I recently saw there was a contest that invited you to send in the first paragraph of an original work. It’s called “Write Start” and it’s being sponsored by Paste and Bibliophile. Most authors struggle with those opening lines, because let’s face it. You only get one change to make a good impression and the first lines of a book are it.

There’s lots of great writing tips to be found right here.

We’re calling on aspiring and seasoned writers to submit a single opening paragraph—a collection of no more than 75 words—that leaves the reader intrigued and eager to know more. This won’t be any ordinary paragraph. It should hook the reader from the outset, be rich in description and remain unburdened by fatty detail or flowery prose. Don’t cram in too much information; the best entries will balance omission with admission.

I’m not going to enter, because I thought it would be fun to post the opening paragraph to my upcoming romance trilogy. I hope they do the trick and leave you wanting to read more  🙂

That Thing You Do  coming April, 2015

Allie Grant aimed her flashlight at the padlocked door to the Margaret Handy Senior Center. On the surface, the abandoned building appeared like any other ranch style structure built in the nineteen-fifties. Lots of brick, lots of windows, lots of deterioration. But this wasn’t just any crumbling building. According to her anonymous source, this building was haunted.

Then He Kissed Me  coming May, 2015

If Lauren Donalan were asked to rank the best day of her life, she’d answer hands down that it was the day her son Henry was born. She might have been eighteen and dumber than an armadillo, but she’d been smart enough to know a good thing when she saw it. Even if that good thing did wake up crying every two hours with a poopy diaper, wanting to be fed.

That Man Of Mine  coming June, 2015

Once upon a time there was a seventeen-year-old girl named Mary (No, not that Mary and not that long ago). But there was a similarity in their stories that women of all ages were all too familiar with. Both Marys had gotten inconveniently pregnant. One, by Divine Intervention, and the other…well, let’s just say it was the sex that had been divine.