Hooks for Books Contest WINNER!
By Therese Walsh | May 4, 2011 |
Judging WU contests has become more difficult! This time around, there were 200 entries in our hooks-for-books contest, with the winner set to receive 14 of Mary Stewart’s beautiful reissued titles. Kath and I debated, we compromised, and finally we came up with our Top Ten hooks:
1. Sarah opened the door to see her dead mother standing in the rain.
2. Her baby was sleeping peacefully in the crib, even though the chainsaw still smoked and buzzed.
3. Two things stood out immediately – I had seen the man in the black suitcoat before, and someone else was watching him.
4. Being the daughter of a burnt-out contract killer wouldn’t have been Celia’s first choice for a life.
5. The floors in hell are cold.
6. In this photo, Jacquie looks completely sane.
7. Later, looking back, she realized the moment the swans started swimming across the causeway toward her was the beginning.
8. I had never contemplated the stupidity of cows before, but I had never been chained up in car driving across the country before either.
9. Karsten’s last day alive was otherwise unremarkable.
10. Alice sat back and sipped a glass of malbec, while her family album burned in the fireplace.
And the winner is…
Sean Sullivan’s entry:
Alice sat back and sipped a glass of malbec, while her family album burned in the fireplace.
Congratulations, Sean! We’ll email you soon with details of your win.
We’d also like to mention two other favorites:
“Of course it’s a filthy habit, darling,” my Aunt Lavinia replied as she took another drag off her cigarette. “But so are men named Michael.”
The above entry was actually our favorite, but the winning entry had to be one sentence. Still, great hook, Thea!
We also loved this not-very-Mary-Stewartish-but-still-funny entry:
Kate Minola knew exactly what kind of day it would be the moment the dog shit in her purse.
Yeah, that would be a bad day.
Thanks, everyone for playing, and congrats again to our winner, Sean Sullivan! Until next time.
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
But, hey, if Thea had put a comma and lower-case b, she would have won! (And would have been perfectly grammatically correct.)
“Of course it’s a filthy habit, darling,” my Aunt Lavinia replied as she took another drag off her cigarette, “but so are men named Michael.”
Great hooks!
You really did choose the one that matched the originals the best.
I have to cast my lot with number 6 and number 8. They just speak to me in a way that makes me laugh and cringe in the same moment. That’s what makes those sentences interesting to me. I want more. What comes next? I need to know.
Thanks for airing these out in public. It’s great to see what’s out there, and who’s writing it.
Thanks Jamie, #6 is the opening sentence of my WIP. :-)
I didn’t envy you the decision – it was tough. I’m happy one of mine made it to the top ten! Thanks!
Thank you. I’m truly honored to be counted in the top ten. And I agree with your choice for winner. It’s such a powerful image.
I would absolutely find myself drawn to reading a story that started out with any one one of those fabulous lines. A very clever collection of minds at work here :-)
Congrats, Sean. And thanks for the contest — it was fun playing!
Congrats, everyone! And Therese, thanks for the mention on my first line. (It’s based on personal experience, believe it or not.)
Fun contest! Every one of those is a winner.
Rosemary– yikes!
S.P
I loved these one-liners. Every single one makes me want to know what happens next. Great hooks!
Patti
Congrats to the top 10 and especially the winner!! Great contest – both trying to come up with the lines and reading the other entries! Glad I stumbled upon this site last week. I will keep popping in to see what is new!
Yay! Congrats, everyone. Great to see what this group can come up with.
What a hoot. Caught me by surprise and started my day just right. Love the concept of the contest. Pleeeeze do it again.
“I would never have run Michael over,” Aunt Lavinia grabbed Inspector Malone’s lapels. “if he hadn’t made me quit smoking.”
I bow to the winners – excellent! enjoy Mary Stewart’s books!
t
Congratulations Sean. I love your first line!