USE IT!

 by Charlotte Bennardo

In the movie Blade: Trinity, vampire Blade (Wesley Snipes) and Abby (Jessical Biel) come back to their hideout to find their compatriots murdered, killed by the original Dracula. Abby holds the body of her friend and quietly sobs. With a seemingly cold and distant voice, Blade tells her:

Use it. USE IT!

He wants her to use her grief, her despair, her rage over the murders against their enemies to find justice for their friends and to stop future killings.

Photo by İbrahim Halil Ölmez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-emotional-distress-holding-head-29965352/

That's one thing writers do; we channel our personal feelings into our writing. Having lost a parent, a sibling, numerous friends, a romantic partner, a job- all those scenarios fuel my writing. I know what loss feels like and it guides my writing. It shows me how to make my characters feel those feelings: rage, despair, grief, pain, shock, betrayal. 

Similarly, I've experienced great joy, surprise, love, satisfaction, achievement, and acceptance. I've known the birth of a child, a loving marriage, the publishing of my books, owning a home, and many happy family memories. Each experience colors my writing, allowing me to access an 'emotional' guidebook. I don't know if there's an emotion I haven't experienced. and that makes my writing richer, deeper, more realistic, and that's what the reader deserves. 

  

Charlotte is busy promoting her new YA fantasy, The Excalibur Vow, and thinking about the sequel people have been asking for. She writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels and short stories in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, horror, paranormal, and romance genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has several short stories in anthologies, online, and her website, along with newspaper and magazine articles. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned, and is working on several children's and adult novels and short stories. She lives in NJ but dreams of a Caribbean beach house. And more cats.