Welcome back, my fellow creatives!

Yup, I'm back to looking at the first five pages of various
stories, for those five pages can make or break the engagement of a reader--or an agent. So, let's scope out the stories of others to see how they hook an
audience!

I’ve sampled two of T. Kingfisher’s past books on this podcast, and this third edition doesn’t disappoint, either. Huzzah! A Sorceress Comes to Call provides a slow burn for the magic balanced with a dark, relatable setting. Outsiders may only see a mother and her teen daughter attend church and go home, but as readers we listen to Cordelia’s thoughts and learn her mother is controlling her body, her voice—everything. Cordelia must be made “obedient” when out in the world, and Cordelia is growing more and more desperate to break free of her mother’s control. It’s a beautifully layered opening of the “normal” conflicts—rebellious teen in church, mother and daughter don’t get alone—with the fantastically not-normal—mother using magic to control daughter’s being. I’m not very familiar with the Brother Grimm’s “Goose Girl” on which this is based, and that actually makes me even more excited to keep reading as I won’t be able to predict where this goes.

And what will we discover in the next story's five pages?
We'll have to wait and see. xxxx

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!