Love Inspired: A Story for Every Reader

Realistic fiction – Writing the law enforcement wife

By Sharee stover

The ironic thing about writing fiction is to do it well, you must create the story with enough realism that it transports the reader believably into a fictional place. I once read something that said being a good writer means you’re a good liar.

I prefer to think of it as being a good storyteller.

Like most writers, I work hard to create realistic stories and characters. That means I draw from my own experiences, use characteristics and traits I see in my friends, relatives, or acquaintances. Sometimes, it’s even just a matter of people watching.

In my current story, my heroine is a law enforcement officer’s widow. This is a place near and dear to my heart because I’m the wife of a law enforcement officer. So today, I want to share with you some of the things that law enforcement spouses encounter.

There’s a special community that exists in the families of emergency personnel. And, like most things, in life, it takes a village to thrive.

I am blessed to have sisters in the law enforcement world who are an extension of my family. We share a camaraderie and common understanding.

When our spouse took their oaths to uphold the law, we took one too. We promised to share our spouse on holidays, weekends, during horrific storms, and in my part of the world, tornadoes. It means being willing to single parent because there are times when our spouse can’t attend the school conference, sporting event, or extracurricular activity.

It means waking with him at all hours of the night when his phone goes off even if he worked an entire shift the night before.

It means a loneliness where we can’t share the burdens our spouse deals with…child molesters, murderers, burglars, and drug addicts.

It’s a special community and often goes unnoticed.

In a world where police officers are loved and hated…

Respected and rejected…

We feel those same emotions as their greatest supporters and cheerleaders.

I asked some of my friends about their lives as LEO wives and here’s some of the things they shared:

Being an LEO wife means:

·        Yes, many times it means he’s called out during the worst times. My daughter had a church event and right in the middle, my husband got called out and had to leave.

·        For us, it means celebrating holidays and birthdays late or not at all, because we just never got a routine due to his schedule. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the exception...but Valentine’s, our anniversary, 4th of July, etc. just don’t get much attention.

·        I can't tell you how many times we've been at a restaurant or on our way to an engagement and he was called out, so we had to get up and head home. 

It means learning to function with a lack of sleep.

·        Being an LEO wife makes me PROUD. I'm also very FRUSTRATED at times because of this career.

·        Even after a long rough day, he got called out again. So off he went for 6 more hours. He was up for 24 hours yesterday.

·        Overwhelming fear every time he leaves. It never goes away but you have to learn how to deal with it and support him.

And of course, there’s always those funny aspects:

·         Every person you meet wants to tell you about the time they got stopped. There’s a bond in sharing experiences and seeing those flashing blue and red lights in your rearview mirror increases your heartbeat no matter who you are.

·         And the answer? Drive the speed limit or face the consequences, there’s no magical “free” limit.

 And the bottom line:

·       Having faith that Our Father will take care of him and the others working the scenes.

·       I think to explain an LEO wife it takes a very strong, patient, loving and courageous person.  We value our family time together and appreciate our extended LE family that we all become a part of. 

·      We don't always talk about how lonely, scary and stressful it can be. 

·      All of the unknown.... is he/she coming home tonight?  Are they going to get hurt?  How long are they going to be gone? 

·      Raising and running kids around by yourself as a single parent.

·      You learn to lean on other spouses, and it takes a village sometimes.  We also become each others’ outlets and we respect the circle of privacy.

·       Because we all live it, we understand it.

·       Sometimes I feel like a military family too. Our spouse isn't deployed overseas though. We are living on the battlefields with them and they are deployed locally.

·       Loneliness because our lives are often lived in a place where confidentiality is a necessity for the public, for the victim, and for our spouse. Cases we can’t share with anyone. Stories that break our hearts.

Being an LEO wife is a special assignment. And writing an LEO wife accurately requires incorporating these details because it’s the reality of life.

Are you the wife of or are you an emergency responder? If so, what's a nugget of truth you could share with our readers today?

What have you read in stories that gave you a deeper understanding of the lifestyle for emergency responders? 

Watch for my new release in December! 

Colorado native Sharee Stover lives in Nebraska with her real-life-hero husband, three too-good-to-be-true children, and two ridiculously spoiled dogs. A self-proclaimed word nerd, she loves the power of the written word to ignite, transform, and restore. She writes Christian romantic suspense combining heart-racing, nail-biting suspense and the delight of falling in love all in one. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America and Nebraska Writer’s Guild. Sharee is a two-time Daphne du Maurier finalist and the winner of the 2017 Wisconsin Fabulous Five Silver Quill Award. When she isn’t writing, Sharee enjoys reading, crocheting and long walks with her obnoxiously lovable German Shepherd. Visit her at www.shareestover.com.

She’s not who she thinks she is

With gunmen at her doorstep, Katie Tribani learns her true identity. She’s been in witness protection since childhood, and now her crime-lord father has found her.  As bullets fly, US marshal Daniel Knight whisks her to safety—but not for long. Captured and held prisoner, only Katie can unearth her secret past…if she can survive long enough.

Website: www.shareestover.com 

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