It’s just a simple looking red candy until you pop it into your mouth.
It’s just a neatly trimmed stack of bound paper until you start reading it.
This candy in my mouth right now goes through waves of intense flavor heat.
My heart goes through a wide range of emotions as it chews through a good story.
I love it when a story surprises, shocks, or inspires me.
As I drive from customer to customer during my workdays, I usually listen to books on Audible or Libby (the library app – check it out). There have been quite a few times when I had to pause a book early so that I didn’t arrive at a customer with red eyes.
I know not everyone is affected by stories the way I am. But the shocking plot twists, dives into despair, and flights into hope inspire me to try to bring that same hope into the world.
I recently read a couple of books by Charles Martin (I highly recommend “Send Down the Rain”). They were relatively tame books in terms of action, but both had incredible plot twists. Neither were the least bit preachy, but both inspired me to emulate some of the good characteristics of the imperfect protagonists.
That’s how I want to write! I’ll leave my preaching at church. In my stories, I want to inspire through those plot twists, dives, and flights.
I know several people who think it’s a waste of time to read and write fiction.
Jesus didn’t think that. He used fictional stories to get His points across all the time.
That’s enough to convince me.
So, I’ll pop another Atomic Fireball in my mouth and keep spicing my stories up with the crazy things my characters keep doing. Someday, someone will have to have to hit pause to clear their eyes before they get where they are going. Hopefully, that destination will be a little brighter because my characters brightened their life.
Solano Writing 