Power of Story

by Joanne Rock

With apologies to the wonders of modern transportation, I can’t help but think there is no faster way to take a long journey than four simple words—once upon a time.

There is magic in those words.  If you don’t believe it, try watching the opening to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast sometime, where a wonderful narrator’s voice sucks you in with a long ago legend told over the still pictures of a story book.  Whether or not our books begin with the classic words that begin a fairy tale, our brains still hear them as we sit down to open a book.  And by “we” I’m referring to romance readers, readers who believe in the transporting power of story and are eager to undertake that journey again and again through the pages of a book.  The magic of “once upon a time” is engrained, a mental portal we go through whenever we open a new book and that excitement for a story begins all over again.

Of course, maybe I’m a very susceptible reader.  I willingly suspend disbelief at the drop of a hat, always ready to take a new journey and see where a story leads.  Perhaps not all readers are as eager to see the world through pages as I am.

But even the most cynical of readers will undertake that magical story journey every now and then.  No matter that they fight the pull of “once upon a time,” sooner or later something will draw them in and lead them deep into a story.  For my oldest son recently, it was DaVinci Code.  For my youngest, it was Harry Potter.  You’ve got to hand it to J.K. Rowling.  Nothing captures a six-year-old’s attention like a giant driving out of the sky on a motorcycle.

 

Thanks to the power of story, I’ve been all around the world and through time to save the world, save the family farm, save numerous rocky marriages.  I’ve battled plagues, bad guys and vampires.  And of course, I’ve fallen for a few bad guys and vampires.  And sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively, it all started once upon a time.

**Do you remember the last book that almost gave you goosebumps as you read the opening pages? Or the last book you highly anticipated? Share with me today for a chance to win a download of LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS! Don't miss my next book in the Road to Romance series, A CHANCE THIS CHRISTMAS, releasing October 5th.