Ever sit up half the night because you can’t put a book down? Ever find yourself sobbing uncontrollably in the early morning hours experiencing a tangled mass of confusing emotions?
Isn’t it something when we invest so much emotionally into a character that when he or she is ecstatic or hurting and devastated, we feel it as well?
Man, don’t you just have this sadistic urge to make this happen for others? <g>
As a writer, I knew this was a ballsy move on the author’s part, knew that this would make the character stronger, the series stronger and even more exciting… man, I was in awe. But as a reader, I was just bawling.
And I can’t share why because I don’t want to ruin anything for those who haven’t read Harrison’s latest “For a Few Demons More.”
You may cry if you’re as far along into this series as I am, but it’s still worth it. Good, good book.
You might wonder why I’m so emotionally invested in this particular character. Well, for one, the author is fantastic. But it’s more than that for me personally.
Did I ever mention that the first in this series, “Dead Witch Walking” is the very reason I picked up my pen again? My cp knows because I gushed one day– in fact, I emailed her this morning to talk about last night’s reading session and she’s still at RT!
But, after years of trying to write category romances and constantly being told my heroines were too strong and it ruined the “romantic” fantasy of the story, I had pretty much moved on to work in a family business and raise small kiddos. I was writing here and there. Mostly short fiction. I entered contests but didn’t market my work.
Then one day, I picked up this book from an author I’d never heard of. I sat up most of the night trembling with this gush of return excitement that I hadn’t felt in years. “This is what I was writing before!” “Why didn’t I just continue doing it my way–this author did!”
Granted, my story is pretty different, but my heroine is unapologetically strong like this one– and beautifully flawed like this one. (I hope. 🙂 ) And I love to work in a made up world with fantasy creatures and magic and well, you get it. <g>
So anyway, today I have a headache but it’s worth it. I really, really want to step up my revision process and get my story out. These characters were alive in my head long before I picked up that first Harrison book and yet, it’s taken me years to work past the weird confidence wall I had bricked up around myself.
I want to write the kind of story that creates strong reaction so badly I can feel the desire burning a hole in my chest.
My daughter started reading the series and she gave Harrison one of the best compliments. She’s nearly sixteen and said, “It feels so real–all the detail and emotion. I feel like I’m really there.”
That’s what I’m after here. I want to create emotions in the reader and take them away, just for a little while, into a different world.