Immersed in the storm

I was in the middle of a tornado tonight, listening to the roar of the train, watching the palm trees bend in half and bushes careening across a parking lot.

Well, not me, exactly. I was sitting in the middle of my comfy bed, laptop in front of me, listening to Pandora and writing about my poor main character trying to find shelter from a tornado.

It was in the midst of the scene, when my character was fleeing from swirling broken glass and tiles, that my husband decided to walk in and ask me a question.

I looked up at him and was barely able to stop from saying, “Run for cover!” I think he would have had me committed if that happened.

I remember reading Stormy, Misty’s Foal, one of the Misty of Chincoteague books, when I was a kid (I had horses but was still obsessed with books about horses). There was a spectacular storm scene, and I remember I was so caught up in the story that when my mom interrupted my reading (probably to do the dishes), I was completely freaked out that it was a beautiful, sunny day. I had actually thought it was storming outside.

I love when that happens. When I get so immersed in a story that I’m there—jumping in the icy water with Harry Potter as he tries to reach the Sword of Gryffindor, trembling with Edmund as he waits for the White Witch to decide his fate, sobbing with Wilbur when Charlotte dies. When a book takes me along for the ride, I know I’ve found a winner. This happened most recently with Shatter Me by Taherah Mafi (oh, Adam, sigh).

The experiences I’ve had as a reader lend themselves to my writing, as I try to immerse myself in whatever experience my character is dealing with (especially since I write in first person POV). My poor husband bears the brunt of this emotional writing. If I’m writing a scene where my main character is being treated poorly, I’ll be angry and will forget that my husband is an innocent bystander.

But if my character is in love…well, husband wins.

What’s the last book in which you felt completely immersed?