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Writers who have taken my Empowering Characters’ Emotions course (or ordered the ECE lecture packets) know Brad Meltzer’s name. His fresh examples strengthen my course. They grab the reader and make them laugh and nod—hooking them scene after scene.

Brad Meltzer’s first novel, THE TENTH JUSTICE, instantly hit the New York Times bestseller list. DEAD EVEN popped on the NYT list the next year. Including his subsequent novels, THE FIRST COUNSEL, THE MILLIONAIRES, and THE ZERO GAME, his six million books in print have spent over six months on bestseller lists.

Nice numbers for the Columbia Law School grad whose first novel was published in 1997. His writing deserves accolades.

If you want to be motivated to write your own version of fresh emotion, read Brad Meltzer's work and give yourself permission to experiment.

THE ZERO GAME

Here’s a piece showing one character reaching to calm himself in a new way.

If we were brand new staffers, this is where we'd panic. Instead, I bite the inside of my cheek and take a deep gulp of Harris's calm.

A few paragraphs later, a margin character’s body language is interpreted by the point of view character. Is this a POV shift? Not for me. The POV character is sharing his take on why LaRue has his fingers covering his mouth.

Across from him, LaRue rests his chin in his palm, studying C-SPAN with his fingers covering his mouth. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Within a few lines, the following short piece grabbed me.

font color="FFD700"> I glance over at Harris, who's wearing a calm that's almost hypnotic. His green eyes disappear in a soft squint and his dark black eyebrows seem to take over his face. Japanese is easier to read.

A new writer may have written: “I glanced at Harris. His green eyes squinted, his dark eyebrows drew together. I had no clue what he was thinking.” Using only a few more words and strong writing, Brad Meltzer gave the reader a rich picture and a laugh. Comparing someone’s unreadable face to unreadable Japanese? Brilliant. If we pulled out the highlighters and applied my EDITS System (taught in Empowering Characters’ Emotions) to that one paragraph, it would look like this.

I glance over at Harris (The glance is a nonverbal communication, underline in red), who's wearing a calm that's almost hypnotic.( highlight in YELLOW for internalization, the facial expression is interpreted) His green eyes disappear in a soft squint and his dark black eyebrows seem to take over his face. (Tough call – GREEN for description, but could have been underlined in red to describe his facial expression.) Japanese is easier to read. (internalization)

Here’s an important nonverbal characterization embedded in six words:

Enemark's chest rises at the compliment. "Much appreciated."

A final example from THE ZERO GAME:

"I'm Harris...Harris Sandler..." he says, introducing himself even though Enemark didn't ask. Leaving the sink, Harris studies the Congressman like a chessboard. It's the only way to stay ten moves ahead.

What does the reader learn about Harris in the above piece? Brad Meltzer shows Harris is assertive, he studies body language and the POV character expects Harris to stay ten moves ahead. So does the reader.

THE MILLIONAIRES

The following description of a smile does justice to Brad Meltzer’s voice.

She smiles, putting up her best defense. Not an annoyed smile; not a jaded smile; not even an angry get-outta-my-face-you-overhyper-little-gnat kinda smile. Just a nice, calming Beth smile.

The next example is loaded with body language and a valuable internalization.

With his chest in my face, Shep steps forward, forcing me to step back. Once he’s in the room, he whips the door shut. He studies Charlie, then stares at me. His thick neck keeps his head brutally arched, but it’s not an attack—he’s taking our measure. Weighing. Calculating. It’s like one of those silences at the end of a first date—where decisions get made.

LOOK FOR THE LIE – More examples from THE MILLIONAIRES

Brad Meltzer is a master at clueing the reader regarding the tell--body language that shows a character is lying.

Here are three examples that speak to body language and lies.

She studied his face, his hands, even his shoes. Charlie knew she was looking for the tell—trying to figure if it was a lie.

Turning to Gillian, he studies her penetrating blue eyes and searches for the lie. But like always, it never comes.

As Shep approaches her, Joey watches for the tell. A twitch in his eye . . . a shift in his shoulder . . . anything she can latch on to. But Shep’s too good to give it.

The first chapters of all of Brad Meltzer’s novels can be found on his website. The examples from THE ZERO GAME are all taken from the first chapter. To read them in context, go to Brad Meltzer’s website and enjoy the read.