I was interviewed on the Wizards & Spaceships podcast about writing great openings in scifi/fantasy stories. We geeked out about some favourites in popular media, and also shared a few “hot takes.”

A case study from the front lines of fiction publishing: novelist/marketer Grace Flahive talks about the dos and don’ts of pursuing publication, working with an agent, hooking editors, and learning from rejection.

Literary editor Jenny Jackson shares how Crazy Rich Asians was able to find its niche to connect with readers. She also shares practical tips that help her authors focus their novel’s intent. Finally, she discusses her own transition from editor to author, and what she brought from her editorial experience into her writing process.

How the opening chapters of the novel Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan build (and subvert) genre expectations to hook and satisfy readers. The novel knows exactly what readers expect, and the opening delivers on those expectations with surprise and delight.

I was interviewed on the Introverted Queen podcast about storytelling, siblings, shyness, and of course introversion during the pandemic.

How the prologue of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak delivers an impressionistic look at the plot ahead, without spoiling that plot or even setting it up. Also, how the prologue teaches us to read the novel’s unique narrative voice without interrupting the story’s dramatic action.

How the prologue of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin breaks from the Tolkien model of starting with heavy exposition and world-building, and instead delivers a simple action scene with sympathetic characters—a scene that also foreshadows the great conflicts of the novel and series.

How the comic series Saga starts with a bang, dropping us into the middle of a story already in progress, and how its exposition delivers drama instead of information. Also, how the structure of Saga follows in the footsteps of the pilot episode of Lost and the opening of the first Star Wars film.

How author Suzanne Collins creates a compelling high-concept premise in the opening chapter of The Hunger Games, how she brings that premise to life through character, world-building, and language, and how that premise conquered the literary world.

How author Cormac McCarthy creates vulnerable characters that engage our emotions in his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Road. Also, how the literary theories of Greek philosopher Aristotle still apply today, and what the modern anti-hero gets right and wrong.

How author David Mitchell uses unexpected structure and language to hook readers in his novel Cloud Atlas. Plus, how the psychological concept of flow applies to great writing.

Great writers build spaces for compelling stories and settings that capture our imagination. Here's how author Neil Gaiman hooks readers using exploration and discovery of a setting in Chapter 1 of his novel Coraline.

A big change in a character’s life sets them on a new path and on a new story. See how Neil Gaiman uses the start of a new life to hook readers in his novel American Gods.

How author Susanna Clarke asks the right questions to hook readers and drive the story in the opening chapter of her fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Also, how the philosophy of Romanticism comes alive in the story and setting, and what writers can learn from cartoons.

In Life of Pi, Yann Martel searches for the “spark that brings to life a real story.” Life of Pi itself uses first-person storytelling to light that spark. See how Yann Martel uses the power of first person in the opening chapters to hook the reader, and why the novel starts before the first page.

How the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone hooked readers, agents, and editors, using voice, mystery, and nostalgia.

In a spectacular TED talk, explorer Wade Davis reflected on the world’s cultures saying, “These myriad voices of humanity are not failed attempts at being modern. They’re unique facets of the human imagination. They’re unique answers to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive?” We’ve captured just a few of those myriad voices and unique answers in The Faith Project, an interactive documentary exploring the religious diversity of Canada.

After I walk across the stone bridge, there’s a small cobblestoned plaza that forks into winding streets. I turn left, walking in the cramped alleys between old buildings. There are stairs, and an archway, and beyond, the buildings open up to a cemetery. It’s the only way to the old church, where they say there’s a cure for my illness.

A shooting star streaked through the clear mustard sky and burst apart, bombarding the plateau and the colony below with shrapnel. After a fragment with a bullet’s velocity shattered a dish on the colony’s communications tower, Arjun decided to climb the tower himself to repair the dish rather than pull construction drones away from their scheduled work.

It was called the Plain of Six Glaciers, which sounded like something in a Tolkien novel, what with his Battle of the Five Armies, or the Cracks of Doom, or, like, the entire Silmarillion. I stared up into the mountains at the supposed location of the mythical plain. The distant plateau was hidden by peaks and the sunlight shone from behind them.