For three years I worked at perhaps the most twisted job I’ve ever had. Each day was darker than the day before and I wrote some of my darkest writing during that time period. Each piece became more and more about the ugly side of human nature. For someone who loves sweet and senusal romance it was as if someone else were writing those pages.

The past 6 months have been among the most peaceful and settled of my life. I have a great job with outstanding people. My attorneys are incredibly bright people who believe in being a team. I look forward to going to work every day. My commute is a pleasure because I take a bus and someone else deals with the driving so I can write or nap or read. Home life is pretty settled…and my writing…

Well I’m on a roll with With All Dispatch. I got some great insight into my hero, Gareth, this week. He’s not vulnerable – yet. He’s a basic guy who has a mission that nothing is going to get in the way of. I like him a whole lot! The thing is, with the personal emotional angst I experienced in the sucky job gone, getting to that dark moment of romance is a little harder. Gareth and his lady, Molly, deserve their happily ever after.

I’m finding I’d rather be moving along with this story than doing most anything else which is a good thing from a writing standpoint…not so good when there’s a house to be cleaned!

“Have you ever had sex in an elevator?”

Does this line grab you? Make you want to move on?

James Lawrence slid his palm across the woman’s back and down the swell of her buttocks and squeezed. “Now this is what I call a great hand.”

“I’d rather be thrown in piranha-infested waters than go out with a man!”

How about these next lines? How do you feel when you read them?

Kendra Wakefield smoothed her ice blue silk dress with a single white-gloved hand and sat straight in her chair. Lifting the small opera glasses, she peered through the lenses at the faces of the well-dressed couples entering below her balcony box.

The westbound train from Alabama screeched to a halt in front of the New Orleans’ depot. When Juliana Warren finally stepped onto solid ground, she released a deep sigh.

Hmmm…I really didn’t see anything exciting in these last two, paragraphs, either…which brings me to my point. The purpose of an opening hook is to catch the reader’s attention and make them keep reading. An editor once told me, during my appointment with her at a RWA conference, that if the first paragraph of a query or even a chapter doesn’t grab her attention, she usually puts it in the ‘reject’ pile without reading on. Yikes! This isn’t good at all, especially for struggling writers. So if the first line doesn’t grab the editor’s attention, what makes you think the second line will?

Now try some of these opening hooks. Do they catch your interest? Do they make you want to read on?

“Come on, open the door, honey.” Jace Corbett pounded on the solid oak, rattling the gold number 10 hanging in the middle. The late winter wind whipped against his bare skin and underneath the small towel wrapped around his waist. “I’m freezing my ass off.” Literally.

This particular opening is supposed to make the reader wonder why he’s freezing his ass off. And why is he wearing a towel out in the freezing weather? Hmmm… Did this opening work for you? Did it make you want to know more?

Kristine Olsen had never seen so many naked bodies in one place. Considering all the avenues her line of work took her, she didn’t expect a scene like this would shock her.
It did.

And what about this one? Sex sells, which means the words “naked bodies” should grab the reader immediately. But not always do you need sex in your opening to catch the reader’s eye. Using action as your hook is also very good to do! Take a look at the next two story openings…

He’s going to kill me!
Breanna Loveland gripped the shoulder-strap of her seatbelt, her knuckles turning whiter the harder she hung on. Through the windshield, she focused on the snow-packed road ahead. The heavy flakes hit the glass faster than the blades could remove it, making it almost impossible to see. The blinding storm covered the streetlights and darkness surrounded the car. She silently prayed this vehicle had an airbag just in case her fiancé’s reckless driving ended them in some ditch – or worse, head-on with another car.

“I’m going to kill him with my bare hands,” Monica Lange raged in a mixture of anger and sorrow as she paced the floor in her father’s den.

So, now we know what an opening hook is – how can we write one? Take a look at the first paragraph in chapter one of your story. Have you started it where you need to? Is this a place that’s going to make the reader wonder what’s going on and why or have you written too many descriptions or dialogue that doesn’t go anywhere?

Let’s do an exercise. We’ll take one of the boring sample paragraphs and try to make it a good opening hook. Let’s work on poor Kendra Wakefield. We know she’s at an opera and that she’s watching the others arriving below her box. How can we make this more active? Interesting? Why don’t we give her a shaky hand? Kendra Wakefield smoothed her ice-blue silk dress with a shaky hand. Or let’s add some internal thoughts here. Where in the blazes is that man? Or maybe she isn’t looking for someone, but hiding from someone and wonders if others will recognize her. She took a ragged breath. Will they know I’m not who I portray? At this point, if it’s done right, the reader will want to know why she is pretending and what is making her so nervous. Therefore – those unanswered questions will keep the reader from nodding off.

In a workshop given by Donald Maass of the Maass Literary Agency, he says readers will allow you only three lines before their mind begins to wander. That’s not very encouraging, is it? So why not grab the reader immediately?

Never begin with the heroine sitting and thinking. Get her butt off the chair and add some action and unanswered questions! Never open with long descriptions. Never open with weather – unless the pouring rain has flooded the roads and your characters are on their way to the hospital to have a baby… You get the picture. Never begin with backstory. That’s too much information to tell right away, especially when it can be woven into the rest of the story. Instead, open with conflict or just before a moment of change. Say your hero is minutes away from walking down the aisle to his own wedding, but he overhears his soon to be father-in-law making plans with a hitman to kill him after the wedding. Yup, I’d say it was time to make your character change his plans – and fast!

Closing hooks are similar. When you close a chapter, you should try to pose a question or set up a situation that makes the reader want to keep reading. The point is to end your chapter in a manner that encourages the reader to continue with your story. If you end your chapter with your character going to bed…so will your reader. This is not advised. It’s far better for your heroine to be knocked unconscious than to knock your reader into this state. Pose a question and don’t answer it until the next chapter. You may not want to end every chapter this way, but ask yourself “Does this end in a way that encourages your reader to keep reading?” If your answer is yes, then you’re ready to write the next article on hooks. (Big Grin)

**samples taken from my stories and some quotes taken from Donald Maass’ workshop.**

Visit my website to see other stories I have with great opening hooks! www.phyllismariecampbell.com

~Vixen Phyllis~

7:30 AM-Wake up to find that you’ve fallen asleep at the keyboard the night before. And I mean you literally crashed with you face resting on the laptop. After you get paper towels to clean up the puddle of drool between the “E” and “R” keys, you make some coffee to wake up. You’re still dressed in the same ratty sweatpants and t-shirt from the day before, but you don’t have any clean clothes to change into so you leave them on

8:00 AM-The cat is screaming to be fed so you dig around for cat food. Since you haven’t cleaned in a week, the place looks like a candidate for “Clean House”. You finally find the Friskies under a pile of dirty clothes. You are so tired you giggle at the name “Friskies” for five minutes.

10:00 AM-After two hours of writing, you reward yourself by Googling your name. You find your books at two new pirate sites, a lukewarm review for your last release and a dismaying news article. Someone who kind of has a name like yours was arrested for exposing themselves to farm animals. As you think about how this will ruin your image, you wonder if that kind of crime is a misdemeanor or a felony.

12:00 PM-Time for lunch! Since the kids are home, you throw pizza money at the teenager and make yourself a Lean Cuisine. Okay, who are we kidding here? You actually just grab a bag of chips and dip and polish it off between chapters.

1:45 PM-You are forced to take a break when you realize your daughter is outside and she’s dressed in an old ballet costume and cowboy boots. Not that you mind the outfit so much since the neighbors already know you’re loony, but it is raining outside. The last thing you need is to have to take time off from writing because you have to mop up muddy boot prints off the floor.

4:30 PM-Your mother calls to complain that you never have time for her anymore and you don’t care about anyone but writing. At least you think that’s what she says. You’re too busy typing on the laptop to really hear what she’s saying.

5:00 PM-You take time off to watch Penguins of Madagascar with your daughter. Because that show rocks!

6:00 PM-The husband was kind enough to make dinner. He throws you a plate of food and you eat, still typing like a mad woman. At this point you could be eating liver and onions and not realize it. All that matters is getting more words written. You are three thousand short of your daily goal and the day is already more than half over.

8:00 PM- You begin to despair at ever making your goal. The questions start. Why do I do this to myself? Why did I ever think I could be a writer? Will everyone think this book is absolute crap? Are there any Cheetos left?

10:00 PM-You’ve calmed down some. Fresh coffee is on, the bag of Cheetos are now just a memory. Only fifteen hundred words left to go, but you can feel the weariness hitting you.

12:00 AM-You run through the house rambling bits of dialog from your book. “I am a vampire and you are my lifemate! Let us make sweet, undead love!” The husband gets out of bed and leads you back to the keyboard.

3:00 AM-You’ve done it! 5,000 words in one day! You do a happy dance and celebrate until you realize you’re going to have to do it all again tomorrow. In your despair, you collapse onto the keyboard of the laptop and fall asleep.  

-Stephani

Well I’m clueless. I have some books that will be coming out soon, but I do not have covers yet, and besides I send them around to Yahoo on promotion days. So who wants to see that again on my blog day? Not me, quite frankly I get sick of posting them. So I’d rather wing it.

So I’m winging it.

What is your favorite thing to do for inspiration? For anything. I’m talking, if you’re in a profession that needs to have some type of inspiration or imagination and you’re blocked, what do you do? Do you go for a walk or do you listen to music? Do you brainstorm with a friend? I do all of the above.

Right now it’s not that I need inspiration, I need a kick in the BUTT to get me going. I have good intentions to write or edit. But getting to that document and opening it. Well that’s the easy part, but actually starting the work is what blocks me. If I can just start. I’m fine, then I before I know it, it’s been a couple of hours and I’m stiff from sitting and I didn’t even realize the time had past.

Okay so I need your thoughts. How do you get that kick in the rear to start?

So, here is the link -

 http://www.rtbookreviews.com/2009/08/guest-blogger-author-phyllis-marie.php

~Phyllis~

I’ve been writing for about as long as I can remember, but I didn’t make my first real attempt until fifteen years ago. I sat down at my table with a thermos full of coffee, my Brother word processor (remember those things?) and got to work. I was full of vigor and verve and was so certain that I was penning the next great American novel.

What I was really pounding out was the worst historical in well…history. If there were ever a contest for a book with the most romance clichés in it, my book would take first place. Titled, A Moore’s Bride, it had an arranged marriage, the hero resenting his new wife, warring families and betrayal at every turn. When I finally did reveal the villain at the end, I thought I had been so clever about it. Looking back now I see it was so obvious that I may have well put a neon sign on her forehead saying, “Evilness here.”

Of course I didn’t realize all this when I was writing it because, remember, I thought I was going to be the best thing that ever happened to romance because my books was so good. I packaged up my MS in three ring binders! I can just hear the gasps out there because we all know that’s a big no-no. Then I mailed it off to agents.

Imagine my shock when I got a whole buncha rejections back.

Looking back now, I can laugh about this, but then I was so shocked. I had been bitch slapped with reality and now I realized that maybe, just maybe I was going to have to work at this. Me! With the bestest book ever!

Boy was I stupid.

I took several years to learn the craft and research every intricate detail of the industry.  It wasn’t until four years ago that I was ready to try again. By then I had the sense to realize that historical were not my cuppa so I turned to what I loved to read the most, paranormal.

My end result was a book about angels. However, my angels couldn’t be more un-angelic if they tried. They swear, fight, watch B-movies and one even hooks up with a succubus. In short, when people ask me about them, the answer is the same. I write about angels who hump and cuss.

I was worried that I would never be able to find a home for my unconventional story, but to my surprise I was. The ninth book in The Archangel Series was just published last month over at eXtasy Books. Not only that, but I have my Drone Vampire Chronicles there and a couple of books with my co-author A.J. Llewellyn.

So if I have any advice out there for new authors it’s this, keep trying and don’t be afraid to take a chance.

-Stephani Hecht

The 2009 Heart of the West Conference

RWA Utah Chapter

Writing: A Magical Journey

October 9 & 10, 2009

at The Lodges at Deer Valley in Park City, Utah

Featured author and Key Note Speaker

NYT Bestselling Author, RITA Award Winner Rachel Gibson

Award Luncheon Key Note Speaker

2009 RITA Finalist, Author of more than 30 books, RaeAnne Thayne

Featured Editor—Acquiring for Avon, Amanda Bergeron

Featured Agents –

Kelly Mortimer of Mortimer Literary Agency

Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency

PRO/PAN Workshops:

Joy in the Journey – Sherry Lewis

Goal Motivated Public Speaking – Jude Bown

Craft and Industry workshops:

The Writing Journey Begins with Your Voice – Lynn Kurland

Sifting the Mudane from the Magic – Melissa Mayhue

Extreme Makeover: Editing Edition –Kelly Mortimer

TBA – Christine Witthohn

An Editor’s Ideal Query: The Ultimate Journey – Amanda Bergeron

Book Signing

Check our Web site for full schedule.

Conference fee URWA members $149.00—Non-URWA members $165.00

Special Group rates on rooms – Hotel rooms $99 – One bedroom suites $129 per night. Limited number, make your reservations soon to assure rate.

If you would like to donate promotional items, books, bookmarks, magnets, etc. please email mary @ marymartinez .com (no spaces)

For registration forms and more information check our website:
www.utahrwa.com

If you read the traditional meaning of the Knight of Pentacles he’s a steady, hardworking, not very ambitious person. He makes enough to be happy but has no huge aspirations. He can also be someone who’s out of work. Seems a fitting card for today’s economic situation. People who have been in their jobs years, thinking they have security are suddenly finding out it’s not there. All their hard work, down the tubes.

If you look at the traditional card, the knight depicted is the antethisis of the laid back, steady guy. He’s in full shiny armor, on a big black stallion and seems ready for battle. In many ways he is the Galahad of the tarot’s knights. And do we ever really think of Galahad? No, is the dashing and handsome Lancelot if not Arthur himself.

Such is Morgan’s situation. A hard worker, going along, hanging with his friends and the kind of steady guy a lot of us women have over looked over the years. I know I met my fair share of “Morgans” in my early dating life. They were the average guys, mid-level jobs, kind of quiet, no flash and way serious in conversation. If you took a few minutes though to sit down and talk to them you’d see that they were actually kind of cute, when they smiled it was warm and genuine and if you bothered to get up close and personal you might have noticed that under their kinda loose shirts they did their time in the gym. If you got past the average but still appealing looks they had incredible minds. Smart guys who didn’t quite have the social skills to get out there and dazzle the ladies. And they weren’t the bad boys either. They played by the rules. Once you stopped looking for daring drama – if you did – you’d be lucky if one of these diamonds in the rough was still single.

That’s Morgan. He’s not an alpha. When he meets the woman he’s been searching for he…well he doesn’t storm in and do the alpha thing. He does something much more appealing. Just what, well you’ll need to wait for the Knight of Pentacles to find out.