Beth, that sounds like a. fun conference -- good luck with all the preparations!

Lisa, thanks for the birthday wishes -- and, wow, what a kick to think of Black Hearts in Battersea again! I remember that as the first childhood book in which "bad" things happened, and how startling it was that a happy ending wasn't guaranteed...fabulous suspense.

Oh, wow! Thank you! I'm so touched that you remember that line. 🙂

Lori, now you've got me eager to check out Dani Pettrey. I know you're a first-lines connoisseur -- your own "Harper had never felt so...old" from Love's True Calling has stayed with me for ages! -- so anything you recommend is something I automatically expect will be fabulous. 🙂

Death. It permeated her hair, her skin. She wanted to crawl out of it, but there was nowhere to go.

No way could I put it down after reading THAT! I recommend anything from Dani. I've never been disappointed.

Anita, wow, your ending quote was one I almost used in the list of "greats" -- when I had too many words, that was the quote I trimmed but we're sure on the same page there. And I like your distinction between compelling lines and compelling prologues; there's a lot to be said for grabbing readers instantly AND for luring them in more slowly!

Beginnings: (I love juicy, suspenseful prologues for the anticipation, but single, haunting lines tell me this will be a complex character I might get lost in. It's a toss-up!)

One-liners:

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."-- 1984. I include this one because, I'm embarrassed to say that for a long time it didn't click that Orwell was talking about military time-- oh dohhh! At first it chilled me to imagine a government altering time, but the "real" purpose is so spot-on.

"The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation." - A Secret History, Donna Tartt. I love this for all the unanswered questions, but also a hint that the main characters might be ethically challenged.

"The first person I met in England was an hallucination."-- The Alice Network, Kate Quinn. (I dare anyone not to keep reading after that 🙂

Juicy Prologue scenes:

The Briar Club, Kate Quinn. A crime scene on Thanksgiving day, with two corpses, is described in great detail. The author describes the reactions of seventeen people, most of whom live in the home where the murders were committed.

Endings: I'm a goldilocks when it comes to conclusions-- don't like 'em too happily-ever-after, but don't like overly ambivalent either. Sadly (imho), a lot of novels have left me vaguely unsatisfied. Some that I remember leaving me thinking but in a good way (and brought the story full-circle!):

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey-- One of the only books I read where the death of a central character was almost a relief. After the Chief smothers McMurphy he breaks out of the institution, finally reclaiming himself.

"The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off."-- Catch-22, Joseph Heller. To me, the imagery encapsulates the story perfectly.