The opening of MAGGIE RISING

Last week I quoted Maggie, the main character in my current work-in-progress, MAGGIE RISING. Today I'm sharing the opening lines of that novel.

“So, are you really a psychic?”

The girl at the counter looked just like so many I’d seen since hanging out my shingle last summer. I wanted to say, Hey, look: You came here because the sign says Psychic Readings. How do you expect me to answer? Instead, I gave her my wisest, most knowing smile while sizing her up: sorority chick; more money than brains – all of it Daddy’s; party girl looking for a thrill and probably trying to figure out whether Jason (or Fred or that guy from the fraternity mixer last night) was worth giving it all up for, although from the looks of her, she probably had nothing to give that hadn’t been given and given and given again.

“You’ve come to find out whether your love is true,” I said in my best impersonation of Anne Bancroft playing the fortune teller in “Love Potion Number Nine,” but of course, without the phony accent.

The girl’s look of happy surprise told me I was on the right track. “You want to know if your sorority sisters can be trusted,” I went on.

“Wow!” she said. “How did you know I was in a sorority?”

I gave her that wise, all-knowing look again, not mentioning that the Greek letters on her sweatshirt were a pretty good hint.

For more on Maggie's attitude toward Chico State sororities (and my personal disclaimer about the "good" ones), see my post from last Thursday. If you have a comment of your own, please share!