I'm always puzzled by people who use this phrase describing something new that happened and say it...'the *very* first time'. There's even a song by Foreigner with those lyrics (things always come around to music for me). No matter how many adverbs or adjectives you put in front of the main subject to emphasize, there is only one first time. After that, it's not a first time anymore, so simply stating the first time is adequate, IMO.
There are first times for everything. I'm in awe of young children, the toddler age group, who are seeing and experiencing something in life for the first time. Their pudgy little fingers pointing up to a bird flying over. Their saucer big eyes watching a bug crawling, the shock of cold water when a sprinkler splashes in their face, a flower blooming today that wasn't there yesterday. Little things that we as adults take for granted and no longer have wonderment about. It's so cool to see the awe in their faces when they see it (whatever it may be) and see the pure innocence in their eyes. It's almost sad that as we grow up, we become so accustomed to the simple first times in life that we don't notice them anymore, or they just become a part of daily life and we aren't in amazement of them.
It seems we spend our adult lives trying to recapture that first time. The euphoria of the first kiss, the butterflies in stomach feeling when our head spins with the high of being in love. As life progresses and our first times change to things like our first child being born, the second and subsequent are not the same as the first, are they? It gets easier, we know what to expect and even though they're all different, it's still not the same as the first time. For athletes, ask them the most special and memorable event and most I know will say the first tournament win, or the first super bowl win, or the first world series win. Because first times are more special and memorable than what comes next. The first landing on the moon is another example. Most people can tell you what those famous words of Neil Armstrong were, after that, who remembers? I don't. It's not the first time anymore, so not as special and memorable.
It's a challenge to make events that come after the first time as special and memorable as that first time. Is it possible? I remember my first read of a Lee Child "Jack Reacher" novel. I was so enamored with his style of writing, his ability to not only grab my attention from page one, but hold onto it through the very last page. With some authors, I'm tempted to read a few pages, and then skip forward to satisfy my curiosity of what happens next. Not with Lee Child. I devour every page and don't skip a single word, it's that good. But, now that I've read several of the "Jack Reacher" novels, even though I love them all, there's nothing like that first one. Now I recognize his style of writing and I'm not surprised anymore, even though the story still holds my attention, it's not "new". Been there, done that.
This is a momentous first time in my upcoming release "Bright Lights, Money & Show Biz, Honey". It's the story of a bar band who aspires to bigger and better things. My hero Jack Hamilton is a 29 year old guitarist/vocalist who feels his life is slipping away without him having made any milestones, and he's not making much money playing in the band, either. Bassist Blake and drummer Tom round out the three man band. They scored an opening slot for a nationally touring band and Jack feels his dream of bigger and better propelling them into the limelight is coming to fruition. An excerpt describing their first time at a big arena show:
~Blake drove through the gate marked event staff only at Crocker Field. Hells Fury had a big bus and it was parked right in front of the stage entrance door, of course, so Blake parked as close as possible and they could proceed to unload their gear. Jack got out of the van and stood for a moment to look all around. He took a deep breath and soaked up the early evening sunshine. He wanted to remember this moment. It was their first big gig on the road and it was a milestone in their careers. He knew this moment would never come again. For just an instant he wanted time to stand still so he could take it all in. Everything was suddenly going by so quickly, he didn't want to miss a single memory of this juncture. The exhilaration of realizing his dream was overwhelming. Without any conscious effort, there was a huge smile on his face just thinking about how far he and the band have come in the last few months. It was gratifying to know his determination of furthering his own personal goals since Tara left him were coming to fruition. There was a great sense of accomplishment in meeting his set goal.
"What's up with the Cheshire cat grin?" Blake asked as he walked by and gave Jack a hearty pat on the back. Counter to his usual wisecracking and barking orders, Blake was actually helping unload equipment from the van.
"Oh...I was just soaking up this warm sunshine. It's nice to be here. Ya' know? Really nice to be here. Don'tcha think?" Jack was still smiling as he spoke to Blake, and Tom had unloaded his drums and joined them. They stood together for a moment to take in the feeling that everything would be different for the band after tonight. Collectively they seemed to know that, and wanted to remember the time and place everything changed for the better. This was a big stepping stone on the way to their ultimate success. ~
What first times do you remember in life? What grabbed your attention and there's nothing else that measures up? "Random Encounters" is my first full length book and it will always be special to me. "Bright Lights, Money & Show Biz, Honey" is next and will be ready for reading in about two weeks, give or take a few days, nights, late...late...late nights of editing and proofing, but I promise it will be here soon. Meantime, you can order "Random Encounters" and I'm still throwing in a copy of "LiveLoveLust" just to balance out the drama with some lighter reading for you.
www.lulu.com - for e-reader or paperback
www.smashwords.com - for e-reader only
I had lovely conversation with Jamon Scott of The Toluenes this last week and he assures me that interview is on the way! Hopefully, I will have it up here by next week. Meantime, I do have a list of authors and their new releases I'm going to be featuring here in the near future. The response to my request for authors to be showcased has been a little overwhelming and I haven't had much time to preview their art, or to get the interviews done what with my own project getting finished. I'll get back on track with that real soon.
Virtual hugs,
~ K
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