John M. Floyd One of my favorite quotes about writing came from author Margaret Lucke. She said, “You can’t protect…
Continue reading →The First Two Pages
The Sea Horse Trade
Sasscer Hill This author believes that properly staging each scene of a novel is vital, and the first scene the…
Continue reading →Rapid Orientation Through a Layered Approach
Paula Gail Benson I write short stories. For me, two pages may be a fifth of the tale I’m telling.…
Continue reading →The Opening Six-Pack
James M. Jackson I strive to write openings that resemble a hunk’s rippling abdominal muscles: strong, taut, and without a…
Continue reading →My Gangbuster First Paragraph
Judy Alter Two days ago I talked to four groups of fourth graders at an elementary school. They were surprisingly…
Continue reading →Hooks With a Purpose
Nupur Tustin Readers of historical mysteries like myself enjoy nothing better than being transported from our mundane twenty-first century existences…
Continue reading →If At First You Don’t Succeed
Diane Vallere Several years ago, I wrote the first sentences of what would become PILLOW STALK, the first of the…
Continue reading →Novel Beginnings for Mystery Fiction
Jacqueline Seewald For those of you who are unfamiliar with my Kim Reynolds mysteries, I’ll mention that THE BAD WIFE…
Continue reading →Playing the Odds
Art Taylor In his 1842 review of Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales, Edgar Allan Poe laid out a hefty challenge for short…
Continue reading →Trapped by a Killer
B.K. Stevens At first, the killer seemed so exciting–exactly what I’d always longed for, what I’d often sought but never…
Continue reading →When Something’s Not Quite Right
Terrie Moran I am so excited to be with you today to talk about how the first two pages of…
Continue reading →How I Hook ‘Em
Kaye George I’m a big believer in bringing the reader into the setting as soon as possible. I like to…
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