WHERE’S THE BULLET HOLE?
by Angi Morgan
I originally posted this blog in 2011. Forgive me for repeating, but I'm under deadline and not feeling creative. >>smile<< In the backyard the other day, we heard blanks being fired to scare some blackbirds from their trees. It reminded my husband and I of the time I was at the softball fields and...
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I can laugh about it now. Now that I know it was an over-aired inner tube exploding. But for all purposes, I experienced something as close to the real thing as I ever want to get.
I froze. My heart landed in my throat. Not just figuratively, but viscerally. I couldn’t move, speak, blink. I had no clue what was happening around me. It took me a good thirty seconds before I felt my chest to verify I was still whole. Honestly, I knew I’d been shot at. Just knew it. I didn't understand why my hands weren't bloody. The emotions ranged from astonishment to relief and back again to laughter once I moved the tire and saw the rather large hole in the side of the rubber.
To give you a better picture of what happened… I (used to) set softball fields for the city where I live. The stands were full of college students and parents at the Red River Conference tournament. I push 90 pounds of chalk and machine (hopper) around the field refreshing the foul lines between games. One of the front tires had been over-inflated and decided to blow out. The sound was incredibly close to a gunshot and managed to echo off the buildings. People really did think we’d been fired at, going so far as to dial 911. (Try explaining that your husband over-inflated the tires on your equipment...not easy.)
What does any of this story have to do with writing?
Well, I can tell you that I’ll be able to draw from that adrenaline rush for some time to come. I write romantic suspense, writing about gunfire and shots fired several times. And I’d say that I’m actually used to gunfire having been raised around guns. But this experience was different. The world really did move in slow motion for at least thirty seconds. My thoughts followed a progression from: I’ve been shot. Should I move? I’m okay—no wounds. Did kids put firecrackers in my hopper? If I move it will something else happen? What DID happen? Oh, goodness, the tire exploded! “It’s okay everybody, it was the tire.”
Again, you’re probably asking, what does this story have to do with writing?
It’s added a deeper perception to my gun scenes—that’s for certain. But it also reminded me that getting into the real world is important for authors. Life experiences are what we bring to our writing to make it unique. An emotional connection is what we share with our readers. That connection is what brings them back for the second, third, or a lifetime of reads. It earns us a place on their keeper shelves.
As for those over-inflated tires… I can blame my husband for that. Helping me out, he aired the hopper’s tires the night before. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten his glasses and just guessed at how high to fill them. LOL
I’ll be around to chat throughout the day and would love to know what unusual, silly, or dangerous thing has happened to you because someone forgot their glasses. I have a little something from Texas for one commenter.
BIRTHDAY MONTH GIVEAWAY
$20 Gift Certificate to Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Lots of chances to enter the Rafflecopter drawing.
Twitter @AngiMorganAuthr
I've had a few "hair-raising" moments in my life, like when the doctor told me I had cancer of the uterus, or when I received a phone call telling me my husband was in a hospital 50 miles away after being burned by acid....but nothing to do with misplaced glasses. Amazing how we focus on that one thing and the rest of the world just disappears for a few minutes. Love the emotion you put in your writing. Makes for some great reading.
ReplyDeleteWow Brenda.
DeleteJust Wow...
~Angi
(As Always, thanks)
Hmm, my shock moment ( no glasses involved )... I was in the backseat of my mom's car. We were stopped at a light. The light changed... she looks to make sure it is clear and goes... I turn to look out my side of the car and see a car barrel past the other cars stopped at the light.. find the one spot open and come straight at me... At the time, I did not remember screaming to my mother that a car was coming right at us... time slowed down... my mom tried to get out of the way and then next thing I know we are spinning and everything is going round. When the car stopped we were facing the opposite direction... the car that hit us stopped for one second and took off... someone went after them. I was shocked... I lost my sunglasses, one of my shoes had flown off... my door had an opening where I could see the road. My mom yanked the door opened... grabbed my sister who was in pain... and asked me if I could walk... I told her yes, but it was one of the hardest things I remember doing. My legs barely obeyed me. They were jello. I make it across the street and sat down. My hand was swollen to double its size, the ground was very very hot, but I was shaking. One thing that stood out to this day was a stupid comment another driver said as we sat there waiting for help... "If you weren't there we would have been hit." I mean hello! I still shake my head at that... The cops and firemen got there fast. We went to a small local hospital and later were released... sadly the "bad guys" got away and the car that was supposedly stolen had taken off their insurance 2 days before... so my mom had a totaled car and had to pay through her own insurance... what a day... definitely a shock to the system, but we ended up fine. Looking back, if they had hit a few inched closer to where they did... my mom said things would have been extremely worse. I do not know if it was an angel or me shouting out that made the difference, but I am glad we walked away from it.
ReplyDeleteGood Gracious, Colleen. I'm glad your mom sped up and didn't freeze.
Delete~Angi
Lots of unusual, dangerous, and silly things have happened to me through the years, but not involving glasses.
ReplyDeleteMy "glasses story" is that I got my first pair of reading glasses at 46.5 years of age. Got stronger prescriptions at 47 and 47.5 years of age, at which time I often wore them on top of my head so I wouldn't lose them. Was out in a farmer's corn maze and missed one of the items of interest, so my family and I did the trail again, got to point "4", and then split up to find point "5". When my sister found "5", I trekked through the corn maze to join her, completing "6" through "12" again for good measure. Got back to the car and my glasses were gone. Back we went again but never found them (nor did the owners of the field). Figured a corn stalk was "wearing" them and was crushed a week or two later with the rest of the stalks. *I* was crushed that I was out all that money. Thankfully I could wear my previous pair for the two weeks until my new pair came in, but the lesser prescription meant I endured headaches, which in turn meant I had to give up reading, other than for work purposes. Broke my heart, but I DO/DID realize that there are much worse things in life (like in the above stories). I'm pretty lucky....
Hugs on the headaches, Laney. I sure am glad you were able to get another pair quickly.
DeleteI'm laughing at the image of a corn stalk with glasses. :-)
~Angi
Looking through the photo albums with my Mother when she didn't have her glasses on was a lot of fun. Poor Aunt Marge does look like Uncle Albert in a cruel light.
ReplyDeleteThat is too funny, Mary !!
Delete~Angi
My glasses seem to disappear all by themselves. I carefully place them on the nightstand next to my bed every night after reading for a few minutes. It is my way to finally relax to sleep. Sometime during the night I seem to knock them off or pull them off, or move them but come morning they aren't where I carefully placed them. I cannot see good enough to tell where they are and my husband often has to rescue me so that I can get up because I am afraid I may step on them!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness your husband's there to help.
DeleteIf I knocked mine off...it's almost a certainty that the pups will run off with them.
~Angi
I have a shoebox with a Sudoku puzzle book inside, as well as pens, pencils, erasers, and mini LED flashlights. I do my puzzles on my tummy with the flashlights (so I don't disturb my husband already sleeping), leaving the shoebox on the floor. When I'm done, I drop everything back into the shoe box, and literally toss my glasses in on top. I just have to grope around to find them once morning comes.
DeleteSINCE I forgot to draw for my birthday winners...
ReplyDeleteI have something for each of you.
Brenda, Laney, Mary & Colleen... I have your info.
LilSis... I'm not sure I have your email so please contact Angi@AngiMorgan.com
~Angi
THANK YOU!!
ReplyDelete