Anita DeVito | Laughter: The Ties that Bind

Writing suspense is all about the tension, red herrings and zig-zags. Think you
know where the story is going? WHAM. A house just fell on the apparent bad guy.
You know that hot guy/girl you liked? GONE. Eaten by a bear. How about that old
gnarly guy you trusted with your life? SUCKA. Now whatcha gonna do? Back flip,
karate chop, blazing weapons and….stick the landing. Wow. Hero and Heroine can
now ride into the sunset, matching cowboy hats and all.

But what happens next? With romantic suspense, it matters because readers need
to believe that the characters will stay together after the drama ends. It’s
what makes the end of the story so satisfying. This challenges the author to
give the characters something in common beyond the bad guy. Enter laughter. When
we think about our friends and partners in real life, these are the people that
make our lives lighter. They remind us to smile and give us a reason to laugh.
We feel happy around them. Our characters need this happy to stay together,
making laughter the ties that bind.

Today is the release date of my newest book, LOST IN SHADOWS, from Entangled Publishing. The hero, Jeb McCormick, is ex-military and struggling quietly with PTSD. He doesn’t except to see his fortieth birthday. Our heroine, Carolina Walker, has become reclusive to avoid a stalker that her family doesn’t believe exists. On a daily basis, these characters have little to laugh about…and that’s before the danger really kicks in. Left to their own devices, I predict they would break up within two months after the story ends.

Fortunately for them, physical attraction (an obvious gotta have in romantic
suspense) opens a door where the characters see the other’s pain and want to
ease it. Through that door enters laughter. In one of my favorite scenes, Jeb
tells Carolina a grown-up bed-time story that still makes me laugh out loud.
It’s a sweet, silly, expected moment that makes Carolina’s heart swell to three
times its size. The characters grow closer when a slip of the tongue turns
Carolina’s attempt at witty repartee into one of those slightly awkward moments.
Jeb is charmed and tries everything he can think of to tongue-tie his brilliant
beauty. Add in a little tickle torture and the recipe for a
happily-ever-after-the-bad-guy-dies is complete.

Laughter is important in fiction because it reminds us how important it is in
real world. Life can be so busy—with school, with work, with family—that some
days are just about making it to the next. When we see a (yes, fictional)
character take time out of a dangerous situation to make another laugh, what
excuse do we have to not pause, take a breath and bring a smile to another’s
face. Because laughter is not only the best medicine, it’s the ties that bind.
Live. Love. Laugh, today and everyday. ~Anita.