Writing & Reading: Oh the Joy!

Yesterday I rode on a motorcycle, my arms wrapped around a hot guy who is an artist.  The wind stirred my hair as the sound of the motor purred.  It felt a little like freedom.   I’m this close to falling in love with him, although I sense he has secrets.   Secrets I’m going to have to uncover before I let myself fall for him any harder.  I need to find out what he’s hiding.  But while we were out picking out paint for his gallery, one of my own secrets that I’d been hiding from him surfaced.  We were confronted by an angry ex-boyfriendof mine who thinks he can still control me.  I stood up to him.  It was empowering in a way.  But a little scary, too.  I have a feeling he’s not going to just go away.  He may try to start trouble.  And he has the ability to do it, too.  He could hurt me and turn people I care about against me.  I need to come up a plan to prevent him from doing that.But how?

You see, that what was happening to me yesterday when I worked on a new novella.  I lost myself in the life of my new protagonist. (I’m not going to tell you who this protagonist is, but I will tell you, it’s someone from Shadow Falls.  And it’s not Della, Kylie or Miranda.)   I found her world invigorating, I found her problems intriguing and I want to go on this journey with her to see what happens next.  I’m as curious about that good-looking artist as she is. I want to be swept away right along with her as she experiences that first kiss and as they test the waters of falling in love.  I want to see her put that old boyfriend in his place as she builds her own sense of self-worth.

That’s what writing does for me.  It takes me places, it stirs my emotions.  The same thing happens to me when I read a good book.  I’m suddenly living in that world.  I feel the wind in my hair, the sun on my face.  I see sunsets, sunrises.  I stand in front oceans.  I go to Paris, or go sit beside a lake and listen to the song of nature.  I’m going to laugh.  I’m going make new friends.  And yes, I’ll probably cry at some point.

When I read or write, I know I’m going to take an emotional ride.  A ride where I feel love, joy, fear, and pain.  But it’s a ride where I know I’m going to win.  I’m going to overcome all the bad crap and I’ll be a stronger person when I type the end on my own story, or when I finish that book that someone else wrote.

And when I do finish, I know I’m going to miss those characters.  I’m going to wish it wasn’t over.  But that journey I took, it was not in vain.  I think every book I read, or write, leaves footprints on my heart and soul.

I don’t write a book planning the take-away value, nor do I read a book simply for the message it will leave with me.  I read for entertainment.  I write to entertain.  But because books are about people, about people overcoming obstacles, about people learning, or relearning to love, to believe in themselves, to move past a heartbreak or death of someone they loved, they do often come with built in lessons.  These are the lessons that our storybook people learn during their fictional life, and, as a result, they offer us advice, motivation and gumption.

Today, I’d like to hear from readers and writers alike about why you write and why you read.  What is the takeaway value of getting lost in a fictional world? And remember Miranda’s story is out June 30th.  I can’t wait for my fans to learn the lessons Miranda’s faces in Spellbinder.

 

 

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Giveaway!

Today, I’ll give away another swag pack to someone who leaves a post.