Hooking the Reader and Setting the Tone of the Story By Connie Vines #Hooking your reader, #ChapterOne, #Romance novels,

 Chapter One: Hooking the reader and setting the tone of the story

Chapter One, page one, has to hook the reader and set the story's tone. 

In some ways, the opening chapter has to work harder than any of the others. Chapter One is the one most writers agonize over the most. 

Begin at the point the story actually starts – or even after it’s started.

I like to begin with dialogue, followed by action. 

Make sure the opening sets the tone for the rest of the novel. 

Easy-peasy. 

Except when it isn't.

Tanayia--Whisper upon the Water. (historical YA novel). It was my first award-winning novel. I was also honored with a lifetime achievement award for my work on behalf of Native American Children.

While the use of a prologue is usually discouraged, it was a simple way to transport a reader into the past.

1868

The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over the age of six be educated in the ways of the while man.

Indian Commissioner, Thomas Morgan, said, "It is cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them".

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries.

  

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remain where the sagebrush is stripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rock and twisted paths that reach out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship. This is my world. I am Tanayia. I was born thirteen winters ago. We call ourselves N'dee, the People. The white man calls us Apache.

On the lighter side.  "Who doesn't love a cowboy?"

Chapter One

Charlene hadn't told Rachel that she'd fixed her up with a cowboy, much less Lynx Maddox, the "Wild Cat" of the rodeo circuit.  Rachel sighed. She should have known. After all, Charlene only dated men who wore boots and Stetsons.

If you like your romance Cajun style, you'll enjoy this mix of short stories. 🐊

"Marrying off Murphy." Like all Cajun fairy tales, it began harmless enough. A match-maker 

 promises to turn a stuffy professor into a charming prince. So, why does the confirmed bachlorette suddenly wish she was dressed for the ball?

"Love Potion #9"  Watch what happens when you mix a traditional Creole woman with a fun-loving Cajun man and throw in a Voodoo Love Potion--stand back! The Louisiana Bayou ain't never gonna be the same!

"A Slice of Scandal". A producer finds herself embroiled in a mystery as hot as her Bayou Cooking Show. When an undercover cop-turned-chef shows up and dishes up more heat than a bottle of Louisiana hot peppers.  Can she prove her innocence before the real killer finds her? Or, will she become the main course in a murder trial?

"1-800-FORTUNE" Garlic hangs from the rafters, but this sexy Loupe Garou isn't looking for trouble or a cure for what ails him. What's a law-abiding werewolf to do when a gypsy woman shows up with mischief on her mind?  

To purchase or for sample reads of my novels:

BWL (publisher's site)  https://www.bookswelove.com/

AMAZON: Kindle, audio, print. (Canada or USA)

Or at your favorite online bookseller.

Happy Reading,

Connie