Treasure Trove

Just for fun today, I decided to look through that folder that I think every writer must have on their computer, the folder of stuff that never got more than a couple of pages.  In my case, it's called "Novel Starts" but it could just as well be called "Sh*t I Never Finished" or "Ideas that Died on the Vine."

I have a similar file for short story ideas that I never finished, too.

But, by chance, I came across a keeper today.  Possibly two.  They both involve thieves, strangely enough.  The first one I called "Coyote Moon" and here's a teaser from its owning....

According to the thermometer on the outside of Allie Red Hawk's pressure suit the moon's surface clocked in at xx°. Except for the temperature, the flat, white expanse reminded her North Dakota in the winter. The horizon came up too soon, but there was the same familiar, bone-crushing sense that the sky could swallow you whole.

 Obviously, I still ended to do some research because I wasn't sure what the surface temperature of the Moon was.  What's cool about this bit, is that it actually goes on for at least twenty-five pages, which is a sample chapter.  So, if I decided to return to this one, there's a lot of material to work with.

The other one starts like this (and is from a novel start I called "To Catch a Gene Thief"):

The first thing I noticed about the man laying face-down on the floor was that he was missing three fingers. Both pinkies were gone, and part of a ring finger. The scars looked like ritual yubitsume, which screamed yakuza, as did the brightly detailed tattoo curling around his wrists. Then it dawned on me that he was dead. As if finding yakuza here wasn't bad enough, he had to be dead?

This one has almost sixty-one pages, so, dang, that makes me happy.  I have things to play with if I want to work something up for a novel sample!

Tell me, which one is your favorite?