Emotions

Tapping into Reader’s Emotions

Emotions! We all have them. Some of us try to suppress our emotions, but they are always there lurking just below the surface. If we are lucky we may be able to control them. The bottom line is the vast majority of our decisions and actions are based upon emotions. The results of these decisions and actions are determined by how well or poorly we handle our emotions.

As a writer of family and relationship books that address life altering events, based on true stories, I try to transfer the emotions of each character to the reader. If done correctly, the reader relates so closely with the character that they are living the experience. They laugh and cry with the character. They feel the sorrow or joy, hopelessness or determination. I try to do this by telling the story as if I was speaking one-on-one to the reader.

For example, my first book When the Wife Cheats, deals with infidelity, betrayal, and abandonment.  These are very difficult emotions. Since fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, these emotions have to be addressed if one is going to survive. Very little is written about how the husband and children deal with the lies, deceit, betrayal and abandonment when the wife violates the marital vows. I try to follow one man’s journey as he and his two young daughters cope with the devastation that occurs When the Wife Cheats.

My third book Inside the Spaghetti Bowl, deals with the emotions associated with the death of a parent. This is a story that every person will have to face. With the first sentence, I try to draw the reader into the hospital room to meet and hopefully fall in love with this family.  It is a story about family and unconditional love. My goal is that the reader will see their own family and the memories make them smile.

My latest book Five Years to Live, addresses the powerful and overwhelming emotions of a loved one beset by a catastrophic injury. It starts with the phone call everyone prays they will never receive. The story exposes the trauma and the horror that ensues and the love and courage it takes to initially go on living and then ultimately triumph. I try to make the reader ask the questions, “Would I have the courage and fortitude to pick up the pieces after my life, my goals, my hopes and my dreams were instantly shattered or would I succumb to despair and not even try?”  

Emotions shape who we are and how we act or react to circumstances.  Alexandre Dumas wrote, "Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes."  I hope my books help my readers understand what they will do when that storm comes.