Pleasant Surprises

I had a surprise visit from my mom and stepdad on the 9th. They flew in to Vegas to attend a funeral in San Diego, and wanted to spend some time with my hubby and I. I dropped them off at the airport before going to the day job. The visit was nice, and hubby didn't have to surrender his XBox TV for actual TV watching, so no stress there.

Stepdad wanted to see the movie Avatar, so being a good sport, I took him and Mom to the IMAX 3D version. Although the 3D glasses were dirty, and gave me a headache from eyestrain, I was enthralled from opening credits to the ending. I'm not a SciFi fan. Not normally. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised. I can't tell you the times I held my breath, chewed on my nail. I was so wrapped up in the whole story. And the visuals!

Walking out of the theater, I got to thinking about my own writing. How I would love to write a story that has my reader sighing, tingling, holding their breath when the characters are in peril. I want readers to walk away from my books with that WOW feeling. And maybe there are flashes in my stories that give readers some kind of sensation, but I have something to strive for, that goal to make my writing entrap the reader even more deeply in the pages of a book I wrote, where they read The End and feel disappointed to not have more of the journey to continue.You know what I love about writing, though? There is ALWAYS room for improvement, always a new direction to go. You just have to know when to recognize the possibilities.

So I leave you this week, as I head off to finish my current manuscript, that will hopefully give my readers goosebumps and sighs.