Confronting the dreaded blank page

No matter how many books you’ve written, no matter how successful some of them are, no matter how much you love working with words, that one horrible day always arrives: the day you’re meant to start the next one. I defy anyone to say that’s ever a breeze. I’ve been looking at a blank page now for two days, totally unable to think of a half-decent first line. I’ve done masses of research, I’ve got the plot in my head, I’ve moulded the characters, I have the drama tumbling around, straining to break free. But can I think of the first line? I could be here a long, long time …