Ok, Deep breath, here goes: First page

A few months back Liz Fenwick wrote about the first page challenge. At the time I was far too much of a scaredy-bairn to post mine (although I tried plucking up the courage several times) and probably with good reason. That novel is in a semi-permanent staet of hibernation right now ~ it may have been the right book at the wrong time, perhaps, and maybe it will prove revivable at some point.

However, since then I have moved onto a new project which I'm far more motivated about, and I'm determined to do it justice. So, in a "c'mon, gels!" spirit of derring-do I tentatively present what is currently the opening page of "Should Have Been Me". Would you want to read on?




Should Have Been Me

It could have been me. No, not ‘could’. ‘Should’. It should have been me. Why not? It’s not that I’m bad looking, and I’ve certainly got the raw talent, if not the polish. I would have had an agent, one who was far-sighted enough to see the potential in me, take me under their wing and nurture that burgeoning ability, secure in the knowledge that once I got to the top they’d be raking it in. Because we’d remain friends, really close, ‘like sisters’, I’d say in interviews. I wouldn’t abandon them at the first sniff of fame and all of the fawning alternative offers that would bring with it.

No. I would remain true to my roots, close to the friends who knew me before I was someone. I’d be nice to the people I met on the way up (even though there was no real need; I certainly didn’t intend making my way back down). That would be one of the traits that would endear me ever more to the general public ~ that I was so ordinary. ‘Grounded’, they’d say, just like one of us, really, despite all the success. The girl next door with a little bit more.

Could have, should have been me. Why wasn’t it?

I’m Sonia Thompson, and you’ve never heard of me.