Mom sounds like a Dragon


A massive Dragon welcomes visitors within the Tower of London. Picture taken by Manju.

As a Mom, I have learned that my words are heard as emotion. If I say, "Go take a shower." It's the tone of my voice that my children hear. Various emotions are contained in my words, depending on the context. Matter-of-fact, Hopeful, Annoyed, Frustrated, Tired . . .

As a writer, I share the emotions of my characters not just their words. I need to show the reader through the character's actions, instead of simply tagging dialog with an adverb. This means describing Mom's body language. Instead of writing - "Go take a shower," Mom said, gleefully.

from my novel TRIPLE B

(Samantha's father, Pit, just ransacked her bedroom in search of something.)
Mom pauses on the way to her bedroom and glances at the unnatural disaster. Finally she sees how insane Pit acts and resolves to do something. I bet Pit goes ballistic! Mom sighs and I hold my breath. “Samantha,” she says.

“What?” I’m anxious for her to speak. Tell Pit that he’s a total jerk and we’re leaving.

Mom darts a look at Pit and back at me. “Clean up your room. It’s a mess!”

Caught between tears and laughter, I gasp for breath. “Really?”

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