In 2004, I made my first sale to a magazine called The First Line. They have an interesting premise. Every story in an issue starts with the same first line, but with wildly different results.
The idea is that the first line is so important, but if you gave Mark Twain the line, “Call me, Ishmael,” you would not get Moby Dick. It’s a neat exercise in fiction and results in some really compelling stories.
I thought of them when the first line of Glamour in Glass went missing. It turns out, they thought of me, too.
They also offer a podcast, The First Line On Tape and are running the audio of the second story I ever sold at The First Line Literary Journal. Go take a listen to Rampion.
Pick up a copy of the magazine, or submit a story.
Wow, that’s funny because I thought of them, too, and was going to submit but missed the May 1st deadline.
Crazy, coincidental? world we live in.
Hee. I just got your Sherlock Holmes story from them (and very nice it was too).