When
I write, whether it is for my blog or one of my books, I choose my words
carefully. I have to believe all writers do. We care because we are putting our
sweat, our feelings including laughter or tears onto each page. It can flow
with ease or sometimes ride bumpy as we hit pothole after pothole.
For
example, in Betrayed which comes out in November (I do wish it was
sooner), there were several passages that I rewrote and rewrote. I slaved over
them because I know I have one shot at hitting the sweet spot with the reader.
I have to feel it. And I did. I can tell you that I wept at three spots in the
book. I believe the reader will too. There
were times when I felt my muscles clench because of several intense spots in
the book. As the author, I felt tense, anxious each time I read and edited the
book, and I became tense and anxious even though I knew what was going to
happen.
There is an axiom among writers I fully believe in: No
tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. Meaning that we put our heart and
soul onto each page, choosing the words specifically to elicit a specific
response in the reader.
The magical part of any book is that no one book
will read the same for each reader. How can it? Each reader brings his or her
own feelings, experiences, past, present and future to the book when he or she
sits down to read it. As the author, I cannot possibly guess how my books or
this blog will “hit” you, because in so many cases, I don’t know you.
As any parent would, I suppose you will feel anxious
and upset when my adolescent characters face danger. You might be angry towards
those who would place them in danger. Normal reactions, I would think. Unless,
of course, I failed to choose my words carefully that might elicit those
feelings.
Which makes me consider . . .
As a person, be it in my profession or as a dad or
husband, as a mentor or role model, do I take the same care with the words I
choose to speak? Sadly, sometimes I think not. At times, I speak without
thinking. At times, I speak without “feeling.” Sad, really. I slave over my writing,
picking and choosing my words so carefully, when I sometimes don’t when
speaking.
At times, I’ve been sarcastic and thoughtless. My
words sting. I do myself an injustice because I truly, deeply care. I believe
that in so many cases, words have an impact that sticks and stones do not.
In Betrayed, one of my adult characters tells one of the boys, “Sometimes it’s the hurt
you don’t see that you feel the most.” The boy knew just what the adult was
saying. The boy’s heart and soul had been ‘betrayed’ time and again. He was
bruised in places you cannot see with the eye, only with the heart.
As we face a new week, I wonder if I . . . we . . . can
choose our words a bit more carefully. I wonder if our words might bring peace
and love, joy and a sense of caring to those with whom we speak to. We owe that
to those we speak to, to those who we interact with. Mostly, I think, we owe it
to ourselves, don’t we? Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
My new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12,
2020! It is a contemporary psychological thriller using some
of the same characters from my previous work. It takes place on the Navajo
Nation Reservation in northeast Arizona. I will post parts and passages on my
author page on Facebook.
Connect with me on
Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Caught in a Web is now available
in Audio format. You can find it at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Spiral Into
Darkness:
Named a
Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He blends in. He is successful, intelligent and
methodical. He has a list and has murdered eight on it so far. There is no
discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no leads. The only thing the
FBI and local police have to go on is the method of death: two bullets to the
face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s difficult to understand
any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling
in their own world, have no idea they are the next targets. Neither does their
family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught in a Web:
A PenCraft Literary
Award Winner!
The bodies of high school and middle school kids are
found dead from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94
and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a
violent gang originating from El Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago
to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and
teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a
fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his cousin the previous
summer.
Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann
race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes
before he kills anyone else, especially George or members of his family. The
three detectives discover the ring has its roots in a high school among the
students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book One of the
Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe
suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them
or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and
nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might
be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the
Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys,
recently freed from captivity, are in danger and so are their families, but
they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and
because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the
Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A 14-year-old boy knows the end is coming. What he
doesn’t know is when, where or by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor
the FBI can protect him or his family.
The Lives Trilogy
Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for
the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the
country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher,
11-year-old Brett McGovern, and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of
a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete
Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and
when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe