OK, I redid the opening of Anna to get into the story quicker by killing her husband in the very first scene. On the first page. In the second paragraph. No one can accuse me of wallowing in the backstory this time around! t shakes tiny fist at contest judges

Anyway, the way I handle it is by a two-paragraph semi-prologue in third omniscient before plunging right into third limited, hero POV, where the hero and heroine meet. They don't know her husband is dead, but the point of the intro is that the reader will, and will view the heroine's unhappiness with her husband (when we switch to her POV 7 pages in) through the lens of wondering how she'll feel when she knows the truth.

So. I'm rambling. Here's the intro:

CHAPTER ONE

Spain, June 1811

The mounted patrol, dressed in dazzling fur-trimmed blues that marked them as British dragoons, turned for camp. They had been out scouting for days with nary a sight of the French, and now their thoughts turned toward hot dinners and bedding their women, perhaps even in that order.

They were utterly surprised when shots rang out from a scrubby little copse on the hill to their north. A blond captain, tallest and handsomest of all the officers in the regiment, fell from his chestnut gelding, his forehead shattered by a musket ball.

My writers group thinks that I need to set the scene a little more, both in terms of descriptive detail and historical background. I kinda agree on the descriptive detail, though I don't want to overdo it when the whole point is to kill the handsome blond guy and get on with the story. But for historical background, really, I think most people who read the genre at all could get the basic gist from the location and the mention of the British and the French. I'm not expecting them to know enough to write a dissertation on the Peninsular Wars, but I feel like most people know this is the age of Napoleon, that he conquered most of Europe, and that the British fought him. But my writing group disagrees.

Susan, I agree with you on the amount of detail necessary in the above scene.

I also think that the rejection you mentioned before is probably something sent to everyone who submitted to that agent -- when another editor left where I used to work, there was no getting through her stuff and mine as well, but I had to reply to everyone (since she unkindly left a big mess in her wake). Form letters get the job done, but while they do suck, know that this one is probably just a matter of clearing up behind someone and in no way an opinion on your work.

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Drabble #21:

“It’s hideous.”

“Hideous doesn’t even begin to describe it.” But she couldn’t look away, even though dread and something close to nausea had begun to battle it out in her gut. Apparently the others couldn’t either. They huddled, squinting, furrowing, once even sniffling.

“But it’s…God, there are truly no words,” one of the others murmured. “What is that exactly?”

“I don’t think I want to know,” she said, sinking into a chair, still staring down at the monstrosity laid out before them. “It looks…rash-producing.”

“Synthetic.” The girl to her left shrugged. “Down to the lavender ribbon. Your typical bridesmaid nightmare.”

Hey Allyson, I'd read your stuff too, if you want. (I don't know that I could do fiction-writers any good.)

Susan, you know I say you rooooock a lot, and I do, I admire your dedication. I've always felt a bit disingenuous saying it, though, since I haven't actually read anything of yours. Because historical romances? Really not my thing.

That being said, those two paragraphs are a great opener, and I chuckled out loud at

now their thoughts turned toward hot dinners and bedding their women, perhaps even in that order

And I loved the "utterly" in the next sentence. Hell, I love the wry tone of these first paragraphs, it saddens me that you're going to change it to something different. You kill a guy in the second paragraph! It's great! I imagine the rest of the book is more serious and less whimsical, however.

And as for the detail, you've got British guys and French guys obviously in some sort of war situation, and someone gets shot. I don't think you need gobs of backstory just yet, especially because the impact of that killing is because it's so abrupt. You can fill in historical context after that if you want.

In other words, Susan, you roooooock.

Hey Jesse! Can you be brutal? I got some good brutality today that was really helpful. I can't help but think that beta readers are the only way it'll be read. I'd love to chat with you about a couple of thangs, too.

I don't know about brutal, but I'll give it a shot? Feel free to e.

Amy! That's perfect! Hee.

Susan, it isn't enough for me. But I'm not at all familiar with your genre, which is why I don't trust my comments on your work. So please feel free to disregard me.

AmyLiz, I love that drabble. Made me do the rare literal LOL.

You kill a guy in the second paragraph! It's great!

Just call me Tim Minear. Except the dead guy isn't especially lovable.

Hell, I love the wry tone of these first paragraphs, it saddens me that you're going to change it to something different.

Well, I'd hate to have to maintain that omniscient distance for any length of time! But I think most of my writing, though fundamentally serious, keeps a hint of the wry. Read Jane Austen enough and it rubs off on you.

Susan, it isn't enough for me. But I'm not at all familiar with your genre, which is why I don't trust my comments on your work. So please feel free to disregard me.

DH thinks I can throw in a phrase here and there that'll make it clear without having to be pedantic--maybe a reference to Bonaparte, and to how war-weary the riders are since most of them have been there for several years, etc.

Another point of contention from tonight's group:

I describe the hero through the heroine's eyes, and we discussed how to strike the right balance of enabling the readers to form a mental picture without it coming across as a laundry list of features like a description of a MarySue in a poorly written first fanfic effort by a starry-eyed teen. Everyone in my writers group wants me to have Jack remind Anna of her brother James, the hero of my previous effort, since I used some similar adjectives to describe them (i.e. wiry and strong-boned).

To me that means I need to step away from my pet adjectival shorthand for "manly hottie with the right build for a Regency wardrobe (mmm, tight pants)", because the Jack and James who live in my head don't look much alike beyond both having long noses. And I think it'd be really hard to have Anna think of Jack resembling her brother without it being incestuous and creepifying. Also, I'm trying very hard to make this work as a stand-alone so that I can sell it regardless of what happens withthe first book. But they think that since she's not yet at the level of being consciously attracted to him, to have her be reminded of her brother would be a nice way to show that she finds him comfortable and appealing.

Ew, I agree with you and not your group on him reminding her of her brother. That way lies ickiness. He could remind her, enough for her to be inclined to trust him, of someone else she's known, though, and felt comfortable with. Surely there was a neighbor, or a friend's father, even a merchant or a groom who showed a bit of awareness--anyone but a relative.

But I do very much agree with Dylan on

how war-weary the riders are since most of them have been there for several years

and also how routine this sort of thing would become to them. They're just trudging through it by rote, which is why the killing shot is so shocking. The way it's written (although P-C was all charmed by "utterly surprised"), I don't think it comes off as wry, I think it comes off as sarcarstic. But then again, me, with my scant knowledge of the genre.

But also? I think the ref to Boney would be superfluous.