Humor Among the Suspense
By James Callan
In the Crystal Moore suspense A Ton of Gold, things can
get pretty intense at times. I don’t
think they rise up to thriller status, though probably close. But sometimes,
when things are intense for a bit, your reader will welcome something a little
lighter. A little humor might come in
handy.
One of my favorite characters is Eula Moore, Crystal’s
grandmother. She is seventy-six, lives
alone in the middle of a forest and doesn’t let much upset her. In one very intense scene, something happens
that reminds her of a funny incident from years ago. She tells those around her the story and
thoroughly enjoys herself. But once they laugh about it, she can return just as
quickly to the somber mood and difficult situation currently surrounding her. The short scene gives the reader a break and
by adding contrast, actually heightens the seriousness of Eula’s predicament.
Crystal is a very serious minded computer science
researcher.
At another point, near the end of a serious and deadly
standoff with two henchmen, the sheriff yells to the thugs that he has two
deputies with him and to come out with hands up. Eula, inside with the bad guys, yells back, “I’m
willing to bet my old corset you ain’t got two deputies with you.” The situation is deadly, but Eula is willing
to face it with a little humor.
I just finished reading a good suspense/thriller book. It was well-written. The characters were interesting. But they
were all so serious, it was depressing.
I don’t think there was a laugh in the entire two hundred and eighty
pages. I enjoyed the book. But I found
it tiring. There was never a light moment, a time for the mind to relax.
In my book Character: The Heartbeat of the Novel,
I suggest that making the sidekick different from the protagonist is an
advantage. This adds contrast, and probably many small instances of conflict,
always a good thing in a novel. If your
main characters are very serious, create a sidekick who is a funny woman. Or at least she can find something to laugh
about in almost any situation. This contrast highlights the seriousness of the
protagonist, and at the same time, gives the reader a break from too much
gravity.
So whether it’s a mystery, a suspense book, or a thriller,
take a little break every now and then and give the reader a cause to smile or
maybe laugh out loud. She will
appreciate it. And it will tend to make the dangerous scenes seem even more
frightening.
My next Father Frank mystery, Over My Dead Body, should
be released at the end of April, 2015. A
Christian mystery, it follows the three main characters of Cleansed by Fire, the
first book in the series.
Meet James R. Callan
After a successful career in mathematics and computer
science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and
being listed in Who’s Who in Computer
Science and Two Thousand Notable
Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing. He wrote a monthly column for a national
magazine for two years, and published several non-fiction books. He now concentrates on his favorite genre,
mystery/suspense, with his sixth book releasing in Spring, 2014.
Website: www.jamesrcallan.com
Amazon Author page: http://amzn.to/1eeykvG
Twitter: @jamesrcallan
A Ton of Gold, (Oak Tree Press, 2013)
On Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions: http://amzn.to/UQrqsZ
No comments:
Post a Comment