First lines!

Instead of doing some actual writing, I keep poking. Somehow this led me to the idea that posting the first two lines from each one of my WIPs would be... productive? I don't even know, right. (Warning for a racist character in there.)

( But here they are anyway! )

Writing, that tentacley thing.

In my quest for Writerly Self Improvement (note the Very Important Capitals), I've been amassing a collection of books about, related to, or in the same general vicinity as that writing thing. Said collection so far is teeny, but I'm going to toss out The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon as an amazingly fun romp with grammar (I KNOW, grammar, fun, who knew?) and a handy refresher, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life as an interesting and minus-the-cheese inspirational read that had some genuinely excellent tidbits in it, and The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter, which I'm only halfway through but it really gets me thinking, and reading it has definitely made me more aware of how small things can make a huge and subtle impact on what my words are actually saying.

If you guys have some good, great, weird, inverted or just plain interesting books on the subject, I'd love to hear about them! I have a bunch on my Amazon Wish List that either caught my eye or have been recommended, so any comments you might have on those would also be very cool. There are so many bloody books out there that deal with the art and craft that it's tough to wade through them all to get my greedy little paws on the real gems.

Also, my birthday is not until September. But feel free to buy me stuff anyway. :D

Boy, I'm chatty today.