Friday, April 3, 2009

Hooker


At night just before I turn out the light, I sometimes fill the page of a notebook I keep beside the bed, with . . . well, crap. The crap part usually happens if I also drink a glass of wine before lights out.

I’ve been interested in first paragraph hooks. If the whole rest of your book stinks, you at least have to wow them with a first paragraph masterpiece. After an agent gets through the first paragraph in total awe; of course, you don’t want the rest of the book to stink, but you get my point.

My strong strength, if I have one, is leaving the hook at the end of the chapter. Some agents must be immediately entertained before they reach the masterfully written end hook. Pity. Anyway, I digress.

Hooks. I’m going to share some of the hooks I’ve written in the late night hours. Some of them are cheesy, I admit. Maybe you’ll think they all are. But, here it goes.


  • Had I known I’d be wading through Poison Oak, I’d have worn jeans instead of my prom dress and three-inch Stilettos. Who knew that jerk would drop me in the middle of nowhere.


  • I fell asleep on the tanning bed. When I woke, the lights were off and my body could have melted the ice of an igloo. The act of getting dressed caused excruciating pain. I nearly tripped over the body when I stepped out of the tanning chamber.

  • It was all coming back to me now.


  • It started in the dead of night, but the sun had been up for hours.


  • Sometimes you have to let things go.


  • It was a stench I’d never forget. The stench of death warmed over by who knew how many days in the sun.


  • I reached for my cell phone where it lay ont the rock and heard a rattle.


  • Babies don’t belong in bars, especially if one hapless little tyke has me for a mother. The owner told me if I left the child in the bar again, he’d report me.

    I really have to quit drinking before I start sleeping. I'm no poet.

6 comments:

  1. Love the artwork. Ha, ha ha. Perhaps all I need when I write is a glass, or two, of wine. Lemonade tonight.

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  2. I love, love, love this post. It is very funny, you're a "riot".

    Thanks for following me on my blog. I'm having so much fun meeting new people and making new friends. Hope the rest of your weekend is good.

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  3. I just found your blog and love it. I'll definitely bookmark it.

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  4. Too funny. Especially everyword but I like the wine thing. Me too funny how that happens. I should do the notebook thing. I sure get inspireded after bed.

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  5. You have good stuff here. One of my favorite writers always gave similar advice as yours. He said, always try to give them a great first sentence.

    As far as cheesy goes, I specialize in it. It can be highly entertaining at times.

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  6. First-time visitor through a follower on my blog...

    Great stuff here. I'll be back for more...and often

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