Tag Archives: #firstchapter

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

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Eclectic baking contestants in a mysterious manor? No, I’m not reading a Scooby-Doo movie premise.

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 Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

So I was initially bummed when I saw The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell had not one prologue, but TWO. I also glanced ahead and saw that frequent head-hopping is in a reader’s future, for the story follows the many perspectives of baking contestants on a cooking show at a hoity-toity New England estate. So if you’re not a fan of constantly changing POVs, this may not be the book for you.

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

That said, the first prologue does a wonderful job of balancing a little backstory with current action. Since we are with Betsy, the estate’s owner and creator of this baking competition, we are quickly learning her desperation to keep the show and estate afloat while begrudgingly taking on some “grunt work” of checking camera equipment on a dark and stormy night. Her thoughts allude to some previous debacle, of conflict with the cohost, of possible problems with the contestants–everything seems to be going wrong this season, and the dark’n’bloody discovery she makes in the camera tent–well, it’s the icing on the cake, isn’t it?

The *second* prologue is a news release from *two weeks earlier.* So yes, we already have a flashback and we’re not even in the proper novel yet. Still, I appreciate Maxwell’s move to utilize a news release for providing quick breakdowns of the cast–that is, the baking contestants. It’s an eclectic mix of people with their own voices and skills, all of which sound like they could potentially get applied in a murderous situation. As a writer, I can also see how such a breakdown could help with easy refreshes of a character’s voice and perspective so that one doesn’t mess up these character traits and languages. As Janet Evanovich highlights in her blurb, this book has strong Clue vibes, and I am ALWAYS up for a good game of Clue. 🙂

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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We’ve got another delight here, my friends!

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:

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Now I know Sanderson’s a big name in fantasy writing, but I wasn’t expecting a Jane Austen-style cover for one of his books. Apparently, ⁠Tress of the Emerald Sea ⁠was to be something for his wife, so its voice, characters, world, etc. are not meant to be connected to anything else he’s written. This is fine, as I’m one of those heathens who’s never read Sanderson. 🙂

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

I do hope his other books have such a playful narrative voice! That’s what hooks you in these first few pages, honestly. The first chapter is almost entirely exposition about where protagonist Tress lives: a putrid island where nothing can grow and only salt can save you from the cosmic spores raining from the sky. I was keenly reminded of Tolkien’s asides to readers as I went, though this narrator’s tongue is a bit more, shall we say, barbed: “Ships sailed that dust like ships sail water here, and you should not find that so unusual. How many other planets have you visited? Perhaps they all sail oceans of pollen, and your home is the freakish one.”

We learn more about the world than we do about Tress in this opening chapter, but it’s enough to keep us going. For a girl who insists she’s happy on an island where the government orders the residents to remain until death, she still collects cups decorated with things that can’t survive where she lives. For a girl who does her best to tame her hair and be socially presentable, she never seems to succeed. For a girl with a family name like Glorf (“don’t judge,” says the narrator), she deserves a chance to be more. And hopefully, we’ll read on to see just that.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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Renew yourself, my fellow creatives!

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 Ferryman by Justin Cronin

Ever hear of the sci-fi cult classic ⁠Logan’s Run⁠? It’s a 1976 film about a world where everyone is young and perfect, and life will always give you just what you want. Once your hand’s computer light starts flashing, you have to go be “renewed”–or as one quickly finds out, you die.

This immediately came to mind when I picked up Justin Cronin’s The Ferryman, so I was a little wary of how this deceiving utopia would compare with the likes of Logan’s Run.

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

Happily, my concern was unnecessary. The prologue (yes, a prologue) introduces readers to the “mother” of the book’s protagonist. She is preparing to leave all that she knows; since the dust jacket says that folks of a certain age in this utopia are taken away to be “renewed,” we can safely assume she’s preparing herself for that journey. Unlike Logan’s Run, it appears this renewal is almost like a reincarnation: the aged or taken away, bodies de-aged and minds erased, to come back to the island as teenagers to start life again as wards to selected adults of the city. Yes, this prologue is a lot of exposition, but the prose fits the moment, for the woman is describing all that she says as she says farewell to her life. She then recalls meeting her ward, the protagonist Proctor, and is surprised by the maternal feelings she holds. She doesn’t understand them.

And frankly, the alienness of family feeling is what I find so compelling here. As a writer, we can create whatever kind of world we want, and I see Cronin’s done precisely that. Yet something must be relatable for the reader, or they won’t feel the story is accessible. Most people have their own sense of family, whether by birth or friendship, but the fact that this society has turned that sense of family into an alien feeling leads readers to question what else has been essentially removed from the human experience–perhaps the soul itself?

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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Oh, this is a fun one, my fellow creatives.

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:

 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto 

Seriously, this first chapter was a delight to read. I mean, with an opener like this, how could it not be?

Vera Wong Zhuzhu, age sixty, is a pig, but she really should have been born a rooster. We are, of course, referring to Chinese horoscopes. Vera Wong is a human woman, thank you very much, but roosters have nothing on her.

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

Even though this chapter is exposition, we as readers can still see the unfussable Vera Wong launch herself into her morning routine. While this may not sound very interesting for a hook, the narrator’s lighthearted, playful tone mixed with Vera’s eccentric personality hook readers into loving this old lady very quickly. Plus, using the exposition helps us realize that this morning routine isn’t unique or special to the narrative–rather, this is how she always is, from texting her son at 4:31am to tell him he should be awake, to counting every one of her 3,112 steps on her morning walk.

Yet even this first chapter is not without its emotional weight, for that same morning walk takes her by the tai chi group her husband, long passed, used to attend. In fact, the chapter ends with Vera, while resolute and determined to continue her day as normal, cannot completely silence her sadness over the dwindling relationship with her son since her husband passed. It’s an artfully done first chapter, full of humor and uniqueness with an emotional tug at the end…all disguised in an elderly lady’s morning routine.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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7

Welp, we had a good run, folks.

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:

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

For the first time, I have to say that this novel may very well need an engaging prologue to hook readers.

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

Granted, at the outset, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood isn’t bad. The prose is dense but vivid, its opening paragraphs dedicated to establishing the setting of a landslide in New Zealand and the aftermath of a small town in isolation. We meet Mira in the third paragraph: she is described to us as well as how she is willfully using an alias and misleading real estate agents of that isolated small town because…we don’t know.

So, we as readers have a compelling reason to read on. We want to know why our main character is not being honest about her identity and motivations.

Yet the more I read the first chapter, the more exposition I got. Paragraph after paragraph details what Mira reads in her research of one person in that town. That’s it. The curiosity I had for Mira’s motivations dwindled with every paragraph of exposition. Perhaps I was spoiled by Janice Hallet’s The Appeal, which also gave us such research, but in its original format of emails and newspaper clippings vs. an omniscient narrator telling us the protagonist is reading these things. The middle man, in a sense, was cut out in The Appeal; plus, reading the original messages from characters gave us a sense of different characters and their voices. Five pages into Birnam Wood, I only know that “Mira read on.” Now, chances are this story is a slow burn with the action coming later on, and that’s fine for those content to wait. For the picky, impatient reader such as myself, however, I think I’ll go back to the New Release Shelf.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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Ooo, folks, this is a neat one.

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 Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill*

The atmosphere of a dark fairy tale hangs heavy in the old farmhouse where ⁠Kelly Barnhill’s The Crane Husband⁠ takes place. Our narrator is a fifteen-year-old girl who’s become the caregiver to both her little brother and mother–a mother who, on this day, brings home a large crane and calls him their father.

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

We as readers are as agog as the little brother, while the teen is doing her best to maintain a cynical sanity to her mother’s artistic whims. The fact we as readers do not know about the crane being dressed in human clothing until the second page irked me at first, but as a writer I respect Barnhill’s choice to show the reactions to the initial shock of a crane in the kitchen before the next shock of the crane in clothes. The third shock comes when the mother shows intimate displays of affection to the crane–and the crane reciprocates. The chapter ends with the teen blowing this off, eager for the crane’s departure like her mother’s other lovers, but the chapter ends with yet another masterful twist by Barnhill:

My mother wasn’t one to keep anything around, save for me and Michael. So I wasn’t particularly worried about the crane.

I should have been worried about the crane.

With such a bizarre start, I can only imagine where Barnhill’s tale can go from here.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

*If I refer to Kelly Barnhill as Kate at some point, I humbly apologize. I goofed!

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

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Do urban adults often use similes such as “like a shipman searching the horizon”? Methinks 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 I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Well, what do you know? Here the author from last week’s episode left a positive blurb on the book for this week–⁠The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz⁠.

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

The opening pages introduce us to Alex, a woman who is hung up on a broken friendship with Wren while attending a book release party for a mutual friend. At times the voice really shines in this prose–a bit immature, a bit creative, but overall unique. Other times the word choices do not jive with that personality–who on earth says “unselfconsciously affable”?

But it was the last paragraph I read that promised redeeming qualities to the voice, for that last paragraph gave us a very clear, colorful picture of just how badly Alex latched herself to Wren. Alex describes all sorts of glittery, beautiful dreams of a friendship with Wren mere moments after meeting her at a job. This not only explains why Alex keeps lamenting the loss of Wren and why she can’t stop thinking about her; it makes us wonder what Wren really thinks of Alex. We could very well be dealing with one character obsessing over another, fantasizing about the scale of that relationship while the truth is quite different. If so, then this suspenseful read just got more…suspensefuler.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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Unconventional narrative, unconventional fun!

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 Appeal by Janice Hallett

This review, I’m afraid, is going to be rather short, as this novel is not quite like other novels.

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

Rather than a traditional narrative and/or paragraph structure, Janice Hallett’s The Appeal is created with emails, text messages, and other media snippets compiled for two lawyers to study in preparation for tackling a murder case. On the one hand, this means we’re not getting any details regarding setting or character appearance. On the other hand, we’re getting a wealth of first-person perspectives over a period of time that *should* guide us readers to the ultimate solution of the mystery.

As a reader, I’m definitely intrigued. As a writer, I admire Hallett taking on this risk. It’s a dangerous thing to essentially tell readers, “You don’t have all the materials. Hopefully, it’s in the right order. Good luck!” It’d be all too easy to just withhold all sorts of things so you can just dump it all in the resolution later. Hopefully, Hallett does not do this. The extra challenge is also to make sure the writing voices for all these characters is consistently different. So far, I couldn’t help but chuckle that one character only writes in two-word responses compared to the gushing emails from another character. It’s an interesting dynamic, and I’ve got to continue at least a bit more into the tale to see where these emails take me.

~*~*~

I just have to add that I actually completed this novel in less than 24 hours. It’s a highly enjoyable read where EVERYONE is an unreliable narrator. You’re trying to piece everything together alongside two young lawyers who are trying to connect details, commissions, and timelines shared within this peculiar little theater group. If you’re keen for a different take on a cozy, then I highly recommend this book.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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Well, we had a good run. The prologue has returned, and a rambling prologue, at that.

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:

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Kate Morton’s Homecoming opens with a woman named Isabel. Isabel is pondering various things while hanging up some bunting for a New Year’s Day family celebration.

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

The prose itself is well-crafted, and there are certainly some interesting lines that help us feel the weight of natural Australian dangers on Isabel as she’s out and alone. Actually, Morton’s quite good at dropping hints of danger and trouble within Isabel without Isabel actually saying these are troubles–moments relating to her depression, her marriage problems, her desire to do away with her own kids, her “guilty conscience” and her determination to “make things right”–it’s all quite good foreshadowing for SOMEthing to happen. And the prologue does end with the promise of something bad about to happen. The downside, at least to me, comes with how long it takes to reach that moment. We spend the entire prologue with Isabel thinking. That’s it. Now a few pages of thoughts can be well done, for as I mentioned, Morton’s cleverly hiding hints of danger within Isabel’s psyche. But it’s a slow, slow process through all of Isabel’s thoughts, and by prologue’s end I’m saying, “Thank goodness THAT’S over.” That’s not what a writer wants a reader to feel. As writers, we’ve got to make every line count. We shouldn’t need to hide a hint of foreshadowing beneath a mountain of exposition. A little goes a long way, whether one’s writing a short story, a novel, or anything in between.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

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

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3

The voice of a toddler is compelling, indeed.

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 Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

We return to historical drama in Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre, and know what? I don’t mind.

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

The story is geared to follow Cristabel Seagrave from toddlerhood to adulthood spying on Nazis in France, so our first impression of the protagonist is her impish, defiant nature. Oh, this kid is great fun, and I wouldn’t mind following the toddler Cristabel around for a whole novel. Quinn does marvelous work as a writer in keeping the prose vivid and active, while also throwing in the occasional childish term like “nothingy.” It’s a lovely balance for adult readers who may not appreciate the quirky language of a child, while also sounding true as a voice for a young character. We watch Cristabel meet her stepmother for the first time, and this occasion clearly marks a strained relationship for the future–any stepmother who refers to a child as “it” is not all that keen on children, to be sure! So while we didn’t see the whalebones just yet, I enjoyed seeing much of Cristabel’s personality and imagination shine through so much in this opening scene. Those are the character traits an author wants to establish early so that the protagonist’s later choices not only propel the story forward, but also ring true to the character we’re happy to know.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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