FRIDAY NOTES & NEWS: The Importance of First Paragraphs

BY NANCY KAY CLARK
CL editor & publisher

Copyright is held by the author.

“I WAS running again. In my head I was running and hugging Sila to my chest, stumbling through the back lanes and tripping over trash, my face scarfed against the dust. Couldn’t hardly see, and with every cough Sila jerked, and her bloody puke spread through the blanket I had wrapped her in.”
 
This is the first paragraph of the current draft of my spec fiction novel-in-progress Simoom Rising. Does it capture your attention? Would you read on?
 
I’ve been asking myself these same two questions . . . Read more of CL editor Nancy Kay Clark’s blog post.

Contributor News
Nancy Christie
’s latest Midlife Moxie novel, Finding Fran, has recently been released in eBook format, with the paperback release scheduled for May. This is Christie’s second novel and eighth book. For more information, visit her website: www.nancychristie.com and sign up for her Nancy’s Book News newsletter.

Sylvia Barnard will be participating in the Local Author Book fair at the Midland Public Library in Midland Ontario on April 17 from 5:30-7:30 pm.

Win a Free Editorial Critique!
Thank you to everyone who took our readership survey last week. We’re leaving the survey open for a couple more weeks for anybody else who might like to give us some feedback.

And if you fill out our five-minute readership survey, we’ll enter your name in a draw to win a free editorial critique (prose only; 4,000-word max) from CL editor Nancy Kay Clark. 

We haven’t done a readership survey in a while, and it’s time. It’s not that onerous, and it will help us learn more about the CL community and how we can serve you better. We’re always open to suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

Take the survey.