Welcome to an excellent beginning.

You are reading a collaborative project by several novelists to celebrate the importance of a first page. The idea began with a thread in the Tapas forums for showing off our first three paragraphs, and we decided that concept was worth formalizing into a growing anthology.

These writers have taken a lot of care in crafting first impressions. A effective first page must accomplish several tasks: engage the potential audience, establish some foundational knowledge about the world or the characters, set a tone, and generally explain through example what sort of book it will be. Although some have been suggested, no formula exists for crafting a great first page to every story. Biographies about each of the authors and links to their work may be found after each section.

On behalf of all the collaborators, I want to you thank you so much for reading our work, even if it may be just a few sentences.

That Guy,

Scott Zaboem