John was featured on The Editorial Department Article entitled “How Ten Bestselling Authors Introduce Their Protagonists in First-Person Narratives”
One option is direct self-introduction, where the narrator introduces himself by name to readers as Herman Melville does in Moby Dick. Our own John Cunningham used this approach to good effect in the first book of his Buck Reilly action-adventure series about a flying-boat pilot/salvage operator who lives in Key West, Florida, and seems to be a magnet for trouble. Red Right Return opens with a short paragraph that sets the scene—an ocean landing near Fort Jefferson, Florida—and mentions the beautiful but mysterious passenger he’s dropping off. Then the narrator delivers this line:
My name is Buck Reilly, but don’t bother to Google me. You won’t find a thing.
I like this approach because it introduces the narrator by name, then provides a single detail to pique curiosity about him. It acknowledges that the narrator is aware of his reader, which I find comfortable and logical when it comes to the voice of this particular series. But after that, it’s right back to the story, which also makes sense given this is a fast-paced action thriller. (Readers will learn plenty about Buck as things move along, but the information is served up in small unobtrusive bites that don’t interfere with the momentum of the story.)