"Hide in Place"

Emilya Naymark was born in a country that no longer exists, escaped with her parents, lived in Italy for a bit, and ended up in New York, which promptly became a love and a muse.

She studied art and was lucky enough to illustrate numerous publications before transitioning to the digital world.

She has a particular fascination with psychological thrillers, crime, and suspense. All the dark stuff. So that’s what she writes.

In her other life, she is a web developer and designer, an illustrator, and an artist.

Naymark applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Hide in Place, and reported the following:

Page 69 in Hide in Place says (get ready… it’s a lot): Part Two

Whether this works or not as a test for the book is an interesting question because if I were playing, it would of course induce me to turn the page. A potential reader turning the page is already a win for an author! I particularly like the beginning of Part Two, so a reader turning the page and ending up on the next chapter is highly appealing.

Additionally, this works because it implies a certain pace and brevity to the content, which was wholly intentional. I kept my chapters short, a chapter per scene, and followed a traditional three act structure. By the time a reader gets to Part Two on page 69, decisions have been made and lots have been cast.

The first chapter of Part Two is also when I introduce the POV of my young oddball of a protagonist. Teenage Alfie was tremendously fun to write because he tries so hard to make sense of the world, and every decision he makes comes from a place of wanting to be loved and wanting to belong. Of course, his decisions backfire. Every single time.

So, in the true sense of the test, it fails for Hide in Place because it falls on a page without content. But I’d still be very curious to see the results of a practical application of the test. Would readers turn the page? I hope so!

Visit Emilya Naymark's website.

--Marshal Zeringue