Poignant. Poetic. Prolific. A New York Times Bestseller, Angela Hunt has published 18 contemporary books, 18 historicals, 9 youth books, 10 children’s books, 9 nonfiction books, as well as a slew of other series and anthologies.
Angela Hunt has earned her spot on the New York Times Bestseller list. She’s earned multiple awards and honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times Book Club. In her not-so-free time this year, she’s also earned her doctorate.
The examples below are from three of her contemporary books. THE NOTE premiered as a Hallmark holiday movie in December, 2007.
Three examples from THE NOTE:
SET UP – Male POV character just agreed to meet a woman at her apartment.
He had a dinner with Mavis and her theatre group scheduled for tonight, but he could blow it off. Mavis wouldn’t be the only one present without a husband.
Ah, Angela Hunt backloaded with the most important word, husband. As intended, that last word hits the reader with a punch.
“They’re all in there waiting for you,” she said, flashing an I’m-glad-I’m-not-you smile.
I’ve seen that I’m-glad-I’m-not-you smile, I’ve flashed an I’m-glad-I’m-not-you smile too. But I’ve never seen one in print.
If you’ve taken my on-line classes, or heard me present, you know I emphasize writing fresh. If Angela had written it as a weak smile, a wan smile, or a half-smile, it wouldn’t have been as interesting. By writing fresh she gave the reader more information, and an uplift.
The muscles of her throat moved in a convulsive swallow. “Thanks, Mandy.”
She tried to keep her heart calm and still.
Wow! A fresh visceral response. So much stronger than: She swallowed. Writing fresh adds power.
Two examples from THE NOVELIST:
I smile when the rest of the class laughs, but Morley’s words have raised a welt on my heart.
Angela Hunt showed incongruent nonverbal responses in a fresh way. I’ve never seen ‘raised a welt on my heart.’ Excellent.
The challenge hangs in midair, bold and blatant, while overhead a faulty fluorescent bulb flickers and buzzes like a wasp.
Notice the alliteration: bold, blatant, bulb, buzzes, and faulty, fluorescent flickers
Notice the onomatopoeia: buzzes
Notice the negatively-connoted simile – the challenge is like a wasp.
Notice the cadence. Read it out loud. Now, pull out “bold and blatant’ and read it out loud. The way Angela Hunt wrote it, every word counts. Both the content and cadence increase the power.
One example from SHE ALWAYS WORE READ, released in July, 2008:
I don’t want another heartache, I don’t want to know that I have another relative. I don’t want to be bound to more tragedy even by heartstrings. I don’t need more grief in my life, and I don’t need a sister.
Angela powered up a turning point with anaphora, one of my favorite rhetorical devices. I’m betting you all notice that the paragraph is backloaded for psychological impact.
Angela Hunt’s writing impresses me. I’m looking forward to meeting her, and chatting with her about her writing, when I present at ACFW’s national conference in Minneapolis in September.
