
Hugs,
Julie
I've heard people say cut the metaphors and such, I leave them just to drive them bonkers.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the same about cliches, but I like those too sometimes.
Thanks Julie,
ReplyDeleteIt is a mystery to me what it will be. No... you're dead on. Romantic mystery/suspense.
Once I have a name I'll know better
;0)
Oh, this is a fun glimpse at how simple lines draw and engage the reader.
ReplyDeleteLove it, Jules!
And I'm leaving cornbread with cracklin's today, an old-fashioned food for historical writers! If you don't render your own lard (Really? You don't???) then use crisp bacon and crumble it into corn bread. Dust top with sugar. Bake.
A staple at the Wilder homestead in Malone New York!
Melanie, we quote movie lines at our house all the time, and The Princess Bride is over the top. (And yes, lines from the movie are running through my head right now!)
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for approval from Zondervan for a review copy of The Merchant's Daughter - but I'll be reading it soon either way :)
Christina, I agree with Julie. Can't wait to read either of your books!
Julie, thank you for your kind words! Just what I needed to hear on my breakfast break.
Now back to my revisions....
VIRGINA ... you? A "wienie"??? NEVER, although I have to admit hot dogs are another fave of mine and I actually ate seven at one sitting one time ... :) And, no, I did NOT get sick ... or fat! It was in my 20s when I could eat as much as I wanted. Sigh ... those were the good ol' days!!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully descriptive paragraph, my friend, especially the last line:
The air was calm but for a whisper of air every few moments as if the yard itself was breathing.
WHOA ... if that was "the best you could find without resorting to kissy scenes," then you done REAL good. Even so ... being the romance freak that I am, I sure wouldn't mind a kissing line or two ... :)
CARLA!!! What do you mean it's "not brilliant"??? With one solitary line, you reeled me in like a bass on a hula grub!! SUPER CONGRATS on your debut novel, my friend, and I can't wait to read it because even the title is haunting!!
Hugs,
Julie
Julie,
ReplyDeleteAnother great lesson! I loved reading all the examples from the Seekers and your books. Nothing like learning from the masters.
And super examples from everyone’s comments.
Here are two favorites from my last two mss. Thanks for the chance to share…I think.
“Listen to me, Hannah. Let my words sink deep. You flow through every part of me. Like a river through the prairie there are shoot-offs and forks, but in all of it there’s the main source. And the main source in my life…is you.”
And the second...
“Chris! Have you lost your senses?”
“Most of the time I don’t think so. Fact is most of the time I think I’m a pretty easy goin’ kind of man.” He stalked toward her. She edged back. “But then I come within ten feet of you and I’m ready to drive a stagecoach off a cliff, try out for Buffalo Bill Cody’s show on the lawn of the Inn, or just bang my head against a tree trunk for a solid quarter of an hour.”
--Kirsten
Charming explanation, Julie, dear, and such lovely examples! GQ forgoes her inclination to check grammar this morning and instead offers a favorite line.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition:
Grammar consists of the rules governing how words are put together into sentences.
Is that not truly inspiring?
KRYSTEN ... LOL!!! I am ashamed to admit that I have never read Catcher in the Rye, but maybe that's because I was taught by nuns in high school, and I think Catcher in the Rye was considered a little risque back in the day. But I have always wanted to read it, and that line sure deepens the want, so maybe I will. Yeah, right after the stack of 200 books I gotta read before the end of the year ... :)
ReplyDeleteJULIE!!!! WELCOME BACK, girlfriend, we missed you!! I tried to hold down the fort for the "Julie" contingent, but it just ain't the same without you, you know??
And, oh, I LOVE that line from It's a Wonderful Life, too!!
"Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." Every single time. What power there is in a few words.
SOOOO glad you had a wonderful time in Bali and got there and back safely -- you certainly had prayers on this end, I can tell you that!!
Hugs,
Julie
Julie!! Wonderful wonderful post! Can't wait to read "A Love Surrendered"! So many great lines already. Can't think of any more quotes to add to the list right now, but if I do I'll comment again.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your novels, there are always many lines that stand out at me making me stop "dead in my tracks" and think WOW!
And about the movies you mentioned, I love Gone With the Wind and A Walk to Remember too :)
ANNIE ... NO, I haven't had the chance to read Nick's latest, but from what you said, it sounds realllly good. But then, that's why the man is on the NYT Bestseller List, right?? My two favorite books of his are A Walk to Remember (I cry through the WHOLE second half of the movie every single time!!) and The Wedding, but only because those two books don't have adultery or sack jumping prior to marriage, which bothers me in his other books. But I will say, the push-to-the-wall-soaking-wet kiss in The Notebook??? Sweet mother of Job, somebody get me a fan!!
ReplyDeleteJENNY ... LOL, that sounds like a guy, which is why it's so good!! I've read Robin Jones Gunn before, and she is good.
And, OH -- MUSIC MAN!!! As Woody Allen said in Annie Hall, I 'LURVE" that movie (because just "love" isn't quite enough!)!! But then I'm a musical freak as well as a romance freak, so what do you expect!! My "FAVORITE" musical??? Hard to pick, but My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Phantom are right up there ...
Hugs,
Julie
One of my favorite lines that I've read recently is from Robin Jones Gunn's Canary Island Song, which unfortunately I don't have in front of me to copy the exact quote. It's from a conversation between Carolyn, Bryan, and Carolyn's daughter, Tikki, about Carolyn's deceased husband, Jeff. Bryan is talking about how Jeff must be a great man and Tikki corrects his tense, saying "you mean was, don't you, since he's no longer here." Bryan tells her something like, "No, I say is because the very essence of who Jeff was is still very much alive, just not on this planet."
ReplyDeleteI like it because I read it at a time when I'd had a bunch of big family events in a short time, and I was really missing my dad.
Holly
oceandreamerfla(at)aol(dot)com
Here are some quotes from my current WIP. They are so not anything brilliant, but here they are.
ReplyDeleteTendrils of fear wrapped around her heart, tightening as the minutes ticked by.
He was about to call to her, but she had flown away, this butterfly of a woman, as quickly as the words from his brain.
He looked down at her, into the fathomless depths of her heart stopping emerald eyes. She stepped closer and he wound his arms tighter around her waist, inhaling the heady fragrance of lilacs that lingered in her hair. Let go. But the feel of her in his arms only enflamed the longing within. Let her go!
BTW. Both Let go and Let her go are supposed to be in italics, but the comment won't let me make them that way :)
WOW, JACKIE, what a testimony to Robin Jones Gunn!!! ESPECIALLY that her book prompted you to "read and study Romans and spend months contemplating what more love would look like in your life and to try to love others better." KUDOS to Robin and the Holy Spirit on that one!!
ReplyDeleteTINA ... LOL!! Yeah, I've been worried about my commas all day because Ms. GQ can be quite a snark who makes Ruthy look like Miss Pittypat from Atlanta ... ;)
SANDRA!!! I am SO sorry, girl, but I didn't get your e-mail I don't think, but I did send you one yesterday asking about it, so I'm not a total loser, I hope! :)
Hugs,
Julie
AUDRA SAID: "Much like your beloved, intricate, well-involved books, your blogs definitely carry forth your signature unlimited word count!"
ReplyDeleteLOL ... What do you expect after my editor made me whack 50,000 words off Steven's story, girl??? Gotta make up for it somewhere, don't I??
JANET SAID: "I'm with you, Julie. I love it when a line stops me and makes me reread, savoring every word. For me that enriches the reading experience."
OH, AMEN TO THAT, my friend!! "Savoring every word" is a great way to put it because, YES, that's exactly what it is ... tasting the food rather than just bolting it down!
Hugs,
Julie
FABULOUS post, Julie! I will be re-reading this as a I sit down to work on my WIP tonight.
ReplyDeleteHere's one from me:
"Brett was horrified. He wanted her to climb that? The ladder was so unsteady, it would rock from the wind of a butterfly's fart."
Some of very favorite descriptive writers are L.M. Montgomery and J.R.R. Tolkien. Jane Austen also has great lines, like the opener of Pride and Prejudice: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a great fortune must be in want of a wife."
Great fun reading everyone's lines!
Doing one last read-through before mailing off for Golden Heart. Found this one:
ReplyDeleteThe sound of his warm laugh rolled over me, wrapping around my heart and pulling me in.
Hey, LINNETTE, have a good day bee-bopping around. Hope the weather is better than it is here -- a gray and blustery 41 degrees ... cold chill!!
ReplyDeleteAnd again I have to beg pardon as I have never read Lord of the Rings either (geez Louise, I sound like an illiterate, don't I???), but these lines you quoted are WONDERFUL!!:
"No man can kill me!"
Helmet comes off. "I AM NO MAN!"
CONNIE!!! At the expense of sounding like a broken record, I have never read Kate Bridges, but that title and passage definitely makes me want to!! Sigh ... not enough powder-room breaks in the day for me to read all the books I want to read ...
Hugs,
Julie
Another personal favorite is from The Husband Tree when Belle is burying he third worthless husband.
ReplyDeleteShe is shoveling dirt on him and he's wrapped in a blanket laying in a rather shallow hole and she regrets the waste of a blanket. She thinks to herself:
Blankets were hard to come by in Montana, unlike husbands.
Jan, LOVE your lines!
ReplyDeleteLinette, that's one of my FAVORITE scenes of LoTR, too! I always cheer at that part!
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteThis post is so funny (or maybe ironic) because I was just thinking last night, as I was re-reading parts of "A Heart Revealed", that you do the best metaphors and similies!! It's one of the main things that makes your writing so great! IMHO.
I love the way you incorporate elements of the setting into your imagery. I don't have the book here at work with me, but the scene where Charity finds the lipstick on Mitch's shirt was filled with great metaphors!
Awesome!
And all these examples today, from you and the others, are fantastic.
This post made my day! Now to incorporate this into my Nano writing later today.
Cheers,
Sue
sbmason at sympatico dot ca
PS. Is the critique from Julie? Then I'm definitely in! (I have all your books so far. I've even donated one that I won once (a duplicate) to our library.) Okay, now I sound like one of those crazy fanatical fans! LOL.
JAN ... tell me about!! If my TBR list gets any taller, I'm gonna need a hole in the roof!
ReplyDeleteHey, JACKIE ... the banana muffin sounds pretty darn good right about now, and you know what? Once way back when (when I actually cooked and baked for my family), I threw some chocolate chips into my favorite banana muffin recipe and HOLY COW, was THAT a winner!! It doesn't sound all that good, I know, but it was TO DIE FOR!! The chips kind of melt and ooze into the muffin and it's dee-lish!!
Thanks, MAY, for your kind words, but maybe I haven't had enough caffeine yet this morning to jumpstart the gray matter, but I'm not sure I understand your line that said:
Your title changed from a negative to a positive! Huh...
The book went from A Trust Restored to A Love Surrendered, and to me trust being restored is a positive and surrender a negative, but I did just have a birthday recently, so maybe I lost a few more brain cells or something ... :)
Hugs,
Julie
WOW!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? I read through your entire blog, the intensity pitched high, rolling over me like a steaming locomotive. To recover, I'll need to go for a walk.
An excerpt from "A Pirate's Heart"
From the dark bowels of the ship and the grim shadow of Tyburn Tree, the day emerged fantastic. To be bought and sold was a new kind of experience for Dr. Devon Blackmon. He noted the fervor and emotionalism of the crowd eager to make a quick bargain. He was in no mood for conversation, so he ignored the foam of white faces that heaved before him in speculation, then passed on. He considered his fortitude, fortunate in all circumstances he should still have his sanity. He marveled in fact that being wrongfully convicted and entirely innocent, he had cause for thankfulness for he stood beneath the same firmament as she.
I just finished Ruthy's Yuletide Hearts and I ALWAYS do this with friends' books. I'd read along, swept away by the story and once in a while some line would just hit me so hard as being so funny or catching an emotio so perfectly and I'd want to stop reading ad go email Ruthy and tlel her I LOVED THIS!!!
ReplyDeleteBut then I'd read the next line and be gone again.
So consider yourself emailed, Ruthy. And no, now I can't remember specific lines.
Some of the lines in A Heart Revealed that hit me, Julie, you talked about pain in a way that held so much wisdom.
And no, of course, I can't remember them either.
KC SAID: "And HA on the ham/him Julie! You rock!!! ;D"
ReplyDeleteThanks, sweetie, Freudian slip of the tongue that truly shows where my thoughts lie ... :)
Thanks, KAREN, and I actually have Jody's book in my infamous TBR list, but only God knows when I will be able to get to it. All I know is everybody raves about it, so it better be soon!
MELANIE, NO!!! I did NOT know about the quote-sharing sites, so can you send me a link when you get a chance?? I am almost as inept at finding things on Goodreads as I am in cooking these days, so I'm not sure I could find it myself ...
And, LOL ... your lines: "Feel better?” “No. Get up so I can hit you again.” “I think I’ve had enough, thank you.”
LOVE 'EM!!! But then I love anything you write, darlin' ... :)
Hugs,
Julie
I meant to ask, do you write the metaphors as you go, or do you layer them in after the first draft?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
TINA P SAID: "You had me at hello...
ReplyDeleteMy take ... he had me at hello...had me saying goodbye
Man sucked up my airspace like a Hoover vacuum.
LOVE IT, WOMAN!!! And the Jerry McGuire quote "You had me at hello ..." is one of my faves, too, and everybody else's as well since it's become almost colloquialism in our culture today.
MEL!!! I thought you were going to go write, sweetie pie! :) Go write, then later on when you get a chance, I want to hear some of the lines you and your daughters quote, okay? :)
Hugs,
Julie
JEANNE!!! I'm with you, girlfriend, spare me the walnuts!!
ReplyDeleteAnd LOVE your examples, ESPECIALLY this line: "Beneath the music pulsed an unvoiced melody. And for a moment, she liked …being treasured."
WHEW!!! Very nice.
MEL ... no offense taken, darlin'! ;)
TINA P SAID: "I've heard people say cut the metaphors and such, I leave them just to drive them bonkers.
I've heard the same about cliches, but I like those too sometimes."
Good for you, girl, and I TOTALLY agree. Call me a rebel if you will, but I shy away from doing or not doing things that some people say you should or shouldn't. Like when I started writing APMP and tons of contest judges, critiques and yes, even editors told me I had too many POVs. My thoughts at the time? It's a family saga, people, get used to it!! :) But ... I will notice that I have cut down on my overuse of multiple and split POVs, so maybe they were partially right ... ;)
And cliches??? I think they are fine in dialogue because they lend a normalcy and a natural colloquialism needed for believable dialogue. UNLESS you are writing dialogue for a funny and clever character like Charity O'Connor -- then they should be clever and unique to the person, in my opinion, in order to stay true to character.
Hugs,
Julie
THANK YOU JULIE!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete1. for sharing yummy 'clips' I can savor until your next book arrives.
2. for sharing some of the other Seekers teaching tips :-)
3. for having MORE THAN ONE favorite quote!
I can't just pick one.
Here's one from my wip:
Her lips were as tight as her skirt, and both just as distracting.
Here's another from my wip:
Had it really only been last month when she was offered a chance at her dream job? Professor at the University of Virginia. Only a month ago, when she celebrated with a small group of friends and determined to leave her unsavory past in the place where all bad memories go: one-on-one intensive psychotherapy.
Okay- last one (sigh)
Here's one from my FAVORITE of my novels:
The smile he wore should have owned a disclaimer: Warning. This man is dangerous. Especially for women who are trying their best to steer clear of knights in shining armor.
The following is another excerpt from A Pirate's Heart. The heroine has purchased a slave off the dock in Port Royale, Jamaica without realizing she has purchased her own husband. The following dialogue is between the hero and another slave.
ReplyDelete"You're probably right. I'll probably be laid to waste. But you know Mr. Ames, I'm inclned to think, I'll enjoy our sojourn in this tail end of the world."
"At forfeit to your life? I hope that doesn't mean, you'll amuse yourself, harboring a grudge against the lady?
"Amuse? Certainly, or didn't you observe, the lady and I have declared war?
JULIE! You've never read Lord of the Rings? You have to, even if you don't like fantasy, just to read a master at work.
ReplyDeleteHere's a quote - and I just opened the book at random and took the first descriptive line I found -
"On the south-eastern side the ground fell very steeply, as if the slopes of the hill were continued far down under the trees, like island-shores that really are the sides of a mountain rising out of deep waters."
Or this one in some dialogue:
"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
/sigh/
That's why I re-read Tolkien often, at least every other year.
Julie -
ReplyDeleteI'm usually still up at 11 and Mary and a couple others have Seekerville linked to their FB pages and I see the links. Unless it's time for a WE. Then I'm refreshing to see who won ;).
Took a 6yo to the dentist [again - one more appt cuz she had one cavity in each quarter of her mouth and they'll only do one at a time so she doesn't end up hating dentists ;)]. Brought back Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis for everyone. And Cookies and Cream milkshakes.
Back to the synopsis...
And Jody's books are soooooooooo worth reading!
Carol, I can so relate
ReplyDeleteJan, *sigh*
Tina, what a gripping scene.
Carla, there is something about your line that makes me believer there is more than one meaning. Am I right? Those kind are always great lines.
ReplyDeleteJan,
ReplyDeleteLord of the Rings is a GREAT trilogy. I didn't read them until I was an adult. The Chronicles of Narnia either
But what a fIND!
TINA P ALSO SAID: "It is a mystery to me what it will be."
ReplyDeleteLOL. Cute, verrrry cute! :)
RUTHY!!! Don't just casually throw out part of a recipe, girl -- POST IT AT YANKEE BELL ... speaking of which, I couldn't find on the Seekerville Town site, so where the heck is it??? Geez Louise, I'm gonna have to make another pot of coffee because my brain is sludge this morning ..
JAN ... you are more than welcome, my friend. Easy to say when it's the truth, you know. And I for one would like to hear some of your and Mel's favorite lines from The Princess Bride.
The two lines you hear quoted in my house the most are:
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a d___n," needless to say AND "You can't handle the truth!!"
Hugs,
Julie
Ooo, people are posting long excerpts!! YAY!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a peek after work :-)
Virginia, I like the imagery you create. And what's wrong with kissy scenes? ;)
ReplyDeleteKrysten, I love that line from CatR. Of course being a lilapsophobiac I can relate when it comes to tornadoes. *g*
Okay Jules,
ReplyDeletetwo more - but only because they take from your tips ;-)
Contemp Romance:
His hot-fudge smooth voice swept all words right out of her head and melted any images of icecaps. She stifled a sigh. The perfect combination – fascinating eyes, a British accent, and chocolate.
This could be love, okay, at least infatuation. Healthy infatuation – the safe, look-but-don’t-touch kind. Like the movies.
From my historical:
At the gentle look in his eyes, something cautious and hard inside her chest melted. She settled into the feeling like coming home.
Here's one of my favorites from Anne of Avonlea, by L.M. Montgomery:
ReplyDelete“Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.”
Sigh. Probably Grammar Queen would scold her for so many semi colons, but it just makes swoon.
Jan, LOVE those LoTR lines! Here's one of my faves from Fellowship of the Ring:
"Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise."
Julie, you MUST read these books!
KIRSTEN SAID: "Nothing like learning from the masters."
ReplyDeleteWELL ... not "masters," maybe since we NEVER stop learning, but we've certainly been chiseled somewhat by bumps in the road ... :)
And, WOW, Kirsten, both of your examples are AWESOME, and I especially LOVE the second one -- a definite chuckle there!!
MYRA ... LOLOAO (LAUGHING OUT LOUD OVER AND OVER), GIRL!!! Your alter ego has one grand sense of humor, my friend, and she made me laugh all day long when she graced us with her presence yesterday -- STELLAR POST, girlfriend!! Uh, and tell her thanks for cutting us some slack, okay? :)
Hugs,
Julie
Mary, I finally got a hold of The Husband Tree a few weeks (library book that I was tempted to keep on my keeper shelf, decided I'll go buy one) and I love that line about the blankets. Actually the entire book was filled with great lines.
ReplyDeleteGingham Mountain is next on my TBR.
Christina
Oh, Connie! My hero is a Pinkerton, got to love them!!!! Great line.
ReplyDeletePepper,
ReplyDeleteYour examples are wonderful! Can't wait to read YOUR books one day!
Sue
Kirsten!! I love this. “Most of the time I don’t think so. Fact is most of the time I think I’m a pretty easy goin’ kind of man.” He stalked toward her. She edged back. “But then I come within ten feet of you and I’m ready to drive a stagecoach off a cliff, try out for Buffalo Bill Cody’s show on the lawn of the Inn, or just bang my head against a tree trunk for a solid quarter of an hour.”
ReplyDeletePrincess Bride quotes? Hold on to your seats, here are a few of our favorites (appropriate for any situation!):
ReplyDelete"That's right. When I was your age, television was called books."
"Is this a kissing book?"
"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
"You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles."
"No more rhymes now, I mean it."
"Anybody want a peanut?"
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - The most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia" - but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line"! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha..." /he dies/
"Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam..."
"It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead."
And the classic: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Aw, thanks, AMANDA -- appreciate your kind words, my friend! And you said: "And about the movies you mentioned, I love Gone With the Wind and A Walk to Remember too :)"
ReplyDeleteI knew I liked you RIGHT OFF THE BAT, but the fact we like the same movies??? Icing on the cake, sweetie pie! ;)
AMANDA'S EXAMPLE: "Tendrils of fear wrapped around her heart, tightening as the minutes ticked by.
Okay, your example?? WONDERFUL!! You know why? Sooo many reasons for me! One, the alliteration of "tendrils" and "ticked" give it a beautiful rhythm and flow. Two? Visual ... I can almost see the tendrils wrapping, squeezing while the hands of clock make its short, clipped rotation. Three? It's so graceful, it almost sounds like poetry. GREAT JOB, Amanda!!
HOLLY ... it's really special when an author taps in to our own personal memories, isn't it?? And that's the THIRD time you guys have mentioned Robin Jones Gunn's work, so I am going to have to recheck her out!!
Hugs,
Julie
Thanks so much, Julie and Christina!! :o)
ReplyDelete--Kirsten
STEPHANIE SAID: ""Brett was horrified. He wanted her to climb that? The ladder was so unsteady, it would rock from the wind of a butterfly's fart."
ReplyDeleteOH. MY. GOSH!!! ROTFLOL!!! That is a stitch and my first deep-down belly chuckle today -- THANKS, sweetie!! ;)
CAROL, BIRTHDAY GIRL!!! LOVE the line, my friend -- BEAUTIFUL!! The sound of his warm laugh rolled over me, wrapping around my heart and pulling me in. See what I said to Amanda above because the same applies here to you!! Good luck in the GH, my friend. :)
LOL, MARE!! Nobody makes me laugh like you, darlin' -- you have a true gift!! And I have NO doubt you could fill a year's worth of blogs with all the great (and funny) lines you've written. IN FACT, next month I am doing a Seeker blog entitled "Funny You Should Say That ... on incorporating humor in our writing, so START compiling the quotes now because I will be asking each of the Seekers for examples. And you Seeker friends, get 'em ready, too, 'cause I'll be asking you as well in the comments section.
Hugs,
Julie
Yay!!! Love the excerpts and I LOVE metaphors (more than similes). Okay, so my fave movie is Last of the Mohicans and I just adore when he says, "No matter what occurs, I will find you." *SWOON*
ReplyDeleteOne of my fave lines in my own work is:
"Her hair floated through his fingers, silken and smooth. She smelled of vanilla and sunlight, fresh earth and purity." It's their first kiss after 10 years apart. *grin*
Great post, Julie!
SUE SAID: "This post is so funny (or maybe ironic) because I was just thinking last night, as I was re-reading parts of "A Heart Revealed", that you do the best metaphors and similies!!"
ReplyDeleteOH, SUE, you have NO idea how much you bless the socks off of me -- both with your sweet e-mail you sent last night (I was saving it to answer when I had some time today because I didn't want to rush my response) AND your kind words above. Not to mention your friendship and support!!
YES, it is a critique, my friend, so you are in the draw!! And NO, you do NOT "sound like one of those crazy fanatical fans," you sound like a completely WONDERFUL reader friend that every author would kill for, so there!
I LOVE that scene with Charity because it gets to the heart of the damaged little girl inside of her who just wants to be loved by a man to fill the empty space inside. For those who haven't read AHR, here's part of the scene Sue is referencing:
Fingering the soft, smooth material in her hand, she wondered how late he would be tonight. It seemed every week “the queen” demanded more and more of his time. She sighed and tossed the shirt into the basket, the fabric fluttering in slow motion as her arm froze in the air. Paralysis claimed her mid-blink, and she stared, all breath lost in her throat. With trembling fingers, she bent to retrieve the shirt and gasped.
A streak of scarlet lipstick edged the collar like a bloody gash, bleeding all rational thoughts from her mind. Her body jerked, and she dropped it again, slumping to her knees with a choked sob. No, God—please!
Vile thoughts pelted her mind—perfumed notes, a women’s scent on his clothes, late nights at the office, and then at her house. Charity shivered. And scarlet lipstick on his collar.
The color of sin
Thanks again, Sue -- you are a true blessing!!
Hugs,
Julie
Aw man, I can hardly pick single lines! I love well crafted scenes. Like the last two pages of Catherine Marshall's Christy /swoon/
ReplyDeleteAnd so with me, my favorite thing I wrote is a two page scene, which I won't bother to post here (You're welcome)but not only is it an extended metaphor (so points for me there!) but one of my favorite things about it is none of my three critters even TOUCHED it with red ink--each individually wrote back at the top that it was perfect as is--that's when I decided that I could in fact write, every now and then anyway. :)
Thank you Julie!!!!
ReplyDeleteHere's another one :D. Hero has become Mr. Mom after losing his job.
They were going to take away my man card.
Kick me out of the men's club.
Refuse to let me in to the Beast Feast at church next weekend.
But there I sat. Tiara on my head. Beaded necklaces around my neck. Feather boa floating around my shoulders. Gaudy rings on every finger. None past the second knuckle but I didn't think that would matter.
I was just glad there weren't any princess dresses that fit me.
Copies of the synopsis are printed out. First 49 pages are polished again. Going to reread as much of the MS as I can before I HAVE to go to the post office.
Off to get the 4yo...
Oh, Captain Wentworth's Letter in Persuasion is great, short enough to share here. I've told my husband he has permission to plagairize the heck out of this in a love letter, but he's never done so. Sigh.
ReplyDelete"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone I think and plan. -- Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? -- I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write, I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would be lost on others. -- Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in
F. W.
I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow you party, as soon as possible. A word, a look will be enough to decide whether I enter you father's house this evening or never."
ELIZABETH B!!! LOL ... "intensity pitched high, rolling over me like a steaming locomotive" sounds good to me, girl -- I SO love to steamroll my readers and beautifully said, I might add!! ;)
ReplyDeleteWONDERFUL excerpt from Pirate's Heart, my friend, ESPECIALLY the last line -- LOVE IT!! "He marveled in fact that being wrongfully convicted and entirely innocent, he had cause for thankfulness for he stood beneath the same firmament as she." VERY, VERY NICE! :)
MARY, LOL ... I JUST did that with Ruthy last month on one of her books. Read the first few pages and immediately went and typed her an e-mail RAVING how good it was. And, boy, it WAS!!
Thank you for your kind comment, Mare, that in AHR I "talked about pain in a way that held so much wisdom." I remember you e-mailing me that as well, and of course it blessed me to no end, just like your incredible endorsement. Thank you again, my friend.
Hugs,
Julie
SUE ASKED: "Do you write the metaphors as you go, or do you layer them in after the first draft?"
ReplyDeleteI write them as I go, Sue, and I have NO idea where they come from, except the grace of God! :)
PEP!!!! I know I can ALWAYS count on a chuckle or a gasp with your writing because I honestly LOVE your work!! And the line, "Her lips were as tight as her skirt, and both just as distracting"??? ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!
ELIZABETH B ... PIRATE'S HEART sounds like a wonderful book, my friend, at least from these clips today. LOVE the line: "Amuse? Certainly, or didn't you observe, the lady and I have declared war?"
NOTHING better than a war of the wills between hero and heroine ... ;)
Hugs,
Julie
I'm reading all of these great lines and thinking I need to go back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeletePepper, your lines are great and love the dash of humor, especially with the "one-on-one intensive therapy." Can't wait to read them in a book!
ReplyDeleteJessica, I like your description of her smelling like "vanilla and sunlight." Ooh lala! It definitely evokes innocence, but the fact that he's that close to smell her... ;)
Julie, glad I could make you laugh. :) I've never read one of your books (not by choice, I've just never come across them), but after reading how you beautifully use words, I may be visiting Amazon very soon!
Oh no, Christina! The only drawing board you need to go back to is the one that will write another book! I loved the excerpts you shared!
ReplyDeleteWOW, JAN, those excerpts ARE beautiful!! Who knew fantasy could be so "fantastic" ... DUH!! I'm sure to give it a shot one of these days ... maybe in the rest home ... ;)
ReplyDeleteCAROLS SAID: "And Jody's books are soooooooooo worth reading!"
Okay, that settles, Jody's book has moved up the TBR pile ... :)
CHRISTINA SAID: "Carla, there is something about your line that makes me believer there is more than one meaning. Am I right? Those kind are always great lines."
YES, Christina, there IS!! LOVE lines with double meanings!!!
PEP ... okay, Lord of the Rings is moving up the list too ... :)
AND CHRISTINA ALSO SAID: "And what's wrong with kissy scenes? ;)"
NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!
Hugs,
Julie
PEP!!! You had me at "hot fudge"!! ;) WONDERFUL, as always, darlin'...
ReplyDeleteSTEPHANIE ... that excerpt from Anne of Avonlea is GORGEOUS prose!!! Anybody who can write a paragraph with the words "gay knight" included and still make us swoon, let's face it -- she's gotta be good!! And, YES, Steph ... I'm getting the gist I should read these books ... :)
Oh, CHRISTINA ... Mary's The Husband Tree is one of my all-time favs of her books -- LOVED IT!!
Hugs,
Julie
SUE AND CHRISTINA, I TOTALLY agree -- Kirsten and Pep's examples are WONDERFUL, but then I can say that about almost ALL of the examples today, which blesses me to no end. Because if people who write THIS well are reading and liking Seeker books, that speaks VOLUMES!!
ReplyDeleteLOL, JAN!!! Those lines from Princess Bride are a royal hoot, pun intended!!! Especially:
"That's right. When I was your age, television was called books."
"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."
"No more rhymes now, I mean it."
"Anybody want a peanut?"
BUT ... at the risk of looking REALLLY stupid, I do not understand the last one, so can you explain it to me??? And the classic: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Hugs,
Julie
Julie that was what... Mandy Pantkin [the swordsman] said when he found the man who killed his father. He told Dread Pirate Roberts that when he found the six fingered man he'd say. "My name is Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
ReplyDeleteMan, I need to watch that again! The 10yo was asking to watch it again the other day. Will have to make time soon.
Hey, JESSICA, thanks, sweetie! And I'm gonna put my butt in a sling here, but I've never read Last of the Mohicans either!!! AND, no, I was not raised in a cave AND I actually went to a very prestigious Catholic girl's high school called Cor Jesu (the common response being, "What zoo?")that had very high standards in literature. Sigh. Which is why I stick to romance -- considered by snobs to be the literary amoeba on the scale of life.
ReplyDeleteJESSICA'S EXCERPT: "Her hair floated through his fingers, silken and smooth. She smelled of vanilla and sunlight, fresh earth and purity." It's their first kiss after 10 years apart. *grin*
WHEW, girl!! VERY nice mix of sensations there!!
Hugs,
Julie
Oh, Julie, I can't find the Kindle quote sharing thing. I saw it on a Google Alert but now I don't know how to find it. Sorry. :-( Maybe somebody else here knows how to look that up--the favorite quotes from a certain book.
ReplyDeleteBut Goodreads does it now. All you do is look up your book's page and scroll down until you see Quotes. It will show quotes that readers of your book have liked and shared and how many people have "liked" that quote. Love it. They must have just started it, though.
Julie, I got a fabulous review in Publisher's Weekly of The Merchant's Daughter. I was so over the moon excited over it. Since we're sharing quotes ;-), I'm going to share part of my PW review:
"She [the heroine] is educated enough to know how to read, and her reading of the Bible to le Wyse opens up an unexpected connection between the two that naturally and slowly grows. This riff on Beauty and the Beast makes the story as comfortable as a pair of old shoes, but the shoes fit well. The Christian apparatus in the tale is natural and a nice twist links the Bible, literacy, and women's empowerment."
Wow, women's empowerment! I'm better than I thought. LOL!
Sue,
ReplyDeleteThanks a BUNCH for the compliment.
And right back atcha!
Jules,
Thanks. I learn from really good teachers ;-) You know who is on my reread shelf - inspiration GALORE!
I've got a book or scene I can read to put me in about any mood I need to be in to write my own scenes. You do know
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
(let's remember, I said imitation, not plagerism ;-)
CAROL ... WONDERFUL EXCERPT, girl, especially the lines:
ReplyDeleteThey were going to take away my man card. Kick me out of the men's club.
Refuse to let me in to the Beast Feast at church next weekend.
You sure write "man" well, my friend. :)
MELISSA ... that quote from Persuasion is TO DIE FOR!! And your comment that, "I've told my husband he has permission to plagarize the heck out of this in a love letter, but he's never done so. Sigh"??? HILARIOUS!!
CHRISTINA SAID: "I'm reading all of these great lines and thinking I need to go back to the drawing board."
LOL ... I'm reading all your comments, girl, and thinking you need to go back to work!! ;) Just teasing ... LOVE having you here. :)
Hugs,
Julie
thanks, Stephanie! I love dashing stuff with humor ;-)
ReplyDeleteCarol,
SO FUNNY EXCERPT! And Jules statement that 'you write man well' LOL
STEPHANIE SAID: "Julie, I've never read one of your books (not by choice, I've just never come across them), but after reading how you beautifully use words, I may be visiting Amazon very soon!"
ReplyDeleteAH .... then my work here is done! ;) Actually, hold off on the Amazon purchase to see if you win here, okay? AND I do have two other giveaways going on right now as well, so if you're interested, check out my website calendar. But, YES, MOST DEFINITELY ... we need to get one of my books in your hot, little hands, sweetie pie! ;)
CAROL!!! STILL don't get it. Is it supposed to be funny?? If so, I don't get the joke, but then my characters aren't all "thick headed" for nothing, you know ... :|
WHOO-HOO, MEL, ON THE PUB WEEKLY REVIEW, GIRLFRIEND -- that is HUGE!! LOVE the line: his riff on Beauty and the Beast makes the story as comfortable as a pair of old shoes, but the shoes fit well.
Hugs,
Julie
Okay Julie (have you never seen "The Princess Bride" either? I really worry about your cultural education ;D), here's the whole rhyming conversation.
ReplyDeleteVizzini (played by Wallace Shawn) is the humorous bad guy that the really bad guy hired to kidnap the heroine. Vizzini hired Fezzik (played by Andre the Giant) and Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin) to be his thugs, but they're quite lovable and end up being good guys (sorry for the spoiler). This conversation takes place while in a boat in eel-infested waters
Inigo Montoya: That Vizzini, he can *fuss*.
Fezzik: Fuss, fuss... I think he like to scream at *us*.
Inigo Montoya: Probably he means no *harm*.
Fezzik: He's really very short on *charm*.
Inigo Montoya: You have a great gift for rhyme.
Fezzik: Yes, yes, some of the time.
Vizzini: Enough of that.
Inigo Montoya: Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?
Fezzik: If there are, we all be dead.
Vizzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it.
Fezzik: Anybody want a peanut?
Vizzini: DYEEAAHHHHHH.
If it doesn't make sense even in context, don't worry. It's really a very silly movie. I think I'll watch it again tonight!
Found your author quotes on Goodreads, Julie. http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/965709.Julie_Lessman
ReplyDeletePEP SAID: ""Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. (let's remember, I said imitation, not plagerism ;-)"
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! YEAH, flattery good. Plagerism BAD!! :) Thanks, sweetie.
And your humor in your books is one of the things I love best about you, Pep!
As the street urchin Gabriella Dawn Smith says in A Love Surrendered:
HOLY MOLY!!! I'm finally caught up on comments!! Off to catch up on e-mail ... :)
Hugs,
Julie
Jan, *blush* thank you. First edits, and then the next story.
ReplyDeleteBut here are the first lines in my next Western.
He'd buried her. He'd even sprinkled a dusting of earth onto the pine box as his heart shattered with the loss of her. But there she was. On stage parading her wares like she'd never succumbed to lung fever.
Alligator Pepper - LOVE the lines my friend!!! [Do y'all know how many different kinds of pepper there are? Lots of them.]
ReplyDeleteChristina - love it!
And Mary, I've been meaning to say all day that I love the Horsemen of the Apocalypse!
Mellie!!!!! Look at that review! Can. Not. Wait. for my copy to get here!
Okay - found another snippet that always makes me giggle. They've just bought their new house and are walking through for the first time. They've made it to the master suite...
I kissed her, long and deep, as I carried her into our new bedroom. When I finally moved away from her and looked around, it almost hurt.
Not stopping the kiss, which had been very nice, but the colors on the walls.
One was sort of a robin's egg color. Another was a bright Caribbean sea blue. Periwinkle. At least I thought that was what periwinkle looked like. The fourth...
"Wow."
"Yeah."
She pointed at the wall I was staring at. "Is that Windows blue screen of death color?"
And if anyone has a suggestion to reword that last bit a bit better, I'd appreciate it.
Hi Julie:
ReplyDeleteIs it me or does it just seem so terribly long between your posts? You always make me think.
“Great writing may pull you out of the story but it will never pull you out of the joy of the total reading experience.”
Comment:
A simile is like a metaphor in that both try to show comparisons in different ways. A metaphor, on the other hand, is a simile that’s left the reservation.
I’d like to start with the last words I read last night before going to sleep. This is from “The Sweetest Gift” by Mary Connealy, Part of the “A Home for Christmas” duo of novellas.
“She opened the book and settled in to married life. So far, it wasn’t so bad. She’d been married for nearly two hours and she wasn’t dead yet.”
Now, that's my kind of writing.
This next favorite is from Ruth's "Made to Order Family":
The heroine’s mother is overbearing and highly critical of the heroine. The heroine seems to be reconciled to her mother’s abuse and the reader fully expects the mother’s conduct to occur for the rest of the book. (Perhaps the mother will come around by the HEA.)
Here’s what happens: (Page 61): Made to Order Family
“Mom, I totally get that you’re disappointed in me, my life, my children and my existence on the planet, but I think it’s in everyone’s best interests if we move beyond the drama, okay? I haven’t got the time to go there with you anymore. What’s done is done. I’m not moving backward and I wish you’d move beyond it, too.”
Just like that! The abusive mother is dealt with and the heroine grows in stature right in front of the reader’s eyes! The heroine has waited her whole life to face up to her mother and we, the readers, get to be there at this critical moment to share in the event. I wanted to stand and cheer!
I love that scene! Whence shall come another?
“The Price of Victory” is made up of so many ‘favorites’, that reading it is an inspirational experience in itself. As a philosopher, I just loved this Leesmith book.
The hero is talking to the heroine:
“There is no satisfaction in seeking approval from man. Contentment comes from within you.” He continued walking. “Discover who you really are, and you won’t have to worry about your parents’ love and respect.”
“Your peace and contentment will rub off onto others. You don’t need a trophy to buy respect. You earn it by proving you can meet life head on and handle it.”
***
"Finding and fighting for your dreams and dreaming for the right things for the right reasons."
My Own:
This is from my lost manuscript “Stranded in a Cabin with the Captain”.
The hero and heroine are meeting for the first time at the mountain cabin. The hero’s sister is a romance writer. He edits her military romances.
“Let me get this right: your name is Diana Hunter, you’re a RITA finalist, and you’re a virgin?” Eric looks down, turns, and kicks the front tire of his motorcycle.
“I didn’t have to tell you the virgin part but considering…”
“What are you, forty years old?,” Eric moves his hands out, palms up, and turns his head to pin her with his stare.
“I’m thirty-six, buster, how old are you?” Diana takes one stop off the cabin porch, thrusts out her chin, her eyes flashing fight and not flight.
“I’m thirty-six, too, but on a man, that’s like being twenty-six.” Eric gives her his best ‘heroine-melting’ smile.
“You’re twenty-six emotionally, maybe, but I think riding that Harley has scrambled your brains and given you a false sense of potency.” Diana steps to the ground coming towards the giant of a man like she was the huntress she was named after.
Eric backs up a little to check is saddle bags.
“Thirty-six! Thirty-six! What are you, a nun?”
“As a matter of fact I was a nun for ten years.”
“You mean I’m stranded in a cabin with a 36-year old, ex-nun, romance writing, virgin. I can’t handle that much conflict!”
Vince
STEPHANIE!
ReplyDeleteYou should see me! When she says that line: I am no man! I nearly jump out of my seat every time, pump my fist in the air and say, "YES!!!" Grinning from ear to ear, I become self-conscious and look around. All my men (1 hubby, 4 sons) are just looking at me with a smile that says "Yep. Mom's losing it." :D
JULIE!
I have never read Lord of the Rings. This in in the movie and its so powerful! The climax leading up to it. You must see it! It's incredible and powerful and really puts in perspective that God has made each of us, even blue monkeys, for a specific purpose. It's amazing!
Half of bee-bopping done. Now I get to rest until time to continue. :D Love you, Jules!
OH, Hey! I met a fellow Missourian at Church today. He actually KNOWS where Ellington is. His mom is FROM my home town. How awesome is that? We were both equally excited to find someone who knows our old haunts. He was also in St Louis and Columbia for a while. Here's a familiar line for you: It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world... :D
CAROL!
"My name is Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Hilarious!!! I love that movie! It's so romantic, so dramatic, SO melodramatic, and so hilarious in its stupidity! It's great! :D
MELISSA SAID: "And so with me, my favorite thing I wrote is a two page scene, which I won't bother to post here (You're welcome)but not only is it an extended metaphor (so points for me there!) but one of my favorite things about it is none of my three critters even TOUCHED it with red ink"
ReplyDeleteSORRY, MELISSA, had this comment written in on the wrong page, so it's delayed (I keep two Seeker pages open, one to read comments, the other to answer them).
LOL, girl!!!! That is DEFINITELY the mark of good writing! ;)
JAN SAID: "Okay Julie (have you never seen "The Princess Bride" either? I really worry about your cultural education ;D)"
WELL, ACTUALLY ... (sheepish grin, here), I've only seen parts of it, never watched the whole thing! Okay, scrunching shoulders and slinking away ...
And THANK YOU for repeating some of the lines above -- VERY cute, and a movie I think I would like. I best watch, I suspect or I will have no friends in Seekerville ...
MEL, YOU SWEETHEART, YOU!!! God will bless you for helping an old lady across the street, darlin'!!
Hugs,
CHRISTINA'S FIRST LINES:
ReplyDeleteHe'd buried her. He'd even sprinkled a dusting of earth onto the pine box as his heart shattered with the loss of her. But there she was. On stage parading her wares like she'd never succumbed to lung fever.
HOLY FREAKIN' COW -- in the vernacular of the genre -- DANG, THAT'S GOOD! :)
CAROL -- Window's blue screen of death!!! LOL!! LOVE IT, girlfriend!
VINCE!!! You never cease to amaze me, sir, both with your insight and your wit and something else we have in common ... length of comments! :)
And no, it's not your imagination. Sometimes when I have a HUGE deadline, I will book a guest speaker in my spot for the month because in all honesty, it takes me TWO DAYS or more to do a Seekerville blog (i.e. write it, research it, have my hubby do a fun pic and then respond to comments all day), so because of my anality, the stress is too much when I have a deadline.
And, YES, I just finished Sandra's book, Price of Victory, and absolutely ADORED it!! I saw your review on Amazon and posted mine as well. I highly encourage others to read Price of Victory because it is SO worth the price of time and money.
Finally ... I absolutely am GAGA over your excerpt, Vincent, and in fact, have your WIP on my prayer list based on your request in the comment section of my last blog. You are one heck of a writer, mister, and it can only be a matter of time before a publisher figures that out. My favorite lines?
“You mean I’m stranded in a cabin with a 36-year old, ex-nun, romance writing, virgin. I can’t handle that much conflict!”
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!
Hugs,
Julie
LINNETTE, I did see one of the Lord of the Rings movie, but not being a fantasy gal, I didn't opt for the others. Maybe I should?? And I definitely need to watch ALL of The Princess Bride obviously or some people will be stringing me up ... :)
ReplyDeleteCaught up again -- YAY!! Off to work a while ...
Hugs,
Julie
The Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, and Persuasion??? All favorites of mine! :) (Melissa, that letter from Persuasion makes me sigh every time.)
ReplyDeleteCarol, this is great!
ReplyDeleteI kissed her, long and deep, as I carried her into our new bedroom. When I finally moved away from her and looked around, it almost hurt.
Not stopping the kiss, which had been very nice, but the colors on the walls.
Ok, Julie. Here are some snippets from my WIP. Not having typed 'the end' yet, I've not gone over it enough to remember what I wrote, LOL, so I had to skim through real quick and find a few lines. These are from three completely different scenes. :)
ReplyDelete“He was sorer than the gums on a toothless beaver when he found out that Lucy took a shine to me and not him.”
Blane stopped mid-crawl to press a sore shoulder against the moist cave wall and breathe through the cotton of his shirtsleeve. This section of the earth’s bowels exhaled sulfur with a dying wheeze. The stench was dizzying.
The simple action of lifting the scalloped lid of her spice box set her to humming. Rounded tops of individual spice tins nestled inside the tarnished, metal box like a half-dozen eggs in a sweet-smelling, well guarded nest.
Oh! I just finished reading A Hope Undaunted and I have to say my favorite metaphor in the whole book was probably the one where you described baby Molly's sagging cheeks as overripe peaches. So cute!!
LOL!!!!!! Vince, you're killing me. That is too funny!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Julie.
ReplyDeleteLove it Vince!
ReplyDeleteThanks again Julie.
[I'm rereading the whole MS today so that's why I'm popping in with more. Because they make me smile.]
Family moved to the Midwest and live in a house that no longer has a wall the color of the Windows blue screen of death. They're living through their first tornado warning when the hero says:
"Why do I suddenly want to watch Twister?"
[She glares and tells him no btw ;)]
And later, after the kids are back in bed:
ReplyDeleteNever too tired to kiss Andrew with nature's rock and roll show in the background, I did just that. Told him without words how glad I was God had given me him to hold me close on nights when thunder made me jump out of my skin.
/waffy sigh/
And when he's conflicted about telling her his secret [yes, they are married ;)]:
Later, I tucked her next to my side, a vortex swirling inside me, a whirlpool threatening to pull me under like a riptide.
OK, I will chime in. This is from a book I am editing right now...the first of three in this series. :)
ReplyDeleteThe clunking of heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway overhead as Union soldiers made their way through eighteen-year-old Faith Kendall’s beautiful childhood home. The walls shook from the intense momentum as the soldiers bounded up the stairs. The ceiling creaked and the light fixtures swayed. A picture rattled on the wall beside her as she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to become invisible.
Like a fly in a spider's web they were trapped.
Thanks, this was fun!
Oh, Melissa, I love love love that letter in Persuasion by Capt. Wentworth. THANK YOU for sharing that. Just watched that movie the other day.
ReplyDeleteHere's a line I like to say from The Princess Bride:
"You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
But you have to say it with an Inigo Montoya accent.
And anytime anyone says "As you wish," I always think they're saying "I love you."
And somehow my girls and I end up occasionally having use of the quote, "He's only mostly dead." And you have to say that with a strong lisp.
Julie, haven't you ever watched The Princess Bride?
VINCE!!!!!! You're reading my novella?????
ReplyDeleteSWEET!!!!!
CHRISTINA!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic opening line. No way does your reader not HAVE to read on. And that's your exact goal.
Hahaha of course I caught my name in your post Julie along with Rel's...we are passionate about our books aren't we? Talk about frustration...you drive readers to it more than any author I know. It's a good thing though. ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy fave movies are definitely GWTW, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, North and South and pretty much any other romantic costume dramas out there! If anyone ever needs a suggestion for a romance to watch, just ask me LOL!
XOXO~ Renee
Julie, I probably wouldn't have watched the Lord of the Rings if I didn't live in a house full of testosterone! :D Even though many parts you won't like, there are so many that make it worth watching. Return of the King! Yes! You want to see it. But if you see it, you'll want to watch the last one so you can taste the victory. The multiple endings alone make it worth watching it. It really is a soul-rending saga!
ReplyDeleteNow, off I go! I knew I wouldn't get my nap in if I got on the computer. *shrugs* oh, well!
I suppose I look pretty chic in my borrowed Gucci ankle boots, with my borrowed leggings and borrowed embellished sleeve coat and raspberry silk skirt, designed by Thuy.
ReplyDeleteWho?
The only Thuy's I know about are the ones my leggings were bunching up on again. I give them a quick yank.
Wow, Julie! Some fantastic lines!! Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy fav of yours that you shared:
Because at the end of the day, when all the slivers and pieces of his pride were picked up and swept away like the broken vase on the floor, the truth was that she was married to an idiot … and a pompous one at that.
Love it! :)
Love this lesson and all the examples. Can't think straight with this being Day 9 of NaNo and me nursing a head cold.
ReplyDeleteBut any author that can give me strong imagery, a metaphor with a twist, heavy emotion and maybe a little comedy gets my attention.
NATALIE SAID: "“He was sorer than the gums on a toothless beaver when he found out that Lucy took a shine to me and not him.”
ReplyDeleteLOL, girl, that is priceless!! LOVE your examples, all, but that one made me chuckle. The cave, the kitchen -- I was there in each snippet, so GREAT JOB!!
And THANK YOU for reading AHU!! I don't know if you are in to posting reviews, but if you are, I have a contest going on where you can not only win a signed copy of Steven's story next year, a $50 gift card, but also have a character named after you in the book. So if you are prone to posting reviews, take advantage and enter the contest. You can find the details on my website under the contest tab at:
Newsletter Contest
I like the overripe peaches line too, so I'll repeat it here so others will know what we're talking about:
She patted six-month-old Molly on the back, a chub of a thing who sat on her mother’s lap with Gerber baby food ringing her mouth. Pink cheeks hung like overripe peaches as she sat hunched, quivering with every tap of Lizzie’s hand.
Hugs,
Julie
Julie, I don't know if Ruthy ever answered you (I can't read all the comments right now). But the Yankee-Belle Cafe is on a blog, separate from the website.
ReplyDeletewww.yankeebellecafe.blogspot.com
You're more than welcome, CAROL AND CHRISTINA!!
ReplyDeleteCAROL GIRL ... more great examples, sweetie, so you best get published soon!!
SALENA!!! Ooooo, good job, girl!! I was soooo THERE!! And I LOVE the last line: "Like a fly in a spider's web they were trapped." Brrr ... cold chills!!
Hugs,
Julie
MEL ... I've watched bits and pieces of The Princess Bride, but never the whole thing in one sitting. I think probably because I take my romance VERY seriously, so I tend toward drama and angst (no joke!!) rather than a parody-type romance. BUT ... I will make it my business to watch it, I promise!
ReplyDeleteRENEE SAID: "Talk about frustration...you drive readers to it more than any author I know. It's a good thing though. ;-)"
Yeah, I know, but only because it's either drive you guys crazy or my husband, and I'm sorry, girls, but I gotta LIVE with him ... ;)
LINNETTE SAID: "Julie, I probably wouldn't have watched the Lord of the Rings if I didn't live in a house full of testosterone!
WELL, that explains it, sweetie. :) And HOLY COW ... you find time for naps??? I want your secret -- NOW!!
Hugs,
Julie
TINA SAID: "I suppose I look pretty chic in my borrowed Gucci ankle boots, with my borrowed leggings and borrowed embellished sleeve coat and raspberry silk skirt, designed by Thuy.
ReplyDeleteWho?
The only Thuy's I know about are the ones my leggings were bunching up on again. I give them a quick yank."
LOL ... LOVE it, girlfriend!! This IS yours, right???
Thanks, MISSY!! I like that line, too, although I almost cut it from this blog because it was SO DARN LONG!!! But then I thought -- what the heck -- they all know I'm a windbag ... :)
PATRICIA SAID: "But any author that can give me strong imagery, a metaphor with a twist, heavy emotion and maybe a little comedy gets my attention."
OH, I'M WITH YOU, girl, BIG TIME!! And, hey, take care of that cold, sweetie.
Hugs,
Julie
MISSY ... thanks for telling me that, but WHY is it on a separate website and WHY is there not a link to it????
ReplyDeleteWHOO-HOO, ATTENTION ALL COMMENTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to run and pray with my prayer partners and then have a birthday dinner for my daughter, so I will not be back to respond to comments till later tonight, but I will answer, I promise!
Hugs,
Julie
Julie,
ReplyDeleteyep, it's mine, the disclaimer that it's from my mystery WIP with no name, was lost in translation.
Actually I forgot to add it the second time around after my first post got lost.
O My. Goodness! I LOVE it!! I love LOVE your post Julie! (Especially because there are excerpts from Steven's story :) BUT WOW! I never knew there was such GREAT authors at Seekerville... O my I think I'm gonna go look up the seeker's books which had your favorite lines
ReplyDeleteREALLY Good!
Thanks For Posting!
Ganise
too much fun. I want to read them all but I gotta get ready for work.
ReplyDeletegrabbed one of mine:
He dipped his head, his hair falling close to her face. “Bess, will you trust me?”
His valid argument effectively tossed water on her fire. She could only steam
And now, thanks to Jessica, I really need to watch Last of the Mohicans again or listen to the theme song from Clannad. sigh.
I'm with you Julie. I don't mind being taken out of the story if the words are so beautiful they bear re-reading.
Oh, what a fun day, Julie Lessman! What a hoot, and so many great lines. I'm loving this.
ReplyDeleteVince, I'm in love with that concept. The ex-nun, virgin, the age...
Oh my stars, LOL, ROF, then LOL some more.
You had me at hello, big guy!
I'm fixing words tonight, and loving it, but had to stop over and see 'sup wi' Seekerville.
So fun!
Ah come on, you'll let me post another one! On page 197 of 308. Not many edits to be found [Lord only knows how many times I've gone over this thing] but enough that I don't want to send it without finishing...
ReplyDeleteConviction settled over me like a warm Arizona night. Wrapping around me, invading places I didn't know I had.
HA! The only reason I'm putting this one is... self-evident I hope ;). Page 199...
My feet landed on the ground, but he took my breath away with a kiss that belonged on that list in The Princess Bride. It was that perfect.
214: Cold fingers of fear gripped my stomach and squeezed as the potential implications flooded through my mind.
250:Hands on my hips, I surveyed the mess. He hadn't said how it came to be and I wasn't sure how anyone could get sauce in so many places on accident. I lifted my eyes to say a quick prayer but it turned to a groan. Sauce on the ceiling? How'd he manage that?
Maybe it was time to start fasting and praying for a job for Andrew. Another day or two like this and we'd have to put "wonderful Italian scent throughout" on the listing when it was time to sell.
301: The butterflies in my stomach must have swallowed some MiracleGro because as soon as I saw the black sedan, they grew to the size of pterodactyls.
302: If my face hadn't already been red from all the crying, that would have given me the skin tone of a boiled lobster.
Er, meant to send this earlier...
Golden Heart has been mailed!!! Made it to the post office about 10 minutes before it closed. With paperwork to finish. Left 30 seconds before they closed.
Big deep cleansing breaths...
It's in God's hands now...
Yay Carol! You got your GH entry in!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth:
ReplyDeleteThe ex-nun part was pantsered into the story during the first draft after the hero said, “What are you, a nun?” and I thought: why not? I had the whole plot outlined and I knew that making Diana an ex-nun would only enhanced the story. Presto: the conflict just doubled. I call it responsible pantsering. : )
Vince
Julie:
ReplyDeleteWhile great writing does not pull me out of enjoying the reading experience, being consumed with envy does. It’s character challenging to read great writing of the same type I am tying to write!
Vince
Julie said:
ReplyDeleteCAROL GIRL ... more great examples, sweetie, so you best get published soon!!
From your lips to God's ears, my friend!!!
And thank you!!!!!
okay another one. Sorry...
ReplyDeleteThis is from a book of Vignettes I've been working with. Portraits in Shades of Gray
this Story is called
Intersection--When Silhouettes Collage.
The haze peeled back as though someone cut it and held it at bay with their hands. The wreck was still there, but no one was around. She was completely alone.
Then looking into the distance, she saw him. A lone man, or being, or monster, she really couldn't tell because of the long black cape draped about him. Dark ebony eyes, staring at her, harnessing her soul it seemed, were all she could see.
When it spoke in a deep gravelly baritone, with a rasp like he couldn't suck a deep enough breath through the cloud of material about him, she knew it was male.
"Look," was all he said. Hovering on the mist, his cape billowing with the breeze, he lifted his arm slowly. The cape peeled back and a white hand waved across the space before him.
One long boney finger jutted out and pointed, bidding her gaze to follow. "Look. Prepare," he said.
Following his direction, she saw a lone billboard leaning against the sky, blaring a black lettered message from an easel of whitest white.
What would you do if someone you love died today?
In her dream she saw the flicker of fire and inhaled smoke so acrid her heart burned.
The man in the cape, passed through the fire, and held out his hand as if reaching for the car. Or the occupant inside. The occupant she couldn't see, but felt she needed to save.
Her heart in her throat, she opened her mouth to scream again. "Noooo," The sound resonated like a howl about her.
Then she woke up.
Oh Vince! Responsible pantsering...Great phrase! I love when characters give us the conflict like that...What are you, a nun? And that sent you along another avenue of depth for your story. Thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteMy brain is on shut-down today. Wish I could share something clever, but I'm just happy to be here and enjoy what the rest of you are writing today. :)
Thanks for the post, Julie. A fun read...
LyndeeH
Julie, Julie, you sweet thing! Of course, I’m late the day you post! Love all the “clips” from the Seeker books!
ReplyDeleteSo many lines I just LOVE. Movies, books…
The Princes Bride (movie)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (children’s book)
Food is too hard to choose.
This is from my WIP. I just love the vulnerability Beau is experiencing, mixed with just a touch of humor:
“Before Beau had a chance to make up his mind, Elizabeth peddled the bundle into his arms like the stork on delivery. But Isabelle’s baby was not heavy, or cold, like that Blue Willow platter. She was light as a feather, discomforting Beau more than a little. Should a baby be that light? What if he held her too tight, or if his somewhat unwieldy beard scared her, or if he dropped her, or if…
She cooed then, causing all his senses to focus on her alone.”
Oh, gee. If I win, I will be hard pressed whether to pick your newest release, or a five page crit!
Whitney
hi julie...
ReplyDeletewow...i loved your posting...very, very much ;)
karenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
Here is a line I wrote on the spur of the moment for a book I may write someday.
ReplyDeleteThe heroine works for the Secret Service during WWI and the hero is a German-American the govt. suspects of spying. The heroine, Elise, is the hero's mother's nurse and she goes down to the cellar to investigate some sounds she hears. Of course he finds her there.
"When he moved aside to let her pass up the stairs Elise felt relieved. She had been afraid of him, more because she did not want to believe that he would do her harm. The longer she stayed down here the more opportunity there was for her hopes to be dashed.
But suddenly he placed a hand on her arm and abruptly turned her around on the stair.
"Elise, despite your very unfavorable opinion of me you must know that, though I may be the biggest fool that ever lived, I still believe that you have brought good into my life."
The last words were delivered very close to her ear and she could feel his breath on her cheek. Her heart beat faster than Clara's fingers on a typewriter and she knew that the warmth she felt was the color that must be stealing into her face.
Elise did not want to look up, but her eyes moved to his without her control. The look in them was no longer angry, no longer bitter, but sad and lost.
Something in her broke as she realized that she had lied to him so many times she could not count them and yet he still believed she would bring him good. What he did not know was that when she was done with this mission he would be tried as a spy. Which meant death. And that was all because of her."
I too LOVE Marcia by Grace Livingston Hill. It is a very good example of love versus lust.
I got so into my story I forgot the email
ReplyDeletellmarmalade at yahoo dot com
Loved them all! :)
ReplyDeleteI've got a whole website of favorite lines: http://catherinerichmond.com/blog/
ReplyDeleteIronically, none of them are Julie's. I think because I'm too busy grabbing for Kleenex. In "A Heart Revealed' I was making plans to do in Rory Malloy and Marjorie Hennessey! Mary always says "shoot someone!" and I was gunning for those two!
Great lesson, Julie!
LOL! Vince, you're so right! I do the same thing. I'll stop and savor a passage. And wonder why I don't write anything so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI've even been known to cry at the end of a book that I loved, just because I know I'll never write anything like it.
Julie, there is a link to the Yankee-Belle Cafe blog in the right sidebar. You probably just missed it. :)
ReplyDeleteI am *really* late today, but after work and then 2K written tonight, I'm just popping in 'cause I can't NOT! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE lines that make me stop. I know, they make me stop, but they have such an emotional HIT to them, that I just want to absorb the words over and over again and hopefully learn to mimic their power in my own writing. I love 'em. :)
Thanks, Julie! I'm feeling very humbled and lacking a little self-confidence as I'm getting so close to my release. Well, it's God's release so I'll have to trust in His confidence in me.
ReplyDeleteYes, Christina, that line contains a few hidden meanings. I'm glad you caught on!
ReplyDeleteGANISE!!! One of my favorite people in the whole, wide world -- THANK YOU for coming by, my sweet friend!! YES, Seekerville is LOADED with great authors. Seriously, you could put all their names in a hat and pick blindfolded and come up with a great read every single time! Good luck in the contest, sweetie. :)
ReplyDeleteTINA ... thanks for explaining. And that clip from Intersection?? VERY spooky and had me on edge! :/
Oh, DEB ... ANYTHING with steam, and I'm halfway there! ;) What's the gist of the story because it sounds really good!
Hugs,
Julie
RUTHY SAID": "Vince, I'm in love with that concept. The ex-nun, virgin, the age..."
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Vince's WIP, Ruthy -- LOVE the concept!! Thanks for taking a break to say "hey"! Gotta work today, girlfriend, because tomorrow YOU are on the hotseat ... :)
CAROL!!! HIGH-FIVE ON THE GH ENTRY, GIRLFRIEND!!! In God's hands is a REAL good place to be ... :) And LOVE the sauce on the ceiling and Miracle-Gro butterflies ... geez, your brain must be as scary place as mine ... ;)
VINCE SAID: "I call it 'responsible pantsering" ... I'll tell you what, Vince -- your brain is a virtual goldmind!!
Hugs,
Julie
VINCE SAID: "While great writing does not pull me out of enjoying the reading experience, being consumed with envy does. It’s character challenging to read great writing of the same type I am tying to write!"
ReplyDeleteLOL!! Tell me about it. I hit the wall 3/4 of the way through writing A Passion Denied because I was reading Diana Gabaldon (one of the few secular romance writers I read -- she is NYT Bestseller AMAZING)!! Has three degrees and it takes her three years to write a book, but OH, SOOO WORTH IT!! Her first book, Outlander, was 1,000 pages long and she was posting segments on her website for friends, and it took off and a publisher snatched her up. How many debut authors do YOU know who can get 1,000-page book published???
Anyway, she is SO good that when I would go back to my ms. to continue writing, I felt like puking on the keyboard. I literally had to fast for a week in prayer AND fast Diana Gabaldon for six months in order to get back on track. Haven't read her since because it's just TOO dangerous. :?
Hugs,
Julie
Carol-congrats on getting that GH entry mailed off!
ReplyDeleteJulie - You are not allowed to watch another movie until you watch Princess Bride all the way through! And Lord of the Rings is great and should be watched, even though I am not a fantasy/scifi person either. And you have watched the BBC 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice, RIGHT? If not, don't admit it and go buy it now! :)
BTW, Julie, my hubby saw me reading your comment and looked at your name and little picture and said your name sounded familiar, so I reminded him of who you were and he said, I thought she was older than you. I said you are and he said, that picture doesn't look it, so then, I went to your website to show him a bigger picture and he said, oh, so she's about my age (he'll be 41 next week). :)
CAROL SAID: "From your lips to God's ears, my friend!!!"
ReplyDeleteYou bet, sweetie -- that's why prayer is SO important! ;)
LYNDEE SAID: "My brain is on shut-down today."
OH, girl, I SOOO relate!! I've been in the ozone all day. I'd like to blame it on my foggy contacts, but I don't think I can get off that easily! :|
WHITNEY SAID: "So many lines I just LOVE. Movies, books…
The Princes Bride (movie)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (children’s book) Food is too hard to choose.
LOL ... I Know what you mean about the food!! Another vote for Princess Bride. I'd say that seals the deal -- I'll have to rent or buy the movie, I guess. :|
And your Beau scene, Whit?? Absolutely beautiful and so very tender. You nailed it when you said "vulnerability with a touch of humor. VERY NICE!! Thanks for sharing, my friend. :)
Hugs,
Julie
Hey, KAREN, thanks for coming by, sweetie, ALWAYS good to see your name pop up. Sweet mother of Job, you need a win, girlfriend!! Good luck ... :)
ReplyDeleteLLMARMALADE ... VERY intriguing story, my friend, and WWI era seems to be popular right now, so if that's what you can write on the "spur of the moment," then, WHEW, sweetie, I'd love to see the finished product!! Maybe you should start that book sooner than you thought ... :)
Hey, ANITA, you win the prize for the most succinct comment today, darlin'!! :) Thanks for coming by -- ALWAYS love to see your sweet face.
Hugs,
Julie
CATHY SAID: Ironically, none of them are Julie's. I think because I'm too busy grabbing for Kleenex. In "A Heart Revealed' I was making plans to do in Rory Malloy and Marjorie Hennessey! Mary always says "shoot someone!" and I was gunning for those two!
ReplyDeleteLOL, CATH!!! Thank God the guns are aimed at someone other than Charity these days ... that poor girl has taken more abuse!!
And, Cath, if you think you've used Kleenex before, wait till Steven's story!! Of all the books I've written, this one holds the record for the most Kleenex I go through when proofing/revising. Most of my books I tally about 12 Kleenex per book. A Love Surrendered??? About 30, NO JOKE!! Every time Keith would come down to see me on the lower deck, there would be a pile of soggy Kleenex on the seat beside me. Don't know if it's just me or if it will affect my readers the same way, but I suspect this one will be a tear-duct buster! :)
Hugs,
Julie
MISSY SAID: "I've even been known to cry at the end of a book that I loved, just because I know I'll never write anything like it."
ReplyDeleteBoy, do I relate, Missy!! Did that when I read Diana Gabaldon and went in to a MAJOR funk. But then God pulled me up by the scruff and said, "Snap out of it!" (and you know, He sounded a little bit like Cher), which made me realize that YES, we all have different gifts, but that's so we can all reach different people, making each of us a critical piece of the puzzle, thank God!! :)
And, MISSY!!! Thank God I am not crazy (okay, debatable) or blind (praise God for contacts!) or just plain stupid (let's not go there) because on my screen, there was NO right sidebar!!! I guess because I have my favorites lined up on the left side, it eats up some of the space and the right side bar to Seekerville does not show AT ALL!! Until you told me where it was, I did not know to scroll over, so THANK YOU!! Mystery solved ... about the Yankee Belle ... not about why I am such a dork. :|
Hugs,
Julie
Even though I'm a writer, one of my favorite lines is still from a movie.
ReplyDeleteFrom The African Queen:
"I pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution."
From my own WIP:
"Sometimes it is easier to bankrupt an enemy than to defeat him in battle."
From a Barry Eisler novel:
The last thing (so-and-so) thought before a bullet went through his brain is that things were finally looking up.
wmussell(at)hotmail(dot)com
CASE!!! Thanks for taking your break with us, sweetie, and I am SOOO with you on those beautiful or special lines that pack an emotional punch -- LOVE THAT!!
ReplyDeleteCARLA SAID: "Thanks, Julie! I'm feeling very humbled and lacking a little self-confidence as I'm getting so close to my release."
Oh, man, Carla, that's a right of passage for new authors, trust me!! And, uh, hate to tell ya, but the bad news it doesn't get a WHOLE lot better in the humility/confidence arena after publication. But the good news??? You eventually develop a hide so tough, it doesn't matter quite as much. Oh and the icing on the cake?? You start focusing on HIM WAY more than ever before. :)
Hugs,
Julie
MELISSA THREATENED ... ER, SAID:
ReplyDelete"And you have watched the BBC 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice, RIGHT?"
I PLEAD THE FIFTH ... the amendment, not the whiskey bottle. :)
And you go tell that sweet man of yours RIGHT NOW that he made my day, my week and my month with that comment and if he really meant, my year!! You treat that boy right, you hear, or you'll answer to me!! ;)
WALT!!! LOVE THE QUOTES!! Yours is GREAT and the other two made me laugh out loud, hard to do this time of night when I'm approaching Zombie state ... ;)
Hugs,
Julie
Of course, he meant it, Julie, I wouldn't have posted it for ya if he didn't. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Julie! I'm so late getting in here today...pinterest sucked me in again : ). I love your post and reading all the great lines! There's something about those great lines an author writes that just get the blood pumping or give you the shivers! Love it! I wish I could pick one of my own lines to share, but I'm not sure if I have any worthy ones! Since my brain is tired (again, I blame pinterest..lol), I'm going to pick a line I just read today in Jane Eyre...I'm reading it again and as always, it's great. I love the POV in the story. This is right after Jane puts the fire out in Rochester's room: "I knew," he continued,"you would do me good in some way, at some time;-I saw it in your eyes whn I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not"--(again he stopped)--"did not" (he proceeded hastily) "strike delight to my very inmost heart for nothing." *sigh* Blessings, Julie! Stacey
ReplyDeletetravelingstacey(at)bellsouth(dot)net
This was really long, so I broke it up.
ReplyDeleteOkay, first I'm going to list a couple of favorite Connealy lines...
1.) The much-discussed and oft-misunderstood one-line love scene from Petticoat Ranch:
"Then he came in and set about proving identical twins could be very different."
It's not a Lessman love scene, but I really think that one sentence says it all.
In my search for that one I found this one, and it made me laugh:
"If she'd have met a cougar at the creek, he might have been in more danger of being eaten than she was."
The next one is from the new novella The Sweetest Gift, which I'm enjoying very much:
"She'd made her bed, now she had to lie in it. The only trouble was a stranger would lie in it with her."
Okay, from my own writing now...hmmm...okay, I'll set this up a little. Rose is waiting confirmation that her husband (who has been in prison for 10 years) is coming home, and when. Note: they were married a few months after he returned from fighting in the Civil War.
ReplyDelete"Rose remembered how she felt when the war ended—knowing Stephen was safe, and he was coming home, and she was going to get to see his wonderful smile and those gorgeous blue eyes. She felt like that again today."
"At fifteen, she’d thought nothing could compare to that pain [of seeing him go to war], and four years later when he finally returned for good, he was one of the few boys who came back whole. Rose would still have loved him if he wasn’t, but she’d felt like God had protected him from all those Yankee bullets as a special gift just for her."
I have cut the scene in which those lines originally appeared because I had started the story too early, but I'm definitely going to work them back in because I love them.
Now for one that's still in the MS. From the newly-completed prologue. Rose is remembering the parting between her and her husband after his sentence was handed down (warning: it's long):
"Placing her shaking hands on either side of his face, she stared into his watery blue eyes. Fear and anguish stared back at her as the tears spilled over, the same fear and anguish he must see in her eyes.
They moved together, their lips meeting in a blaze of need. She was there. He was there. No one else was there. Where were they? Did it matter? She hadn’t held him in weeks, and she poured every ounce of herself into that kiss.
Then he was gone. She cried out in pain at the loss and opened her eyes to see the Sheriff’s men pulling him away from her."
I'm a bit nervous about that last line because it's never seen the light of day before.../biting nails/
Julie, you are the queen of similes. One of my favorites is from your Journal Jots, several months ago. You compared your excitement about something to "bass on a hula grub."
ReplyDeleteTo those not initiated in bass fishing, a hula grub is a little plastic bait that apparently resembles a craw-dad when underwater. The bass go nuts over it, thus it is my husband's favorite bait. The simile was very effective for me. My husband was impressed too.
Julie, I don't have to tell you how much I love you. I'm in for the book or critique. Perhaps some of my pages need to see the light of day.
andeemarie95 at gmail dot com
Almost a whole year until "A Love Surrendered" and we're getting sneak peaks? Despite myself, I couldn't stop from reading ... OMGoodness. Ms. Julie!!! =)
ReplyDeleteOne of the most memorable, unexpectedly profound lines I read in a Star Wars novel of all things:
"The nice thing about being an adolescent is being able to make mature decisions when you need them and being able to just flow along with life when you don't." ("Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide II: Ruin" by Michael A. Stackpole)
I could really relate at the time, being a teenager ... and it was from a character that I didn't expect something so personal and thoughtful from ... and I didn't expect something like that in a Star Wars novel. =)
I am going to be a pill and say that one of my favorite lines was given to one of my CPers and I can't give it away, lol. I asked my husband to give me a nautical comparison (he is a grad of the US Merchant Marine Academy and a shipyard engineer). The first part of her simile didn't match the second so he gave me an example that would go with it and I tweaked it and she loved it! Thanks for this post, Julie!
ReplyDeleteFrom my WIP...
ReplyDeleteLydia felt as if her feelings were swinging from one extreme to the other like the pendulum on the mantelpiece clock.
Fear and surprise.
Pride and humility.
Awe and defeat.
And yes it is a simile! I have a few, but this is the first one I spotted. :)
Blessings, Lucy
...I found a few more from my WIP
ReplyDeleteA brief turn of her head indicated that the pillows themselves hadn’t moved, they were right where she’d carefully placed them the night before. Mortified, Lydia glanced down at the weight on her waist.
A mans bare arm. Beau. With growing horror, she turned and her eyes followed the arm up to an equally bare chest. Quickly averting her eyes, she focused them on his face instead. ‘Please let him be asleep,’ she thought.
No such luck. Twinkling brown eyes smiled down at her. “Mornin’ Lydia,” Beau said in husky voice.
...
She turned to James (her child), who had lined his soldiers up on the windowsill in preparation for battle tomorrow. ‘I know how they feel,’ she thought wearily.
...
‘Right.’ She thought. ‘I can do this. I can. He’s asleep, he’s injured, I’ve just got to clean up this wound.’ She drew in several steadying breaths, ‘I can do this. He’s just a man, just a young man…’ She peeled his shirt back. ‘Just a… girl!’
“What!”
A lace-trimmed chemise met her eyes. Sweat stained and especially muddied on one side by a semi circle hoof print. Blood still slowly seeped through, staining the material from dusky pink to dark claret. It’s delicate lace lay in stark contrast to the red checked shirt.
Right. They are my favourite lines so far.
G'night all!
Lucy
MELISSA SAID: "Of course, he meant it, Julie, I wouldn't have posted it for ya if he didn't. :)"
ReplyDeleteOH, THANK GOD!!! :) Well he -- and YOU -- blessed the socks off me with that comment, so BLESS you, my friend (and him!). :)
STACEY SAID: "There's something about those great lines an author writes that just get the blood pumping or gives you the shivers! "
OH, AMEN TO THAT, MY FRIEND!! I feel the EXACT same way!! And, sigh, is there anything better than those older, classic love stories??? Something so innocent and yet so sensual. Double sigh.
Hugs,
Julie
ANDREA SAID: "This was really long, so I broke it up."
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! The first time I read that, I thought you were talking about my post!! :) My husband tells me I should fool everyone next time with a post on editing where I just have a single paragraph and call it a day. :)
ANDREA, GREAT clip, my friend!! LOVE the fear and anguish staring back!! You know, there's a school of thought in writing that writers should NOT overuse (or in some cases, some writers say even use at all) personification where an abstract idea or inanimate object take on animal or human characteristics, BUT ... I absolutely LOVE doing that in my own writing. For me, it's like a one-two punch -- not only do you plant the word in the reader's mind, but you show it also by having it perform an action (such as stare in this case). And, WOW, the paragraph that says:
"They moved together, their lips meeting in a blaze of need. She was there. He was there. No one else was there. Where were they? Did it matter? She hadn’t held him in weeks, and she poured every ounce of herself into that kiss."
"lips meeting in a blaze of need" is soooo good ... heck, the whole scene is good! :)
And, LOL ... yep, I remember our exchange about the bass on a hula grub. Actually, I use that expression ALL the time in my daily life, so it's hard not to want to use it a lot in my writing. But the problem is, in writing you have to be fresh and creative every time, while in real life you can say the same things over and over, and it becomes part of who you are rather than redundant or cliche.
Love you too, kiddo, LOTS!!
Hugs,
Julie
LDK SAID: "Almost a whole year until "A Love Surrendered" and we're getting sneak peaks?"
ReplyDeleteLOL ... yeah, but only because I just spent the last month culling it for my editor, cutting those 50,000 words, so as I was doing that, I was able to spot scenes/examples to use for this post. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any peeks till my newsletter end of January! :)
And that's a really cool quote from Star Wars, of all places!! You never really know when, where or how words are going to affect a reader, but it is SO nice when they do. :)
Hugs,
Julie
Oh, CARRIE, you little tease!! :) Now you have me curious!! Maybe you could e-mail me separately???? ;)
ReplyDeleteJust teasing, but I know what you mean about those great lines you don't want to give away. A couple of posts ago, I did a blog called "EDIT: A Good Four-Letter Word" in which I included a long list of Christian "cuss words" I'd compiled along with LOTS of examples/words I use for functions like gulping, blushing, all those things that we strive to come up with new ways/words to say. I actually posted my special word list at the end of my blog that month, but my husband looked at me like I was crazy. "Julie, why would you give other writers all your tricks/words that you've compiled over your writing career??? Aren't you afraid they will use them and then you will look cliche?" I had never thought of that, so I quickly pulled the list, leaving only the Christian cuss words because, yes, he had a point. :)
Hugs,
Julie
LUCY SAID: "Lydia felt as if her feelings were swinging from one extreme to the other like the pendulum on the mantelpiece clock.
ReplyDeleteFear and surprise. Pride and humility.
Awe and defeat."
WOW, girl, that is VERY effective and excellently written because the reader can actually see and feel the swinging the way you have worded. GREAT JOB!!
And on your other examples??? HOLY COW, LUCE ... you are GOOD!! I love your style because it reminds me of my own, which, of course, I like because, duh, I write what I like! :) VERY NICE!!
Hugs,
Julie
I love all the lines about eyes the color of milk chocolate.
ReplyDeleteI loved your post. I found it to be very helpful. I really enjoyed all the favorite lines, yours and the others. Can't wait to read your next book.
Glenda Parker
http:glendaparkerfictionwriter.blogspot.com
Hey, GLENDA, thank you SO much!! And thanks for dropping by, sweetie, and good luck in the contest!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Julie
JULIE, my nap consisted of laying on my bed for 15 minutes before getting up to run again. :D
ReplyDeleteFrom none other than Pride & Prejudice:
ReplyDelete"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
LOVE this post! wow.. .my heart is beating faster and just those few lines draw me in!! you are so gifted Julie!! I can't wait until the new book is released! for now, I will just be content to re-read your other ones!! Jo
ReplyDeleteLINNETTE ... Oh, pooh, 15 minutes does NOT qualify as a nap, darlin' ... but I'm glad you got a little shut-eye, anyway! ;)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Julie
JANET ... oh, YES, I LOVE that quote from P&P!!! What a brilliant novel and movie, eh?
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Julie
JO!!!! Always makes my day seeing your name pop up, girlfriend, so THANK YOU for dropping by!!
ReplyDeleteGlad I could race your heart a wee bit with clips from Steven's story. And I'm giving you fair warning now, my friend -- this one is a tear jerker, at least for me! I normally go through about 12 Kleenex when I read/edit one of my books, but this one??? Lord, have mercy -- a minimum of 30 Kleenex, no joke!! But maybe that's just me, you know?? ;)
Hugs,
Julie
Well, lets see, my favorite movies are Disney's Beauty and the Beast, The Hunt for Red October, Gone With the Wind, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Books? Far too many to mention. :)
ReplyDeleteFood? My Mom's homemade enchiladas and chocolate :)
Favorite line in a book? I'm stumped right now. :(
Would love to win one of Julie's books.
Smiles & Blessings,
Cindy W.
countrybear52[at]yahoo[dot]com
The first one that came to mind, from The Reasons:
ReplyDeleteI looked at him in surprise. “Are you a Christian?”
He smiled sadly. “Yeah, I am. I’ve gotten pretty rough around the edges in the past few years but I still believe that God exists and Jesus died for us all.”
and the second one, from Elizabeth Grace:
All I know is that she was standing there, in high heels, a designer suit, with a suitcase.
“Hi, Elizabeth!” She says, and walks right into my messy, covered with puke, stinky kitchen where my child is screaming and trying to hang onto my nightgown.
Thanks for the interesting post of some of your favorites. Especially of the excerpts of your upcoming book. No favorite lines from my own writing yet. Still working on that now. But some favorite movies I like are Dead Poet's Society and Some Kind of Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteooh... I wanna be the 200th comment!! I laughed when I saw the other post about being an obsessed fan.. sorry, that title belongs to me and my daughters lol! I loved reading all these comments, but it is way past my bedtime, so will have to read more tomorrow.. or I won't be able to drag my sorry butt outa bed to make lunches for my girls.. .hey, aren't they old enough to do that for themselves??
ReplyDeleteKels loves the movie, Princess Bride.. I would much rather read one of your books! but, it's a good movie too... our favorite line is.. "inconceivable!".. have a great weekend!! Jo