This month, we’ve got indulgences, pants, and stewed apple. To submit a first line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Alien Talk

William X. Adams

“Few men wore a short-sleeved shirt to work in the nation’s capital, but Herbert Hawke always did.”


Dharma: A Rekha Rao Mystery

Vee Kumari

“It was a lazy Saturday morning in March that I’d earmarked for indulgences.”


Eat Pray Shag

Sarah Begg

“I’m just going to put it out there. I’m really into anal sex.”


This Little Family

Inès Bayard and Adriana Hunter

“Little Thomas didn’t have time to finish his stewed apple.”


Unflappable

Suzie Gilbert

“Adam Matheson stood by the front door of a sprawling beach house, and watched the elegantly-dressed guests part for his wife.”


Woman, Power, and AT&T

Lois Kathryn Herr

“No pants. Women were not allowed to wear pantsuits to work, not even on the coldest of Midwest winter days.”