Hello, amazing fellow creatives! Here’s to more fun perusing the library’s new releases to see what strikes our fancy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve retitled Story Cuppings to better fit the premise of the podcast.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST 50 PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

The first pages of Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes are brilliant. In the first three sentences alone, we have an injured protagonist hallucinating a dead person. By the end of two pages, we find out our protagonist is being interrogated because the rest of the character’s crew was murdered…in space! What will you, fellow creatives, make of these first few pages? Let’s find out!

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

Mystery fills the cosmos here, for we do not know how much we can trust this crew, this company, or the very soul telling us this story. The unreliable narrator can be a tricky element to utilize in storytelling, but when done right, it keeps both the story’s cast and reader on their toes. In the first few pages. Barnes nails it, so I’m excited to see where the story goes from here. It’s the perfect–albeit terrifying–escape to take during my brief term break!

As always, I love hearing what’s on the shelves of your own libraries. Libraries Rock!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!