Grand Openings

"It was a dark and stormy night."

"Long ago and far away..."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

You're familiar with those, right? Famous first lines of novels, so overdone they've become cliches. I suppose it's only natural for writers to pay attention to first lines of novels, newspaper or magazine articles, and even blog entries. The ones we know best are usually from the classics. Writers also tend to notice those opening...