Famous First Lines

Have you ever read the first few lines of a book and knew right away that you and the novel were about to have a beautiful relationship? One that would last at LEAST until the next day?

I'm a sucker for a good pick-up first line. If you can reel me in with your first line, chances are, I'll stick around and read the whole thing.

I've read some great first lines in YA novels lately, and here are a few I thought you might enjoy.




"The first time I died, I didn't see God. No light at the end of the tunnel. No haloed angels. No dead grandparents.

To be fair, I probably wasn't a solid shoo-in for heaven. But, honestly, I kind of assumed I'd make the cut."

~Fracture by Megan Miranda








"The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.

Of course, Tally thought, you'd have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right."

~Uglies by Scott Westerfeld







"There's always that one guy who gets a hold on you. Not like your best friend's brother who gets you in a headlock kind of hold. Or the little kid you're babysitting who attaches himself to your leg kind of hold."

~The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg







"The name of the song is "This Lullaby." At this point, I've probably heard it, oh, about a million
times. Approximately.

All my life I've been told about how my father wrote it the day I was born. He was on the road somewhere in Texas, already split from my mom. The story goes that he got word of my birth, sat down with his guitar, and just came up with it, right there in a room at a Motel 6."

~This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen




"Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family.

No one is a criminal.

No one is a liar.

No one is a failure."

~We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Aren't those great? Do you have a favorite? Have you read a memorable first line lately?

March IWSG and Teaser Interview with Megan Miranda

Today is the day for an IWSG posting but it also happens to be the day I'm posting a teaser interview, so I decided to mesh the two posts and see how it turns out! :)

Hosted by the amazing ninja himself—Alex Cavanaugh—the IWSG is where we post our insecurities, fears, triumphs, etc. It's never too late to join the IWSG, and if you're interested, you can go HERE.

Today on Unicorn Bell, I'm featuring my interview with acclaimed YA author Megan Miranda. I'm super excited because Megan happens to be one of my favorite YA authors! Some of her books include: FRACTURE (which I LOVED), VENGEANCE (another great one), HYSTERIA (in my TBR pile), and her latest release, SOULPRINT (currently reading).

I met Megan a few months ago at the SCBWI writer's conference in Charlotte, and when I realized she and I lived not too far from one another, I was ecstatic. We recently met and chatted over coffee and hot cocoa, and through sharing her stories and experiences, she inspired me to keep on this writing, querying, and publishing journey.

Everyone's journey is different. And I have to accept that. I truly believe (and hope) that if I don't lose sight of my dream, one day I can call myself a published author. Especially with wonderful people like Megan (And all of you!) in my cheering corner.

So, without further ado, enjoy the teaser interview and don't forget to stop by Unicorn Bell to read the rest!

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I absolutely love the premise for SOULPRINT. What inspired you to write the novel?

Thank you! The idea for Soulprint came from a question I had years ago, when I was studying science in school. We had been learning about the human genome project—where scientists were mapping each section of our DNA to what it coded for—and I wondered: what if scientists found the soul? What would that look like? What would that mean? How could we use that….and, in the case of this story, how might that be used against us?



Tell us something nobody knows about you.

Oh man, that nobody knows? Okay. *I* am the one who ate all that missing Halloween candy, kids.

List five adjectives to describe yourself.

Type-A. Caffeinated (at the moment). Uncoordinated. Short. Not-a-morning-person.

If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?

Well, not to be totally creepy, but…. Pretend to be a ghost? Levitate objects? Move things around and freak people out? All in the name of book research, of course!



To read the rest of my interview with Megan, please visit Unicorn Bell! Thanks!

Book Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Alina Chase has spent her entire life imprisoned on a secluded island—not for a crime she committed in this lifetime, but one done by her past self. Her very soul is like a fingerprint, carried from one life to the next—and Alina is sick of being guilty.

Aided by three teens with their own ulterior motives, Alina manages to escape. Although she’s not sure she can trust any of them, she soon finds herself drawn to Cameron, the most enigmatic and alluring of the trio. But when she uncovers clues from her past life, secrets begin to unravel and Alina must figure out whether she’s more than the soul she inherited, or if she’s fated to repeat history.

This stunning “new world” romance from acclaimed author Megan Miranda will leave readers wondering how far they would go to escape the past.

Author bio:

Megan Miranda is the author of the young adult novels Fracture, Hysteria, Vengeance, and Soulprint (all from Bloomsbury). Her debut adult suspense novel will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2016. Megan has a degree in Biology from MIT and currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and two children.


You can find Megan here: Website

You can buy SOULPRINT here: Amazon, Barnes & Noble