Here are the sources of the last lines I shared last week:
“Maybe loving dogs… “A Big Little Life, Dean Koontz’s book about his Golden retriever, Trixie. Actually, the ending “The sign now includes…:” comes from the afterword of that same book. Yeah, I cheated. But I thought they both were perfect, in their own ways.
“But the good part is …” Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This amazing novel won the Newberry Award.
“And you ask…” From First Paragraphs: Inspired Openings for Writers and Readers a lovely little writing resource from Donald Newlove. I included this both because I love it and because it made me grin to including the ending of a book about openings.
“He would be there all night…” To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
“Tomorrow we will go…” Dancing on the Head of a Pen: The Practice of a Writing Life by Robert Benson
“However, a few days after …” Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers
So, of course, now that we’ve shared last lines that we’ve loved, it’s time to share our own! Yes, grab your manuscripts and/or published books and pull out those last lines.
However, we’ll allow TWO lines because sometimes, as Inigo Montoya learned, to sum up well takes more than one line. (“No, there iss too much. Let me sum up.”) Come on! You gotta know what book/movie that’s from! And yes, I intended to put in two esses, so don’t write me a note correcting it.)
But I digress.
This week, let’s see how you bring your books to a satisfying end. Give us the title of the book, a quick one-line summary, and the last one or two lines.
This is the last line from my novel, A Test of Faith, about a mother & daughter who must endure the turbulent waters of their relationship:
And with that truth cradling her, holding her tight, she drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Okay, your turn!
Plan Your Social Media Messaging (aka Dog Wags Tail)
From Chapel Springs Survival: She threw her arms around him and kissed him. Right there on Sandy Shores Drive—in public.
And he kissed her back.
Titus closed the file which, in effect, closed his past and everyone who occupied it – including Vanessa. This moment was about the future, and for the first time in his life, he had control over it.
I forgot to add the title: “The Red Dagger”
Andra,
Your last line makes me want to read your novel!
Thanks, Peggy!
Aaaah, how fun! From my new Gwen Marcey book coming out in August, When Death Draws Near .
I looked down, my good hand folded over my bandaged one, and smiled. You made your point, Lord. Thank you.
Title: Cain
One-line summary: The story of the first murder and the birth of an unstoppable evil.
Final line: But as every man returns to the dust of the ground and the hands of his Maker, so all eras come to an end, and most in terrible violence.
I enjoy it when you do your first line/last line blogs, Karen. They always make me wish I could read more of each book.
Here’s one from my Roman Empire series of romantic historicals:
Title: Forgiven
Forgiving what seems unforgivable heals the wounded hearts of former enemies, leading to friendship and love.
“A surge of regret swept through him, but he squared his shoulders as a rueful smile twisted his lips. His own father would have appreciated the irony.”
Hi Karen;
Oops- I accidentally shared my as-yet-untitled novel’s ending last week. Here it is again, with some slight modifications (a work in progress):
Sue looked at her adulterous ex-husband as he lay in the hospital bed, remembering how he had wiped her out financially. She whispered, “I forgive you” as she turned and left the room.
Best,
Sheri
From Cogh and the Machine: a children’s book for adults (which is a novel in verse):
Williams smiled, said only
“Machine changes you
I was there as were you
So you’ll understand this,
When you’re inside that System
You sense little Amiss
Cogh, please understand
You gave me a Great Gift
For within my own Self
Had indeed grown Great Rift
I’d become a mere part
To fit Machine’s hole
Thought I’d bought Security
With currency of my Soul
But I’m quite okay now
And, it seems, so are you
Real has washed away False
That we both believed True.”
And then Two Friends did part
On The Green on that Day
And this Tale’s now Complete –
For Now, no more to say…
And from Checkin’ for Deads, which is in final manuscript edits right now, and is the first book in a series, (urban/paranormal/mystery), the last ‘sentence’ is simply the word “Yes” – which is kind of important as the first word in the book is “No” – let’s just say the protagonist comes a long way 🙂
This is the last line from my novel “Mustard Man”, the story of a quest to find the source of the superhero in all of us:
Though we part, we never separate because underneath the junk, no, underneath the poo, we’re all the same.
This is from my new release on October 4, 2016, Christmas at Stoney Creek.
Somewhere Joe celebrated Christmas, maybe in heaven, but the miracle of love and generosity he’d left behind in Stoney Creek would live forever in the hearts and souls of the ones whose lives he’d touched.
“Merry Christmas, Joe, wherever you are.”
This is from a recent release: Garden of Love. The hero is a landscape architect thus the garden references.
Landon had managed to dig out the roots of all those old hurts and replace them with seeds of hope for the future. God’s designs for her life were now complete and ready to be planted in the garden of her heart.
Wounds heal. Love lasts.
We remain.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This is the last line from my Christian Fiction novel, By the Sea, about a popular young writer who finds love, restoration and healing on an island off the coast of North Carolina.
“Whether he lived one more day or many more years, he would always be grateful for that morning–the morning that had initiated a series of encounters ordained by God to change his life forever, that morning not so long ago when he went walking by the sea with Bailey.”
Last lines from the first two books in my political thriller trilogy, Against All Enemies. I don’t think there are any spoilers here.
From book 1, Voice in the Wilderness:
For now, Abe Hannan was still the most powerful person on the planet, and he had only begun to fight.
From book 2, Voice of Freedom:
“Maybe today yours was the voice of every citizen who loves the USA, Jules … the voice of freedom.”
Last lines of unpublished historical novel: Burned Over
The predictions Jonas had heard about the Mormons moving to Ohio were accurate. Jo Smith’s followers had begun adding his ongoing new “revelations” to the Book of Mormon as their inspired, guiding principles, and by May, 1831, nearly all his followers in western New York had sold or rented out their farms, homes, and businesses, packed up what they owned, and moved to Kirtland. They intended to build it into the new Zion, God’s city on earth, and the Winfields and Robertsons would be there to see it all.
My unpublished novel called, “Drink”
About a bubbly drink that took people to another world and what they went through to return home.
“Looking around to see that he wasn’t being watched, he decided to check out the ‘timeisnoissue’ website. He typed in the address and clicked enter.
Nothing came up.
He tried it again, thinking he may have mistyped.
Still nothing. As if the website never existed.
What was so wrong with that drink? Why would strange men from an even stranger place want to put an end to it?
He will never know now.”
Come Out of HIding
An agoraphobic attorney struggles to rescue her clients from dangerous situations but cuts herself off from those she cares about i.
The card Matt left remained on the table. She picked it up, read the number, and dialed.