finally has a completed first chapter. It took days to decide where to begin Lil’s story.

Magic Bean Cafe began with Rhea reluctantly going to a speed dating night, where she caught her first glimpse of Aisin across the room. Once There Was A Tree began where Magic Bean left off, Gwen sitting on the sidelines until Ioan walked in. In Tipping the Scales we found Minerva in her chambers, going over files to prepare for the afternoon ahead, with Simon dropping off some of his Greek specialties as a sample of things to come.

As an author, I know that the first chapter is critical. It either grabs the reader so they are inclined to read more, or it doesn’t. Most people want to know quickly whether the book is worth their time. Let’s face it, it’s usually a valuable commodity that none of us want to waste. I read the blurb first, and if it hooks, I open up to the first chapter to get a sense of the writer’s style. I envy authors like Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Her first few pages, at times quirky, at times off the beaten path, are so intriguing that I know it’ll be a great read and I tend to gobble it up in one sitting.  She never fails to pull me in.

The first chapter has to contain all the important stuff. It sets the tone, introduces the main characters through dialogue and movement, gives you an insight into the conflict brewing, creates the setting and time frame, and establishes the theme. It should pack a punch. I tend to spend the first ten or eleven pages highlighting the female lead, giving the reader a sense of who she is, where she’s from, what important to her, and how she exists in the world around her. It’s only then that the male lead comes into play. He shows up on the page to intrigue, to badger, to cast a spell, or, in Lilith and Niall’s case, to annoy.

Lilith is one of the eight original goddesses in the series and plays a big role. Niall has been interspersed through out the first three books so you might have a sense of who he is and why Lil has a bone to pick. But do you really? There’s a lot more going on beneath the surface than even Lil realizes. It’s my job to spark your curiosity, to make you care enough about them both, to want to find out what it is.