First Lines Competition

The Hookline Novel Competition is entering it's fourth year - that's amazing!

But this year, we are going to add a twist - The First Line Contest!

First lines are hugely important - I know I am not alone when I say I have been hauled into novels simply based on those entry words. And Hookline book groups certainly seem to be drawn to good first lines.

Bryony Doran's first line in The China Bird reads: 'Edward hoards his mother's letters, not opening them straight away, but sometimes savouring what might be.'

Trevor Bloom begins The Half-Slave with: 'The boy sat in a tree high above the forest, his legs swinging.'

'Playing Mummy's little angel wasn't the ideal way to spend my formative years,' marks the beginning of Jilly Wosskow's A Young Woman's Guide to Carrying On.

'The chicken came first, we know that now,' begins Village Fate by PJ Davy.

These first lines take us straight to the main character and the action and provide some intrigue and inkling to the story ahead.

So Hookline writers be aware - we will copy the first line from each submission, paste it on our website and ask readers and book lovers to vote.