A while back I discussed a variety of ideas for new projects with my agent, Ethan Ellenberg. There was one in particular he liked, which is tentatively titled Masks. It’s a YA fantasy, and since he’s anxious to see some sample chapters, I’ve plunged into it.
Here’s how it begins:
A week before her thirteenth birthday and her Masking, Mara sat on the city wall, bare legs dangling into space, and looked down past her dirty toes at the crowds milling around in the Outside Market.
I’ve finished the first scene (about 1,200 words so far) and looking forward to carrying on with it as I can, although time is in short supply over the next little while. But as it proceeds, it will give me new fodder for my ever-popular (with three or four people, anyway) “The First Sentence I Wrote Today” feature!
Oh, and you know what’s really cool? When I posted that first sentence on Facebook earlier today, another author commented, “Great opening.”
The author? Orson Scott Card.
Gotta like that!
(The photo: A winter’s night from my office window.)
1 comments
I wholeheartedly agree – a super opening. I am intrigued what a Masking’s is and how such a young child warrants it.
I love the description – looked down past her dirty toes.
I wish you well in the continuing story.