Greetings fellow story lovers,
What makes you grind your teeth, giggle like a hyper kid, or hiss like a panther? What makes the hair on the back of your neck tingle, your fingers dig at your scalp, or your throat ache with sadness? These intense feelings can be the origin of impassioned stories.
A friend once described to me how concerned she was about a neighbor’s neglected horses. They didn’t have grain, hay, or water. The owner hadn’t trimmed their hooves and they’d grown so long the hooves actually curled around themselves. She reported the neighbor to the humane society. He retaliated by sneaking over and cutting her horses’s hooves so short that all that remained were painful nubbins.
This horrendous story led to the premise for the fourth Kayla Montgomery mystery series book, DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
Kayla must drive past Vern Schafner’s horse farm on her way to college. The horses are starving and can’t walk because of their overgrown hooves.Kayla reports him. The scene describing Vern’s retaliation is one of the most terrifying and emotion-laden scenes I’ve ever written.
The best stories bleed with passion and emotion. As writers and story tellers, dare to go to your dark spaces, even if it’s painful. Draw out your feelings, and you’ll connect with your readers.
Free DELIVER US FROM EVIL teacher guides and/or book discussion questions are available by contacting laundrie@live.com.
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