To fit in writing with six children at home, I usually tuck
the younger ones away in a bedroom to play quietly or read (since they’re
beyond the age of napping now). This is what I did a couple of days ago to get
some time to start my new story. I had settled at my desk with a huge glass of
iced tea (half sweet – half unsweet J ) and was beginning to
set the opening scene. My oldest teen daughter was working quietly on homework
at a desk next to mine, and my other two teenagers were on the couch behind me
reading. My husband had come home from work a little early, and he was
finishing up a work project on another laptop behind me.
It was a dark and stormy afternoon. A gray gloominess filled
the room, despite the little globe lights that hung from the desk hutch. Rain
pounded a steady beat on the roof.
Taking advantage of the circumstances around me, I amplified
the weather and wrote it into my opening scene ~ my heroine on a bicycle in that
eerie yellow haze that appears before a summer storm, the crackle of lightning
behind her, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention as she feels
like someone is watching her.
I was in that scene, picturing it, feeling it, living it.
Everything around me had disappeared. Only the pounding of the rain remained in
my consciousness.
And then a chanting of mingled voices filtered into my
hearing. An ominous rhythmic monotone that drummed into my mind.
Pedal faster, Heroine!
My heart and fingers raced as I urged her on. I didn’t know how the villain had
appeared so quickly, but he seemed to be there. Get away, Heroine!
I stopped typing and clutched my shirt, my brain struggling
to understand where this chant was coming from in the story.
And then the chant mingled with laughter. I forced myself to
focus on the room around me and found my teen daughter watching me with an
amused smile stretched across her face. I turned to see my husband laughing at
my fright. My two little boys stood in the doorway, chanting their rhythm. “We’ve
read the book. May we come out?”
I could only smile at myself as I inhaled deeply, willing my
heart to stop racing.
{My next Love Inspired Suspense is coming this September, and I'm eagerly awaiting the cover. If you'd like to be the first to see it and have the opportunity to win an advance copy, sign up for my author newsletter at www.MeghanCarver.com. Thanks!}
~ Meghan ~
Does your heart race when you read suspense? How much do you immerse yourself in a story?
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My hat's off to you, Meghan. I had all I could do to write with one toddler in the room (my youngest). I put my desk in the playroom and learned to type sitting sideways so he could play in the knee hole. My writing life changed when he went off to kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteThat's a houseful. When my children were younger, I wrote after they went to bed.
ReplyDeleteYou really set the scene. My heart was racing!
ReplyDeleteHow funny, Megan, but I can relate totally. When I'm into the final draft of my stories, I feel that adrenaline rush and pounding heart and am often overcome with fear for my characters. Hopefully, readers experience of bit of excitement as well once the story is published.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your success! Hugs to your beautiful family!
Oh yes... my heart race when I read suspense. I'm usually getting too immersed LOL can't sleep after reading the book
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
You really drew me in with the description of that scene in progress---and I can totally relate to the challenges of writing with family encamped around you! Can't wait to read this one! :)
ReplyDelete