The Way it Made Me Feel:

writing prompt response to the last thing I read

Somewhere in the last six years I developed the mantra:

Life is too short to read bad fan fiction.

I read a fanfic during lunch today which gripped me tight and had me holding my breath. It is written in the style of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Identity series. Characters are somewhat believable; end up being put in situations just bizarre enough to be plausible; and the antagonist is a truly vile, vicious, and venal human being. If wanting to dropkick someone through the goal post of life is a valid emotion, this character elicits that in me.

Of course, I read this piece on my phone. My fingers cramped around the protective cover during every scene where this guy showed up. The trope is stereotypical, too. The killer/kidnapper/wannabe terrorist is a foreign national and the victim/heroes are white male. The author manages to make me forget that with vivid descriptions of desert scenery, posh hotel rooms, and over-the-top ‘roided out henchmen.

At the end of the most recent chapter I was hopeful, but it’s tinged with trepidation. After being foiled in one escape attempt, one of the reluctant heroes makes a successful run for it, managing to evade his captors. Yea! I can switch hands and wipe the sweat from a palm. He’s not out of the woods yet, especially considering he’s been held in the desert.

That last thought just made me laugh.