Hooks; let's write 'em.

[Winter Lord]

Up until thirty years ago, the world was mostly normal. Yeah, there were a few Verges, but you only had to worry about a few drop-ins in a decade, the occasional lost person, and that magic could be erratic a times. That all changed in the Fall of 19--, when the Great Midwestern Verge erupted. Followed by all of the others in the world either getting bigger, or more active. Why does this effect my life? Well, when the GMV erupted, I was coming into the world, and it changed me. Whenever anyone says that they wish they could be in two places at once, I laugh. When you have three, mostly independent bodies, can get confusing at times, especially with having one live five hundred miles away, in New Coventry.

 

[Talysia]

When the aliens finally came, they didn't want to conquer us. They didn't even want us to serve them, give them any of our natural resources, or take anyone for their tests. Instead, they wanted to share their technology with us. Everyone was amazed and pleased, especially when the first alien/human technology hit the shelves and everyone could afford it. It became the next big thing, to have a little piece of alien technology in your own home, and everyone was so dazzled by their generosity that they didn't even consider the consequences of using the technology without enough testing, nor did they consider the fact that someone out there might have an ulterior motive.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As I gazed into the amber bead, I was horrified to see a tiny face staring back at me: a miniscule humanoid, winged like a dragonfly. You may wonder how I ever arrived at such a terrible moment. I was simply digging a hole in my own garden, with the perfectly innocent intention of planting a rosebush, when I inadvertantly desecrated a fairy graveyard.

They are, as you know, a vengeful race.

 

[Saltheart]

The last person who read this book, Jason read, died.

He didn't last a second.

 

[Talysia]

I like that one, Saltheart.

Waking up in the morning to see that the plants had grown exponentially overnight was quite a shock. It was even more of a shock to see that they had become sentient. For those who took good care of their gardens and houseplants, all was well, but for those who mistreated them...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

When I opened the freezer door, there was a twelve-inch frozen mammoth, squeezed in between the ice cubes and our Thanksgiving turkey. My kid brother was at his science experiments again!

Maybe I ought to tell you a little something about my family.

 

[Saltheart]

Sometime between lunch and dinner, my house exploded and my family died. So I ate a sub for dinner. It was there in Subway I supposed I should have avenged them. There could have been a witness or two, and according to the law, blowing up things and killing people is illegal.

 

[Talysia]

Getting inside had been the easy part. Finding what she needed would be the most difficult part, especially since it had been divided and stored in seven different locations. For the paramount thief in the country, it wasn't usually a problem, but then they weren't saddled with someone from the Thief's Guild, doing a review of her skills. Nothing like being watched to make you nervous, and even more so when the place was full of the most ridiculously sophisticated traps and security measures that ever graced a building before.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Ten years work, destroyed. I knew that as soon as I saw the melted disks in the ashtray, opened the drawer of my desk and found the manuscript missing. Under the smell of burning plastic I detected smoke, and I didn't have to ask what that pile of ashes was in the grate. The man whose incredible story had caused me to put aside everything that I thought I knew and take my research in a new and dangerous direction was dead. Other sources, in the Vatican, and in London and Washington DC, had disappeared or recanted. Now this. But there were no signs of breaking-and-entering; the security device had been turned off; whoever had done this had a key and knew the code. Someone close to me was responsible -- but who?

 

[Talysia]

Battered and bruised, I dragged myself out of the crater and looked down at my hands. Surely I wasn't capable of such devastation, but the effects of the blast were evident - buildings lay in ruin, trees were flattened and splintered, and people lay groaning in the street. All I could think of was, What on Earth had happened to me?

 

[mosaix]

The politician, with his easy style, was used to working the crowds. He knew when to speak and when to pause for the laughter or the clapping.

'This one is in the bag,' he thought to himself. 'Another five years of easy money, another five years of lining my pockets, another five years of wining and dining and all paid for by trash like this.'

At the back of the crowd a broken down tramp stood and watched. He hadn't eaten in nearly two days, he hadn't washed for a week, he hadn't a penny to his name and not one item of his worn and torn clothing fitted him properly.

Momentarily their eyes met over the top of the cheering throng. The tramp smiled, shook his head and turned away.

'Is he judging me?' Thought the politician. 'Is he judging me!'

 

[Triceratops]

Stumbling down the sidewalk, Remy Hargitay left a meandering wake of Aqua Velva and Boones Berry Farm wine. Glanced from afar, one would expect that this man lacked taste on all fronts. Every jarring step saw his hair break over his forehead like a small tsunami. Keeping his piece of paper gripped firmly in hand and adjusting his bifocals over a sweaty brow, he proceeded to his target address, certain that the next blonde building was the location of the foster care and adoption agency. Increasing the speed, his feet tangled and missed their firing order. He went down with an undignified belly flop on the asphalt, striking his chin. When he slew up to his feet, he threw out a ponderous leg, to bring it down on his glasses with a crunch. He dropped to his knees and fingered the broken frames and spider-cracked lenses. He looked up woozily into the sky and saw a fat cloud that looked like a bearded old man.
“Damn your eyes!” he told God, and wobbled to his feet. “You can make it hard, but don’t make it impossible.”

 

[Talysia]

It should have remained buried forever. No-one could have imagined that routine work to repair the road surface of the motorway would result in such a calamity, but that was what had happened. They had been working normally, until the pneumatic drill had struck something and then melted into a pool of metallic liquid. Then the gases came, bursting out from the surface of the road, and the workmen went fleeing in panic. The motorists all stopped to look, but even they abandoned their vehicles when the crack widened further and a scaly, clawed hand the size of a minivan was suddenly thrust into the air.

 

[Mad Tam McC]

It was two o'clock in the morning when he watched the cuckoo clock on the wall slowly melt

 

[Mad Tam McC]

He would never forget the first time he saw the monster. It was about waist height and if it stood on its hind legs it would nearly as large as a man. It looked at him hungrily and so he just did what anyone would do, he turned and ran. He looked round to see it chase after him. He could hear its breathing getting closer and closer. He expected teeth to bite into him at any moment. Then it raced past and it ran round the front and sat in front looking expectantly at him. He stopped unsure of what to do. There was a shout and then the monster stood up and ran towards the shout.
'Rover! Come here good boy' came the shout again.

 

[scalem X]

It was two o'clock in the morning when he watched the cuckoo clock on the wall slowly melt

Nice one.

I think there are many ways of trying to hook a reader, some quicker than others.

By bluntness:
Snap! Accompanied by that sound ended the last movement of her body. And started a life of drinking food through a straw.

By surrealism/quirkiness:
He watched and watched and watched. But I won't tell you what he saw. Well not in the first chapter anyway.

By peeking interest:
A trickle of salty water, going down, dodging the dark hairs of a man's beard to then take a leap from his chin onto a kalashnikov with one round of bullets left, will decide a human life. Here is how it went...

 

[timelord4]

Hahah

Good ones scalem, nice touch.

By helplessness:
I knew they would torture me, those standing there in their black robes and instruments of death -- break all my bones and leave me for dead, they will. But how could I tell them what they wanted to hear? I would, you know. Tell them anything they wanted.

If only that one yesterday hadn't cut out my tongue...

 

[Dwarf of Moria]

He tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't move. They were too cut up for that. The man standing above laughed, and drew out his sword.
"You just had to get in my way, didn't you? Now you will pay!"

 

[Talysia]

A shard of glass fell, dropping from the broken window to shatter on the floor. One minute, he had been sitting by the window, looking out at a peaceful town, and the next he was diving for the comparative safety of the space beneath the table as a strange object burst through the plate glass. A glance back told him that the object was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, and his instincts told him that it was dangerous.

 

[Mad Tam McC]

It was on the morn of the 24th when he decided to take a vow of chutney.