Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Author, author...

...read all about it!!


What’s Your Line?

By Sheri Fredricks



A huge thank you to Krista for giving me her blog for the day! I’m sure she’s cringing, so I’ll start right in.







The opening line in a book can really draw the reader in. Some would say it’s a make-it or break-it moment. I looked to see what the opening lines were in my favorite books. Some were action, a few were dialogue. All of them were unique.





I thought today I would post the opening lines from Portals of Oz, my mythic romance that releases on July 13th.



 
***


Abelia walked close to the shop walls as she peered into windows and gazed at the street traffic. Humans lived a much different life than Wood Nymphs in the Boronda Forest. Everyone here was in such a hurry.



 
Curiosity brought Abelia to town. Patience, the Remedy Maker’s wife, had stuffed her head with the exciting goings-on in the small town of Willow Bay.




She jumped when an old truck blared its horn at a car that waited too long at a green light. Dogs barked while chasing laughing children in the park across the street. Above it all, the delicious aroma of fried foods beckoned with tantalizing promises of a delicious meal.



 
In the corner of the park, under the shade of an enormous sweetgum tree, a plant peddler set up shop with a folding table, and displays of bonsai trees in small decorative pots. Abelia longed to leave the security of the shop walls and venture across the street. But then she would be out in the open, vulnerable.





Alone.




***




Portals of Oz is one of my books that revolve around mythic inhabitants in the modern day Boronda Forest. Here's a little blurb that best describes the story:







Abelia, a Boronda Forest Wood Nymph, came to Willow Bay to satisfy her curiosity of human life, and got more than she bargained for.




Jack can't wait to leave Pennsylvania and return to his archeological work in Australia, where life is filled with dingos and roos.




Human hunters stalk the enthralling Abelia, and Jack comes to her rescue by creating a ruse of helping her choose a bonsai from a street vendor. The hunters back off, but she suddenly vanishes, and he's left confused as he returns to his home in the Outback.




When Abelia magically appears in Jack's kitchen, she must divulge who and what she really is, and risk the mythic people's secret for his help in returning to Boronda. Thrown together, they must fight off thieves set on stealing Jack's antiquities...and he must discover how to convince her to stay.



 
What do you think makes a great story opener? Is anything you prefer not to see?





Thanks for stopping by.


Sheri






27 comments:

  1. Here's mine for my upcoming OCtober release, Devils' Brand.

    I brushed through my hair one last time and scampered out the bathroom door to the offices down the hall. With the overcast Seattle day, the curls I'd painstakingly rolled that morning had fallen to the damp pavement. Now my hair had all the fluff and body of four-day-old road kill. Great way to start a job.

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    1. LMAO!! I'd HATE for my hair to look like roadkill.
      Thanks Casea!

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  2. Nice! For me, I like to open with dialogue, and do it quite a bit.

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    1. I like starting with dialogue too. It really puts the reader in the middle of the action. Thanks, D'Ann!

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  3. You always here about wonderful first sentences, such as the famous "It was the best of times and worst of times." I've started that book several times and never got past the first couple of pages. Give me a tease, something that makes me want to know about the characters.

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    Replies
    1. Best and worst of times doesn't get the heart pounding, does it?

      Thanks for coming by!

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  4. It's so hard to pick what makes a great opening..it depends so much on the story. Sometimes it's smart dialogue that draws me in and other times it's heart thumping action and at other times a question or something to perk my curiosity. Whatever it is, it has to grab you and hold on and not let go!

    Enjoyed your post Sheri...congrats on your release...your book sounds wonderful!

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  5. It's hard to narrow down a great story opener...it depends on the story. At times heart stopping action is the way to start off...at other times it's thought-provoking dialogue or maybe a question or something that perks my curiosity. Whatever it is, it needs to draw me in as a reader and not let go...making me want to read the story page after page!

    Enjoyed your post Sheri and congrats on your release!!!

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    1. Just like a fisherman, we throw our lines out and reel the reader in. I like action from the get-go and allow it to set the pace of the book.

      Thanks for coming by, Christine! And thanks for the warm wishes.

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  6. Cool post--and love your opening lines.

    I'm not sure what makes a good opening. I think it all depends on the story. But an opening should fit with the rest of the story.

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    1. I agree- it has to reflect the tone of the book and voice of the writer. Now you've got me thinking!! LOL

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  7. What a GREAT excerpt!! **PORTALS OF OZ--A MUST READ**

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  8. Nice first line, Sheri. I know exactly what she's doing and looking at.
    Good Job,
    Neecy

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  9. Sheri, thanks so much for hosting today and you can have my blog anytime you'd like :)

    I like to open with Dialogue myself....just depends on the story tho...

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    1. I loved being here today, Krista! Thanks again for letting me hog your space - hehehe. Opening with dialogue works for me. Puts me right in the action, right from the start.

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  10. This is the opening line for my WIP - Capri's Fate.

    My erotic adventure began the minute whispered, "Do you own a pair of red fuzzy handcuffs?"

    What I don't like in an opening line - there isn't anything - I don't care if it's a question or statement or even if I know who's talking.

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    1. LOVE that opening line of yours. Talk about opening a reader's eyes with a question! Ha!

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  11. Great openings, Sheri! I love something quirky for opening liners. Not entirely sure why, but usually, if it makes me chuckle with that first line, it's a keeper for me. Of course, I like all sorts though. A piece of action, or a provoking bit of dialogue that urges me to keep going. Meh, whatever works really. :)

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    1. You're REALLY going to like my opening for Trolly Yours, the second book in the Centaur series. LOL - I crack up every time I read it. Thanks for coming by today.

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  12. There is really nothing I don't like to see in an opening line as long as it's done right. If its a good author he/she can spin any mundane line and make it intriguing.

    Great post!

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    1. Very true. Look at Louie L'Amour books...and they're all gold (if you ask my husband).

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  13. You ladies have awesome opening lines!

    My opening lines for Only Scandal Will Do:

    “Put her back in the carriage, now!” Her assailant snarled the brusque command, sending a shiver of fear through Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam.

    An unseen attacker seized and tossed her into the coach. Gagged, hands pinioned behind her back, ankles bound together, she lay trussed like a Christmas goose in a cramped bundle on the hard plank floor of the dim carriage, her diaphanous Grecian costume in ruins.

    My least favorite opening for a book is description, especially description of setting. Description of a character can work, like this: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized this when caught by her charms as the Tarleton twins were."

    I love that opening.

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    1. Isn't that a great opening line? I remember reading somewhere how many rejections Gone With The Wind received, and wondered how many foreheads smacked their desks later. Your opening is what I described earlier - throwing the reader right into the midst of action. And it takes off right from the start! Great job!!

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  14. Congrats on your release, Sheri!!!!!!

    That was a great openning...

    Here's mine for A HUNTER'S ANGEL... releasing Friday (7/20)

    Four dead bodies in four weeks on my watch do
    not make a good impression.
    Recently appointed Police Chief Grace Wallace exited her Crown Vic at the edge of the field. Before his death six months ago, Clayton, Pennsylvania, hadn’t seen more than two murders in the entire twenty years Grace’s father had been the chief.

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    1. Thanks Sara! You should be on a book tour about now :) A thought as an opening line - nice!

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