Monday, April 26, 2010

First Pages

Some Tenner authors are posing their first pages, so I thought I'd play. Go here to read more first pages from 2010 debut authors. Here's mine:


Preface
(Or: The Cliff’s Notes Version of My Life Up Until Now)

First off, I’m going to save you from reading seventy-two pages of how I got to a Scottish castle on the Isle of Huracan in the middle of a black churning sea. I need to tell it fast because if you read the long, drawn-out version you’re going to think you’ve heard it all before. It has all the clichés: super-smart, young girl ripped from her cushy life in San Francisco, taken away from her best friend Justine whom she’s known since preschool, relocated to a dreary island castle in Scotland (inherited, of course!) for the summer before her junior year so her parents can see if they want to turn it in to a bed and breakfast, even though they have not made bed nor breakfast for this super-smart girl in years. You’ve heard it a million times, right? Wait, there’s more! The girl finds a secret room attached to her bedroom, because there just has to be a secret room.
            And of course, there’s a monkey. A small monkey that was abandoned at the castle years ago by a Chinese visitor. PETA should give me a medal or something because I convinced Thomas, the whisky-soaked groundskeeper, to move him from the cold little shed behind the castle to the wood cubby by the kitchen fireplace. We lost two cooks over this, but that’s okay. The new cook, Mrs. Findlay, is amazing and she has a beautiful grandson a year older than me that looks like he could be posing for a J. Crew ad every minute of the day. Because there has to be a boy, right? (Thank God!)
Anyway, this monkey knows how to do origami, so his highly original name is Mr. Papers. I know it sounds hard to believe, but he communicates through his origami—kind of like sign language but with paper.
Having a monkey at the castle was a bonus; I would never have been able to get one on my own because Mom is all righteous about caging up animals that live in the wild. You should have seen her face when Thomas first told her about Mr. Papers—I knew the minute she heard the words “monkey” and “origami” she was probably picturing the little guy in a Taiwan sweatshop cranking out origami ornaments for Walmart.

10 comments:

Jennie Englund said...

Those are GREAT first words!

Who wouldn't find that voice completely addictive?

Nicole Settle said...

I'm totally hooked and intrigued. Haha love Mr. Papers! Can't wait to read it!

Heather Kelly said...

Oh, man. Can't wait! Thanks for the teaser!!

And, even though your blog is on my blogroll, I wasn't a follower...until now. Sorry! I remedied the discrepancy. Oh, and my son thinks you look like Chuck's sister Ellie on 'Chuck'.

But, seriously. I'm really enjoying your mc's voice, and can't read to buy this sucker!!

Heather Kelly said...

okay, my last sentence should read: can't WAIT to buy this sucker. (I even revise my blog comments...)

Robin Mellom said...

So great! Can't wait to read the whole thing! Oh, and I got my bookmarks, thanks sweetie!

:-)

PJ Hoover said...

I just got your book yesterday! Yay! If i get all my critiques done at a reasonable hour, I'll start it tonight. Otherwise tomorrow. Can't wait!
And I love the bookmarks!

Unknown said...

What a tease your first page is!! I love it!

Taking a look at the rest of the Tenners pages has just added to my TBR list exponentially. Thanks!

Tina Laurel Lee said...

Coolness! So fun to get a peek. I love the updated voice with the thrill of all my old English faves, fairytale-esque! Although it makes me impatient. I cannot wait until Amazon sends the book my way, now more than ever. This is gonna be good, Christy, I have no doubt!

Dena said...

I challenge you to signing my copy of your fabulous book whilst sipping a glass of vino. Or Scotch. You choose.

Liyana said...

Love it! Hey Mr Papers, *folds folds folds paper* erm, never mind.