We take a darker turn today, 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:

Little Red House by Liv Andersson

Liv Andersson’s thriller Little Red House gave me a delightful surprise. Not through it’s subject matter, for the record–it’s a dark thriller that starts with the perspective of a rape and torture victim held captive in a man’s basement. If you do not want to read about rape, just avoid this book. I’m sure Andersson will understand.

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

No, the surprise for me came as a writer. Andersson avoids prologues, yet her first chapter reads like a prologue we so often see here: it’s short, first-person, and a vivid telling of a dangerous scene. Listening to the victim describe what she hears when her tormentor approaches, hearing her focus on details of her environment for she’s determined not only to escape but kill her tormentor in the process–it is, in short, a compelling opener. I feared that Andersson had given us a stark first chapter to offset what we often see in this podcast: a really slow “second” opener to the book.

Yet that is not the case here! While Chapter 2 does “start over” with another character in first person, we see that this new character is related to the first, which immediately gets us wondering how well the two may know or know of each other. The voice of the new character is similar, but not to the point where I have to check what their names are to keep them straight. Her chapter is also pure active movement with just the teensiest bits of background, so the momentum started with Chapter 1 continues onward. Even though we’ve left one protagonist in a prison, this new character also seems to be in a prison of her own making. Even though she has a key to escape (metaphorically speaking), she refuses to use it. Why?

Again, for those who do not wish to read of sexual trauma, please wait for next week’s installment. But for those who read thrillers into the darker turns of human nature, you’ll not be disappointed with Andersson’s protagonists here. As a writer, too, I find her balance between present action, voice, and “telling between the lines” to be most instructive.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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

We take a darker turn today into a thriller fueled by the virtual illusions created on social media.

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 Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle

Ironically, the prologue is my favorite part of the opening pages in Kimberly Belle’s The Personal Assistant.

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

These first two pages are a well-paced scene with balanced external action and sensory detail from the perspective of an unnamed girl without a dime to her name. Her car’s run off the road by a farmer in the middle of nowhere, her tire blows out, and she has no one she could turn to for money. The prologue ends with a mysterious man pulling up to her vehicle offering aid.

Now I mention in my episode that prologues make me nervous because they seem to be the author’s backup plan to hooking readers when they know the first chapter is a slog.

Lo and behold…

We meet protagonist Alex, a social media influence married to a financial talking head named Patrick who also does a lot on social media. The opening pages detail how happy she is with her rise to fame, his skepticism about why people care enough to follow her online, and how he never cared about her daughters.

+++CORRECTION+++ It is not clear in these opening pages if Patrick is the father of those girls or not. In the episode, I interpreted that he is, which makes him sound like an even bigger jerk than he is supposed to be. Upon checking later pages, he is not the father of those girls, so at least this guy is decent with kids. Just wanted to clarify that. +++

Kimberly Belle clearly knows how to craft a scene. Belle knows how to balance detail and action, and she knows how to use dialogue to relay information. If I spot another book by Belle, I’ll likely give it a try. I just struggle to read a story about this particular kind of character. For folks who enjoy the realm of social media drama, or thrillers with that social media flare, this fiction will fit right in with your tastes. As one who is not as keen on such drama, I struggle to relate to such personalities. So, I’m going to see what the next mystery from my library contains.

No matter what the season brings, keep reading!

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