Tuesday Tidbits: The Perils of Peril

The hero hangs off the edge of the cliff. Loose rocks tumble downward as their feet search for a foothold. A tree root, mere inches from bloodied fingertips, teases our protagonist, mocking in its secure position on the precipice.

A hand darts toward the root, grasps it, and it pulls away from the ground and begins to stretch, each fiber snapping…*

OK. The main character isn’t going to die. Usually. But as an author, how much do we expect the reader to believe? The answer is simple: All of it.

Fight scenes that seem to go in forever. Bodies pummeled beyond what a human could possibly endure. One dangerous situation after another. Car chases that make insurance companies cringe.

As readers and watchers, we have to accept the peril. It’s exciting, and surprisingly suspenseful. If we actually dissected the believability of it, well, it would be no fun at all.

So, what about magic? Don’t get me started on that…

-Leon

*In case you were wondering, another hand reaches down at the last second (of course) and somehow pulls our main character (who probably weighs more that the rescuer) to safety.

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Originally published at http://linesbyleon.com on January 23, 2024.