The First Page: Fairly Certain by Deborah Ann Davis

Title: Fairly Certain
Author: Deborah Ann Davis
Publisher: D&D Universe
Pages: 196
Genre: New Adult

 

What happens when a Computer Geek challenges a Medieval Outlaw?

PETIR TAKES A ROUGH TUMBLE IN THE CONNECTICUT WOODS, and awakens in the middle of old England. His instinct to freak out is tempered by the arrival of a fair maiden wearing a bow… and arrow. In his college world, fair maiden types don’t ordinarily go for computer geek types, but for some reason, he is no longer in his world. Petir’s fairly certain he can try whatever he wants without consequence… but the fair maiden isn’t playing fair.

WITH THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE ROYALS ESCALATING, MAID RIANNE has joined the outlaws hiding in the woods, outwardly defying the handsome and accomplished knight to whom she is promised. She is fairly certain she is simply flattered by Lord Petir’s uncensored admiration of her skills with the staff and bow, the same unmaidenly pursuits disdained by her knight. But, that doesn’t explain her reaction to Lord Petir’s unguarded gaze.

TO PETIR’S DELIGHT, AND MAID RIANNE’S DISMAY, the outlaws invite him to join their merry band. What better way to get close to her? Throwing caution to the wind, Petir decides he has nothing to lose by pursuing Maid Rianne. It’s fun and games, until Maid Rianne is captured by the enemy. Now, a geek with no ability to defend himself must find a way to rescue a fair maiden who has become much more than fair game.

“Adorably romantic!”   An absolutely fun, adorable, romantic read that will thoroughly entertain you, no ifs, ands, or buts! The plot was extremely unique and I l-o-v-e-d just how unusual it was. It was thoughtfully planned out and written with a smooth glide, seemingly effortless on the author’s part. The ending was surprisingly unexpected and I’m thinking I really, really like this new-to-me-author, Ms. Deborah Ann Davis! I’m already anxiously awaiting her next book. Don’t miss Fairly Certain or I’m completely certain you’ll be upset you did!

-- Review by bookshellz

For More Information

• Fairly Certain is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

The First Page 

To Climb, or Not to Climb

“What do you mean, you can’t go?” Petir Capota stopped stuffing his backpack to stare at his roommate, Chris Dunbar, who leaned against his doorframe. Disappointment bubbled up. “Chris, this is our chance to advance in the rankings.”

“I know, I know. But my boss called and asked if I could add a few shifts.” Chris shrugged, avoiding Petir’s glare as he drifted toward his friend’s computer array. “I need the dough, bro.” From the top of his red head to the bottom of his raggedy Sketchers, Chris was the picture of remorse. Even his crisp buzz-cut drooped. His summer job, a vital financial component for keeping their new apartment, had not panned out as expected. Blowing off his chance to put in some extra hours would be a serious mistake.

“Oh, isn’t that just great? First Jimmy bails. Now you.” Heaving a sigh, Petir plopped down on his bed. He snatched up his favorite Ping-Pong paddle and swiped the air. Like that would change things. “And get your carcass away from my computers.”

Unoffended, Chris stepped away from Petir’s pride and joy. “You can always go by yourself, dude.”

“I can’t go by myself. We’re supposed to be a team.” Swish. Swish. The paddle attacked an imaginary ball.

“Dude, no one will know.” Chris hung his head, then scraped at something on his shirt.

A shaggy blond head popped through the doorway belonging to their third roommate. “Yeah, Pete, take one for the team,” chided Jimmy Montana. “Make Jackie Chan proud.”

“Aww, c’mon, you guys. I thought we were taking a week for ourselves.” Petir’s vacation plans were heading for the toilet. 


About the Author

DEBORAH ANN DAVIS has been writing since she was assigned to keep a Journal in her 5^th grade English class. She began to look around for writing inspiration. Lo and behold, she found her world was full of funny stories just waiting to be told. As she grew older, occasionally she could manipulate one into some school assignment, but it never occurred to her to pursue writing, not even when she discovered her flare for telling stories at college parties.

After a string of college majors, she realized she could have a captive audience EVERY DAY in the public school system. As it turns out, teenagers love to laugh, and what could be more entertaining than Biology, Earth Science, and Environmental Science? Then there's the added bonus that once kids know you like to laugh, they want to make you laugh.

Go figure.

In addition to Writing, she is also an Educational Speaker and a Certified Personal Trainer. She taught for 25+ years, although somewhere in the middle of all that educating, she stepped out of teaching for 6 years to do the Mommy Thing, and run the office for their family construction company.

Even though they had followed separate paths, Deborah reunited with, and married her childhood sweetheart, twelve years after their first kiss.  Together they coached their daughter’s AAU Basketball Team, which swept States two years in a row. (Yay!) Then, for several years their daughter and their money went to college.

They currently reside on a lovely lake in Connecticut. She enjoys dabbling with living a sustainable life, writing novels for her Love of Fairs series, dancing, playing outside, and laughing really hard every day. She promotes increasing the amount of movement throughout your day via Wiggle Writer posts on Merry Meddling.

Remember, you can do anything if you set your mind to it— including becoming an author at any age— but it’s way more fun if you are grinning back when the Universe smiles down on you.

Deborah’s latest book is the new adult novel, Fairly Certain.

For More Information

• Visit Deborah Ann Davis’ website.
• Connect with Deborah on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Deborah at Goodreads.

Interview:

Welcome Deborah. Can you tell us what your book is about?

Thank you for having me.

Fairly Certain is the tale about a Computer Geek who challenges a Medieval Outlaw. Petir takes a rough tumble in the Connecticut woods, and awakens in the middle of old England. His instinct to freak out is tempered by the arrival of a fair maiden wearing a bow… and arrow. In his college world, fair maiden types don’t ordinarily go for computer geek types, but for some reason he is no longer in his world. Petir is fairly certain he can try whatever he wants without consequence.

With the conflict between the royals escalating, Maid Rianne has joined the outlaws hiding in the woods, outwardly defying the handsome and accomplished knight to whom she is promised. She is fairly certain she is simply flattered by Lord Petir’s uncensored admiration of her skills with the staff and bow, the same unmaidenly pursuits disdained by her knight. But, that doesn’t explain her reaction to Lord Petir’s unguarded gaze.

To Petir’s delight, and Maid Rianne’s dismay, the outlaws invite him to join their merry band. What better way to get close to her? Throwing caution to the wind, Petir decides he has nothing to lose by pursuing the damsel, until Maid Rianne is captured by the enemy. Now, a geek with no ability to defend himself must find a way to rescue the fair maiden.

The first page is perhaps one of the most important pages in the whole book. It’s what draws the reader into the story. Why did you choose to begin your book this way?

I began this way to establish who Petir is and where he’s from, without having to use backstory later. I establish that he is going off on some atypical adventure by himself. The first page is supported by the blurb on the cover, which reveals he has an accident, and the teaser, which tells you he wakes up from that accident confused…and suddenly in old England.

The reader also learns about Petir as a person; i.e., “summer job” and “apartment” imply he’s a college kid. By sharing his hobbies, computers and Ping-Pong, the reader gets the impression that he is slightly off-center from mainstream. Lastly, Petir and his roommates are a team, and Petir is pursuing their plan without them.

In the course of writing your book, how many times would you say that first page changed and for what reasons?

I originally wanted to be with Petir waking up from his accident, but the feedback I received was that the reader couldn’t figure out how old he was or what was going on because he was by himself. Since I needed him confused for the story, he couldn’t explain himself. So I began it with him deciding to go off by himself.

Was there ever a time after the book was published that you wished you had changed something on the first page?

Do you mean besides today? I have contracted The Never Ending Edit Curse. Every time I look at my work, I find ways to tweak it. Right now, I would change

“…to stare at his roommate, Chris Dunbar, who leaned against his doorframe.”

to

“to stare at his roommate, Chris Dunbar, leaning against his doorframe.”

However, I suspect I had it that way once before lol. Which do you prefer?

What advice can you give to aspiring authors to stress how important the first page is?

Decide what would catch your attention as a reader. Begin there. Then get feedback after feedback after feedback. Weigh what they say, and then go back to what would catch your attention as a reader. The combination of all that will lead you to your first page.

Personally, the first page is not as impactful on me as a reader. The teaser in the front of the book is what grabs me. I’ve read too many books that start with a polished first page, followed by an unpolished story. I’ve had better luck with the teaser page because it reveals a snippet of the plot. That’s what grabs my attention. The job of the first page is basically to introduce as many things as you can in one page. Although it may hint at the writing style of the author, and tempt you with the promise of an intriguing plot, it’s not enough to get me to read a book. If there is no teaser, I crack open the book and read a page or two from the middle. Then I know if I want to give the book a try.