Hello and welcome to First Five Friday!

When writing a novel, authors are advised to make the first five lines pop. These are what need to catch the reader’s attention from the get go. So, each Friday, I shall share with you the first five lines from a book that caught my attention, and then I’ll do a bit of show and tell, where I make up Five First Lines on the spot. Feel free to comment, and leave Five Lines of your own! 🙂 If you have read a book where the opening lines impressed you, please do share! For any books I post on First Five Friday, you will find the UK Amazon link in the title link, and the US Amazon link by clicking on the book cover.

Last time, we looked at First Five Lines from Michael Lynes. This week we have the opening lines from Diary of a Christian Woman: How I used 50 Shades of Grey to Spice up my Marriage by author Rebecca Reilly.

My name is Phoebe. I married George in 1994. It feels cliche describing him by his job as an accountant, but that’s who he is. Cliches are cliches for a reason. George is fussy about details, extremely conscientious, and he gets more excited over commercials on the golf channel than at the thought of taking an exotic vacation with me.

These opening lines lay it all out for you. The final line of the five shows the state of their marriage so succinctly with the description of George and his delight with the golf channel! I love it. The rest of the book lived up to the promise of these lines, and continued the beautiful levity. I like, too, how the first lines are short and lead into longer lines as the writer pulls the reader in. I want to know more about Phoebe and George, about their world, and how they work through their obvious difficulties.

The best books lure you inside, and then slam the door shut behind you. 

Okay, time for me to write Five First Lines for today:

Why would someone unbury a dead body? More to the point, why would they bury the shovel? The shallow grave means the digger could easily have been a male or a female. The main question right now, though, is whether the burier is the same person as the exhumer. I wish I could be certain the corpse didn’t unbury itself, but I’ve learned better.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come lurk in my lair next Friday, where we’ll have more Five First Lines! 🙂 

Find Harmony’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon US