The Joy of Beginning - Annie West

I LOVE the first scene of a new book. That's where the author grabs me and tosses me into a nail-biting or humorous or romantically intriguing situation. I read an opening chapter with enormous enthusiasm, expecting to be hooked so I want to read the next chapter and the next. A great opening will have so much scope for deliciously exciting tension and all sorts of possibilities. If I don't get hooked in chapter one I'm not likely to proceed to number two.

It's the same for writing. What comes to me first is usually an opening scene and setup where I see the hero and heroine, what they're doing and have some juicy problem to keep them at loggerheads but stuck with one another! Ah, the scent of new conflict in the opening pages is enough to give this writer's heart a kick start.

I was thinking about this as I recently received copies of my May UK Mills and Boon Modern story, BLACKMAILED BRIDE, INNOCENT WIFE. While I love writing openings for all my books, this one was especially fun to write.

It didn't come about because I was trying to come up with a new plot. It emerged from an article I was writing. In that I spoke about using scent to make a story come alive and gave as an example a scene that's a favourite with most romance readers and writers - the wedding. As I wrote and pondered the different emotions a bride might feel as she walked up the aisle I started to visualise a woman dressed in a bridal gown that was just a fraction too small for her (obviously made for someone else) whose heart was pounding because the last thing she wants to do is marry. But she has no choice.

Instantly I found I had two intriguing questions. Why doesn't she want to marry? Something lurking in her background perhaps? And even more to the point, why does she feel she must go through with something so repugnant to her.

It seems odd I suppose but I started the first draft not entirely sure of the answers to those questions. For the first few pages I was so busy getting deep inside Alissa's emotions that it didn't matter. But soon, thankfully, my mind came up with answers. I devised a convoluted plot that was exciting and intriguing and just a little too much to swallow. Fortunately, over a little time I pared it down to something workable. However, I hung onto the best part of all - the fact that though Alissa forces herself to turn up for the wedding against all her instincts, the tables are turned on her when the man waiting to marry her isn't the one she'd agreed to wed. Instead it's a stranger, enigmatic, powerful and dangerous.

You can imagine how the imaginative wheels started turning then!

There's no more exciting part of writing than discovering a window into a new book that grabs you from the first and that promises (if you can pull it off!) to hook other readers. The surge of enthusiasm is potent and it drags you along so you're writing and wondering and discovering as you go. It's like riding an enormous wave and striving to keep your balance as the wind rushes through your hair.

For me, there are so many memorable openings. Books I've adored where the writer drew me instantly into an exciting new world just waiting for me to explore. Michelle Douglas' heroine who's so out of her comfort zone she climbs a clothesline rather than face the hero's dog in The Loner's Guarded Heart. Anna Campbell's Untouched where the heroine is kidnapped to amuse a madman. Susan Napier's Secret Admirer where the heroine is stuck in a lift with a gorgeous stranger while she's wearing a fur coat and nothing else. Trish Morey's The Italian Boss's Mistress of Revenge where Dante believes the woman sleeping in his bed is waiting just for him. Christine Wells' The Dangerous Duke where we first see the Duke dangling a man by his ankles out of a window. The Sheikh's Unsuitable Bride by Liz Fielding, where we know from the start that Diana is the worst choice of chauffeur for Sheikh Zahir and therefore absolutely perfect for him!

What do you love in an opening? What hooks you? Do you have any favourites you want to share?

Annie's so thrilled about the release of BLACKMAILED BRIDE, INNOCENT WIFE this month, she'll send a signed copy to someone who contributes a comment. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about the book visit her website at http://www.annie-west.com or you can buy the book from Amazon UK.