First Lines to First Paragraphs: NOW would you read on?

A big thank you to hope, BECKY, and Lisa Ricard Claro for your comments on yesterday's post. I think we all agree that none of these lines was particularly sparkling. Nor, for that matter, was the opening line of the wildly popular winner of Nathan Bransford's first paragraph contest: "I was born during an electrical storm."
What these first sentences all have in common, however, is that they are SHORT.

Now, I'm sure many wonderful stories start with LONG sentences. (I'm just too lazy to do the research just now.) But what a short sentence does is anchor the reader. A character ("Priscilla;" "Edith Goodnough") is named; or an "I" narrator comes on board. "Unsolved mysteries," is of course from Agatha Christie, the start of The Thirteen Problems, starring Miss Marple. Agatha Christie gets away with this because she's well, Agatha Christie. She's a "brand" and readers pick up her books expecting to solve puzzles written in (now) old-fashioned prose.

Here's a list of the other openers, and who wrote them.

I'll Have What Nathan Liked

Nathan Bransford used to be one of the most famous agents around. (He's still around, but he's no longer an agent. He gave that gig up at the end of last year.) As an agent, he married internet savvy with a winning personality to create one of those "must-read" blogs. He was approachable, humorous, and always ready to engage writers in conversation through his forums.

Nathan Bransford
(I've always thought he was shouldering a surfboard, but now I see it's just someone's shoulder.)

He also, for the past several years, ran the "Stupendously Ultimate First Paragraph Challenge" to which I linked yesterday. Today he revealed the winner, along with his comments on what makes a first paragraph work.