READ BETWEEN THE LINES
Potluck With Tonya Penrose
Simmering in this week’s pot are my thoughts when a story invites readers to Read Between the Lines.
As an author, I often make thoughtful deposits by weaving messages within my book’s pages. My desire is to leave words meant to inspire in the reader’s hands long after they close the book.
Let’s lift the lid now. Today, I’m making it personal. Pass your plate for a serving of my kind of potluck. We’re reading between the lines.
When pondering a short piece of fiction or nonfiction to pen, I usually seek to place a message meant to tap positive emotion for you, my reader. I want the story or piece to be worth your time and for you to feel gifted in some unexpected way from that investment.
I’ve extended this calling to some of the novels I’ve written and am writing. Of course, I want you to feel entertained and engaged, but frequently, I’m striving for more. I want the message woven into the story’s background to enlighten and spark something. If you grab a paper and pen to jot phrases or ideas that resonate, I succeeded in giving you more than a story laced with smiles and sighs.
But if you’re simply looking for a book to sweep you away for an afternoon with characters you’ll love and towns where you’d want to live, then you’ll have that with my appreciation for reading it.
More, I like to drop you into the setting and have you feel you are there experiencing everything with the characters. Ultimately, it’s about the read-between-the-lines stories meeting you where you are in that present moment.
Photo by Terrillo Walls on Unsplash
In a recent interview, I was asked why I write. Rather than telescope to my inner world as an author, I paused to think about my readers. The answer is I write for you. I write to bring unexpected laughter and joy into your day. I write hoping that insights woven into certain stories find you, touch you, and inspire you. And when you close the book, your curiosity is awakened to become an inner explorer along with me. That’s it.
Many of my characters show up, bringing missives for you and me. As I sit in my favorite writing chair, I go for the ride with them. I, too, want to know the secrets of how to live a life full of purpose and passion and attract my heart’s desires in these times that ask so much. Now more than ever, we’re looking for peace…the sustaining kind. But where?
I leave you with my answer. If we don’t go within, we’ll go without.
Photo by Pedro Ramos on Unsplash
Come back next week for another serving of Potluck With Tonya Penrose.
This article explains exactly why your books resonated so deeply with me, especially Old Mountain Cassie, The Secret Gift, Welcome to Charm, and Venetian Rhapsody. Cassie touched me more deeply than I can put into words, and each book after that brought insights and feelings down to my soul! I appreciate you and your exquisite writing so sincerely!
There are hopeful takeaways in each of your books, whether it's sage wisdom from teachers like Cassie and Gita, or reminders of fellowship with friends and food. The many scenes in diners, bakeries, pizza places, picnics, and little seafood restaurants create a simultaneous nostalgia and desire in me. Remember to cherish. Yearn for more of what is cherish-worthy, and seek it. Each of your main characters has moments of hesitancy and uncertainty but they are lifted by kindness and guided to self-realization and empowerment. It is exactly what you do, Tonya, in the reader/author relationship.