Tag Archives: #amwriting

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheNarrowRoadBetweenDesires by #PatrickRothfuss, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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We may not be kingkillers right now, but perhaps we’ll find ourselves there in time.

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 FIFTY PAges

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss

I have been recommended Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind quite often over the years, but here I am, diving into this shorter fantasy work of his instead. Even Rothfuss recommends NOT reading this short work before his other books, but I have done so…and am glad to have done so, too.

The first chapter quickly establishes our protagonist Bast, a known character from the other books. Being a complete newbie, I accepted that there could be unclear aspects of the world for me because I wasn’t familiar with the world of The Kingkiller Chronicle. Yet the first chapter starts in a very intimate, quiet way: Bast is trying to sneak out of the inn before his master notices. The innkeeper catches him, though, and sets him up with a mysterious book and a small list of errands before asking about a stranger who stopped by the inn earlier. Bast pretends to not know much of the stranger and takes off for his errands.

Doesn’t sound like much, does it? And the stranger’s name sounds like it is also something from the other books.

But that does not leave me flustered in the least. Rothfuss has a beautiful sense of the ear in his language, describing the different sounds created when a novice tries to sneak away vs. an expert vs. the artist Bast is. The visual and aural details mixed with metaphor creates a flow of prose one can easily coast upon, happy to see where the current takes them. Sure, I may choose to follow Rothfuss’ advice and NOT read The Narrow Road Between Desires before I read The Name of the Wind, but something tells me that if I stay with the current, Bast’s tale will still take me to some pretty exciting, unique places in that fantastical realm.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #BlindSpots by #ThomasMullen, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Cops with vampire bat skills. Sure, why not?

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 FIFTY PAGES

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

Today Blondie snagged from the New Release shelf:

Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen

This podcast covers a lot of mysteries–I mean, a LOT of mysteries–so it’s fun to see how blending mystery with another genre can create something unique yet accessible for a reader.

Thomas Mullen’s Blind Spots opens with a traditional setup of The Cop Stakeout, but this traditional setup is warped outside our traditional experience as protagonist Owens thinks about how much life has changed because of The Blinding: a mysterious event that has led to humanity collectively losing their eyesight. (During my podcast I read one moment that the sun was blown out of the sky–my apologies for the misread.) Now humanity has to see through “vidders,” implants that have turned humanity into “vampire bats,” as Owens describes it. It’s a fascinating concept that allows for the science fiction aspect of this story to shine; plus, it creates a multi-layer mystery here, for alongside the mystery Owens has to solve, we readers wonder about the mystery of The Blinding. For those who are eager for a new flavor of mystery, Blind Spots may be the perfect selection to sample.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheLostLibrary by #RebeccaStead and #WendyMass, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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When Blondie recommends something, I listen, by golly!

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 FIFTY PAGES

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

Today Blondie snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

I can see why Blondie enjoyed this Middle-Grade tale.

We have a by-the-rules cat determined to keep mice out of the old house’s basement but refuses to eat them. Mortimer the cat is also a bit envious, for cats do not have many words while mice do. The multiple references to this in the first chapter leave us readers wondering if those abilities with words have something to do with this Middle-Grade mystery. Overall, this first chapter does a fine job establishing the story: we have a sense of our protagonist, we have a sense of how he interacts with others, and we also have a little bit of mystery established with Mortimer describing a guilty feeling about a library book cart in the house’s basement. Why is there a book cart down there? How could old library books make a cat feel so guilty, guilty enough to shoo mice along instead of eating them? I’m intrigued! And hey, if you’ve got a young reader in your household, The Lost Library could be a fun little mystery to share with them for a little extra after-school read.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #DeathintheDarkWoods by #AnneliseRyan, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Alas, the Prologue Curse returns.

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 FIFTY 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:

Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan

Don’t get me wrong, my fellow creatives—Annelise Ryan’s premise for Death in the Dark Woods carries promise of something weird and wild, and in Wisconsin of all places! As a fellow Wisconsinite, I’m all in for that kind of mystery.

While the prologue starts a bit slow with a hunter failing to shoot a buck, the tension and pacing quickly mount to a chaotic, lethal attack. Ryan provides just enough detail for readers to experience the terror without getting gory; plus, readers are left in the dark as to what kind of animal killed the hunter. Considering Bigfoot is mentioned in the dust jacket, we as readers can certainly make a guess or two, ahem.

Then the official Chapter 1 brings all that tension to a halt as we restart the story with protagonist Morgan taking care of customers and chatting up the Chief of Police. Once again, we get a fine hook of a prologue only to be reeled in for a slow first chapter. Now the Chief is asking if Morgan will speak to someone in the DNR, so I’m hoping this means Chapter 2 takes readers to the woods where the hunter died. I just wish the narrative didn’t require slamming the brakes on the pacing in order to do that. Still, I’m happy to support local authors, especially ones with a quirky premise like this. A cryptozoologist hunting down monsters in Wisconsin? Let’s go!

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #DistantSons by #TimJohnston, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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For the first time in a while we have us a prologue, folks. But what a prologue.

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 FIFTY 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:

Distant Sons by Tim Johnston

We are transported to a 1976 summer evening tense with sport and hormones and mystery as two brothers run off to play a baseball game…but only one returns.

It’s a damn beautiful prologue, the cadence of the prose flowing like a river such boys would splash in to cool off after a hard nine innings in the schoolyard. The narrator focuses on the experience of the elder brother, stuck with his younger brother for the game, so caught up in the game he forgets about the brother altogether. As he walks home through the woods he remembers the boy who had gone missing a year ago—and as the prologue ends, it sounds like the younger brother has met the same fate.

Now one of my biggest beefs about prologues of this caliber is that they’re often some sort of cover for a lousy first chapter, one that brings the momentum to a grinding halt and dumps us with information before attempting to restart the narrative action. For Johnston, this is not the case. Granted, we have been shifted to a new time—2018—and ride with a new character named Sean. However, we are not given a ton of exposition—hardly any at all, really. We are watching Sean deal with his busted truck and his prediction of how his future interaction with his father may go when he gets home. I stopped at this point due to time, so how this broken truck impacts Sean, I cannot say.

What I will say is that the prologue is a brilliant study of powerful prose that balances a lush setting with the relatable pangs of a boy aspiring to be more and with the looming fear of nefarious danger in the background. Even if you don’t want to read the rest of the novel, I recommend fellow writers check out Distant Sons for the prologue alone.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #ThornHedge by #TKingfisher, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Storytelling is the truly powerful magic.

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 FIFTY 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:

Thorn Hedge by T. Kingfisher

I admit, I am a little bias with today’s selection. When I saw T. Kingfisher had a new dark take on a classic story, I had to jump on it.

Thorn Hedge does not disappoint. Its opening pages are told from the Fairy’s perspective, describing a crushingly long passage of time as she guards a mysterious tower and the thorn hedge surrounding it. Granted, we as writers are always told to “show, don’t tell.” Kingfisher does the opposite in order to reflect on how much time passes under the Fairy’s watchful eye. Initially the wall of thorns is massive and obvious, drawing the attention of princes and ambitious boys from all over, but as generations come and go, the everyday nature creeps up and grows over this wall. Yet the Fairy fears that the story—yes, the story—of the tower and its secret has not died in time. I do love how Kingfisher focuses on the power of words, of story, and how THAT is to be feared rather than any kind of magic or weapon of the world.

Clues are given to readers to help gauge time, such as the Plague masks of the Black Death and the red crosses worn by knights during the Crusades. I admit, I started getting impatient when we reached the Crusades, for it was starting to feel like we would only see this story as a walk through time, but behold! On the sixth page comes a knight. And then, my fellow creatures, the true narrative starts.

So, if you are one for brief, vivid tellings of classic tales, I don’t think you’ll go wrong with Kingfisher here. I LOVED her take on The Fall of the House of Usher, so I’m stoked to see what she does with this Grimm, dark tale. 😊

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #MidnightistheDarkestHour by #AshleyWinstead, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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4

Someone’s lost their head in the swamp…literally.

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 FIFTY 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:

Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead

The opening pages of Ashley Winstead’s Midnight is the Darkest Hour are a real treat to read.

Once we got past the trigger warning of violent things that often happen in suspense thrillers, we are transported to a small Louisiana town working to survive by a swamp. While folks are claimed by the swamp every year, this time a fisherman discovers a bashed-in skull. The sheriff holds a press conference which of course draws in the whole of the small town, our narrator keeping herself off and to the side to observe the spectacle.

Winstead wisely begins the story with the skull and doesn’t dwell much on sensory details. While I’d love to experience this swamp through her prose, as a writer, I appreciate Winstead wants us invested in the mystery first, so the narrative focus is on the skull and how the town reacts to the sheriff’s announcement of—gasp!—a homicide investigation, the town’s first in twenty years. We as readers can easily be shocked that such a long time has passed without some sort of criminal death in a town; in fact, that can certainly be a reason why we read on, for we can then be skeptical of what this town is really like with its five thousand “Christian souls” and few “Godless heathens.” The narrator also drops hints early on that she was expecting this announcement to come from the sheriff at some point, that she’s been waiting for it for years. But why? We don’t know yet, which makes me wonder how reliable this narrator really is. I guess we have to keep reading to find out.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #NorthofNowhere by #AllisonBrennan, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Please let me think exhaustively on how time is of the essence!

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 FIFTY 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:

North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan

One thing that drew me to Allison Brennan’s North of Nowhere was the promise of siblings depending on each other for survival while on the run from their murderous father through a wintry wilderness. After plenty of stories where romance is the primary focus of the characters’ relationship, I was ready for some family bonding.

The first chapter doesn’t really give a chance for that to develop just yet, though. Instead, we get protector Tony thinking endlessly about how time is of the essence in getting these kids out of their small Montana town because the father’s goons have been spotted. I don’t mind starting the novel with the goons showing up–after all, that’s where the narrative arc begins, not with one of the kids’ sports games or something. However, because Tony is thinking and thinking and thinking and THINKING about the plans–what he wants to do, what they’ll have to do, why they have to do any of it–I lose all sense of time and urgency. There are a couple of blips in that first chapter where Tony and the kids are actively doing something, but they are lost in the endless scope of Tony’s thoughts.

On a side note, the prose itself is clear and straightforward, almost to the point of being cheesy. For instance:

“It would be faster, safer, safer to hide until they could disappear again. He’d do anything to protect Chris and Ryan? Anything. Even kill again.”

How can one read that and NOT say, “Dunh dunh DUNH!”? As the pages progressed, I began to feel like we were embarking on a bit of action schlock like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando.

And for folks like me, who do enjoy a bit of schlock, that sounds just fine. 🙂 But after reading this chapter, I have a hard time agreeing with the cover blurb that this is “a gripping, eerie thriller.” So if you are looking for that sort of thriller, I’m not sure North of Nowhere will suit your palette.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #StarBringer by #TracyWolff and #NinaCroft, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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Apparently The Breakfast Club has gone off to the cosmos…

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 FIFTY 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:

Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft

With a gorgeous cover design and a surprisingly long trigger warning, Star Bringer caught my eye and exposed me to two romance writers I’ve never read before: Nina Croft and Tracy Wolff. Their publication histories are both quite impressive, showing the two clearly know a thing or two about writing in the romance genre. The book’s blurb promises a combination of Firefly and The Breakfast Club, and after reading the opening scene featuring a princess and her companions, that promise seems to hold true.

Personality exudes from different members of the group, which is great, and the voice of the princess narrating is quite distinctive and personable. The first pages use the conflict between princess and empress to set up the true stakes of this story’s cosmic work: the empire may be destroyed if a certain scientist isn’t found, and it’s up to the princess to find out what’s going on.

When it comes to characterization and a hook, all is accomplished with aplomb in the opening pages. My only remaining concern is about the worldbuilding. When a writer commits to a genre like science fiction, that writer must be ready to create something new and unique with depth and age. But the princesses’ observations about anything sci-fi related felt extremely vague, so I do hope this won’t be the case when other characters become the narrator.

That brings me to my one other concern: the dust jacket promises a primary cast of seven for this story. A glance at the chapters reveals different characters narrate different chapters. Will everyone narrate? Plenty of writers struggle just to make two characters’ narrative voices sound distinctive, let alone seven. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see!

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheLongmireDefense by #CraigJohnson, to Tell Me You’re Good. #FirstChapter #BookReview #Podcast

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We’re a little late to the Longmire Party, folks, so we’re not technically in the first five pages here.

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 FIFTY 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:

The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

The Longmire Defense is the NINETEENTH installment in Craig Johnson’s Longmire series, so this story-world and cast of characters was established quite some time ago. Still, I was in the mood for a mystery in the mountainous West, and seeing the dust jacket promise a cold case investigation won me over.

The opening pages appear to pick up after whatever chaos the eighteenth book (Hell and Back) brought upon Sheriff Walt Longmire. Longmire is staying with family out in the middle of nowhere when his undersheriff comes and asks him to accompany her on a basic search and rescue. According to the dust jacket, this search and rescue will lead to the reopening of the promised cold case.

So I will say that Johnson is quick to put the newest tale’s plot into motion. When one’s so deep into a series, one really doesn’t see the need for much characterization work, and that’s fine. Still, it took some extra effort to catch the rhythms of dialogue between Longmire and his daughter, which pulled me out of the story. For those who have enjoyed Longmire so far (and considering the series will be adapted for Netflix, there must be quite a few of you), I’ve no doubt The Longmire Defense will be a welcome addition. For those of us who are new to Longmire, I am intrigued enough by these opening pages to hunt down the first book, The Cold Dish.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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