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 week we looked at First Five Lines from Nonnie Jules. This week we have the opening lines from Look Behind You by Author Sibel Hodge.

Pain everywhere. My back, my wrists, my legs. Even my hair hurts. The worst of it is in my head. Hot, white shards of pain stabbing my skull.

These opening lines immediately grab me by the hair and yank me in. What I want to know is what awful situation is the character in? I don’t even know at this stage if the person is man or woman, and already I feel for them.  In just these five lines, the author has laid out the premise for the story and pulled the reader into Chloe’s world.

Other writing advice tells us that each chapter should be written as though it is the first chapter. So, this tells us that the first five lines of each chapter should be as compelling as the first five lines of the book. This author, in Look Behind You, didn’t fail to deliver. And here are five first lines from the beginning of a chapter near the end of the book:

Three things happen. I hear a sound downstairs. My heart stops. I freeze. ‘I know you’re here, Chloe!’

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:

I hate tea. And you’re not everyone’s cuppa. Still, I crave you like I crave coffee. You set my heart racing, and flames fry my veins. How is it that you have no idea I even exist?

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