Voices of Fiction - Getting Readers Involved - Part Five

Welcome to Voices of Fiction.

We continue with our discussion of how to get the reader involved in the story.

Please welcome our guests.

Joylene Butler is the author of Dead Witness and Broken But Not Dead. - Website, Blog

Joy Brooks is a Southern lady in love with the mystery and adventure associated with medieval warriors and royalty. She fills her spare time with reading, writing, cross-stitching, and playing with her seven cats. She enjoys the quiet life in a quaint, historic Georgia town. - Website, Blog



Dr Bob Rich has retired 3 times so far, has 4 to go. Two ongoing ones are writer and editor. He is also a professional grandfather, with hundreds of grandkids. Read the evidence. Bob doesn't believe in genres. All writing is about the human condition, even if those humans happen to have 3 arms and 3 legs, and green skin (the heroes of Liberator, the lead story of Bizarre Bipeds, the latest of his 14 published books. Website, Link, Link

Bobbi Carducci’s book, Storee Wryter Gets a Dog, earned a GOLD Mom’s Choice Award for excellence and was named A Best Dog Book for Young Readers by Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer. She is an award winning short story writer, columnist and professional book reviewer. Bobbi will be the luncheon keynote speaker at the 26th Annual Pennwriters Conference in May 2013. - Blog, Website, Website


Welcome Authors! It's wonderful to have you back.

This week's question: How do you get your readers involved in the story?

Joylene Butler: By engaging their imagination and feeding on their emotions. I write novels about characters that I find relatable, yet fascinating. They're characters that have hounded me until I sat down to write their stories. I seldom forget who I'm writing for, for that reason. The hope is that if I write about larger than life heroes who are appealing and captivating, my readers will fall in love with them, and will read on to find out how everything comes together in the end. So far it seems to be working. Knock on wood.

Joy Brooks: I hope my readers get intrigued with my characters from the beginning and want to continue reading to find out what happens to them. I write stories I would want to read. Fascination with the characters is what keeps me reading. I think it's important to keep the book flowing with action. Never let it get dull.

Bob Rich: By BEING the character whose point of view you are using. This way, the person in the story is alive, real and vivid. The reader can move into the world of the character, the world you have created. Now all you need is tension. This is when the character is desperate to have something (staying alive, attracting the attention of that gorgeous person, keeping the job, getting out of the job, whatever), but there are apparently insurmountable obstacles in the way: the gunman's finger is tightening on the trigger, the gorgeous person is the boss's partner of 10 years, the firm has just been declared insolvent, four colleagues have been diagnosed with cancer and so you've been told you need to work an extra day a week... See what you've done with your question? Now I have the urge to write four new stories!

Bobbi Carducci: By creating characters they relate to and putting them in situations that resonate with real life. Honest emotion that comes alive on the page is the key to good writing. The emotion can be joy, terror, grief, boredom, desire, whatever; it doesn’t matter as long the reader feels it.

Thank you all for joining us today.

Readers feel free to ask questions concerning this topic in the comments. Also feel free to send questions to chergreen@chergreen.com Subject: Voices of Fiction Question, and have them answered by the participating authors in later editions.

There’s also room for more authors to participate. Drop me an email, Subject: Voices of Fiction.

(Disclaimer - Bios and photos submitted by authors.)