WHAT hooks the reader?

This book contains original material from more than 100 bestselling authors writing about their openers in fiction (mystery, romance, science fiction, western, mainstream).

Regina Dalton snapped awake the instant the coffin lid closed.                         Jennifer Blake, Kane

She figured it came down to a choice between going to work or committing murder.  Aileen Schumacher, Affirmative Reaction

Standing in front of his dresser mirror, the young man pointed the revolver at his reflection.  James W. Hall, Under Cover of Daylight

When and where the heart can celebrate each awakening day - that becomes home.  Priscilla Cogan, Winona's Web

 

...then read what these authors say about their openers.

The Cast:

 

Poul Anderson	Janet Jeppson Asimov	E.C. Ayres
Mary Balough	Martha Bayless	Greg Bear
Nina Beaumont	Jennifer Blake	David Brin
Terry Brooks	Harlen Campbell	Robert Chase
B.A. Chepaitis	C. J. Cherryh	Margaret (Meg) Chittenden
Sir Arthur C. Clarke	Priscilla Cogan	Michael Connelly
L. Sprague deCamp	Claire Delacroix	Carol Dennis
William C. Dietz	Patricia Eakins	Earl Emerson
Lynn Erickson	Loren D. Estleman	Sheila Finch
Charles L. Fontenay	Alan Dean Foster	Kate Freiman
Valerie J. Freireich	Sara Hoskinson Frommer	Nina Gettler
Voyle A. Glover	Ron Goulart	Jean Hager
Joe Haldeman	James W. Hall	Tara K. Harper
Lee Harris	Brian Herbert	Edward D. Hoch
Joan Hall Hovey	Dean Ing	Jonnie Jacobs
Russell James	Phyllis Ann Karr	Eileen Kernaghan
Nancy Kress	Ellen Kushner	Peter Lance
Joe R. Lansdale	J.A. Lawrence	Martha C. Lawrence
Laura Lynn Leffers	John Legg	Justin Leiber
Paul Levinson	Scott Mackay	Anne McCaffrey
Dennis L. McKiernan	Marilyn Meredith	Fern Michaels
Sasha Miller	John Moore	Deborah Morgan
Shirley Rousseau Murphy	Yvonne Navarro	Larry Niven
G. David Nordley	Barbara Paul	Michael H. Payne
Carla Peltonen	Joanne Pence	Frederik Pohl
Eileen Putman	Mary Jo Putney	Jaclyn Reding
Martha Kay Renfroe/ M.K. Wren	Lora Roberts	Peter Robinson
Mary Rosenblum	William Sanders	Walter Satterthwait
Robert J. Sawyer	Aileen Schumacher	Laurence Shames
John Paxton Sheriff	Sarah Smith	Ralph A. Sperry
Dana Stabenow	Les Standiford	Janice Steinberg
H.G. Stratmann	Mark Sumner	Molly Swanton
Frank Thompson	Jane Toombs	Denise Turney
Edo van Belkom	Mark L. Van Name	Joan Van Nuys
Lawrence Watt-Evans	Robert Weinberg	K. D. Wentworth
Carolyn Wheat	Jack Williamson	Charles Wilson
Gene Wolfe	Valerie Wolzien	Steven Womack
Stuart Woods	Courtni Wright	Jane Yolen

This exciting book includes more than one hundred best-selling and otherwise well-known authors’ original material about their own openers, processes, and stories behind their opening lines. It provides readers entertainment and writers hints to improve their work.

 

A FEW OF THE REVIEWS:

 

KTHX RADIO, Reno NV Book Review by Linda Weber

"Sudden death saved his life." That's the first line of Edna Buchanan's novel Pulse. Don't you want to get that book and find out HOW? Successful authors know you've got to start off with a dynamite beginning to hook the reader. Hence the name of Sharon Rendell-Smock's book. She's come up with a unique concept: she got more than a hundred best-selling authors to tell their favorite opening lines and why those lines work.

 

This book is a must for anyone who's ever entertained the idea of writing a novel. Hooking the Reader: Opening Lines That Sell is by Sharon Rendell-Smock. It's $11.95. I recommend it.

 

THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

Hooking The Reader: Opening Lines That SELL by award winning author Sharon Rendell-Smock is a no nonsense compilation of literary tips, tricks, and techniques for hooking readers' attention, as provided and described by more than one hundred notable and successful authors ranging from Anne McCaffrey, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, and Larry Niven, to Poul Anderson, Gene Wolfe, and Greg Bear. From first-rate opening lines to ways to best sustain the reader's interest, Hooking The Reader is a veritable showcase of useful insights, information, tidbits, and examples -- and has the absolute highest recommendation for aspiring authors everywhere, regardless of their chosen genre or subject matter.

 

Review by Florida Writers Association

Whether you're writing your first novel or your seventh, you can find useful information in Rendell-Smock's book, Hooking the Reader: Opening Lines that Sell. More than 100 published authors share their techniques and secrets of hooking their readers. Rendell-Smock didn't just throw all of the author's responses in a hodgepodge manner and call it a book. She reviewed all the material she received, looked for similarities, and found patterns that she formatted in an easy-to-read, expansive source of "first line" information.

Award winning authors quote first lines from their own creations as well as from authors they admire. Rendell-Smock arranges her book with insights from each author and examples of first lines from classic to contemporary. Not only do these great authors share their techniques for hooking their readers with first lines, they share their thoughts and feelings about what motivated them to choose the words they did.

So, what makes a great first sentence? The hook. The hook is what captures the reader's interest and draws them into the author's imagination. Authors who use the hook effectively understand the importance of first impressions and carrying their reader's interest from the first page to the last.

You only get one chance to make a great first impression  Your book is no exception. Sharon Rendell-Smock understands this concept perfectly. She tells us that "books can start with a bang or a whimper." A great first sentence can be the start of a wonderful relationship between the author and the reader.

Discover the secrets of other authors and learn how to hook your reader from the very first sentence!

BIO:

Shara Rendell-Smock has written Living with Big Cats and Hooking the Reader: Opening Lines that Sell. April 2007 brought How I Got the Gig, a writers’ handbook by experts, with a chapter by Shara.

 

Prior to writing fun books, she wrote more than thirty computer software manuals and numerous features online and for magazines, and newspapers, including a column for The Sarasota Herald-Tribune. She presently is the secretary of the Florida Writers Association.  

With Kathryn Taromina, Shara is working the untitled humorous book of stories from garbage collectors. Visit her at www.sharasmock.com