Flashlight Worthy

Author Mary DeMuth mentioned the term “flashlight worthy” on Twitter the other day. (I guess I should say, she “tweeted” it). I got a shiver down my spine when I read those words. My biggest desire is to write books that are flashlight-worthy. You know the ones. They the keep you up all night because you simply MUST find out what happened to those characters to which you’ve become so attached. I was terribly guilty of flashlight reading as a kid. Now, as an adult I’ve become much more mature– I have the itty-bitty booklight.

These are two of my other goals:

To write stories that evoke a strong emotional response. I don’t mean they have to make you cry or laugh so hard that your diet pepsi comes out your nose. But, I do want the reader to care about the characters and feel changed in some way after they close the cover.

I want to write books that make people wrestle with questions. The song “Jesus Loves Me” says that I know this because the Bible “tells me so.” No to try to upstage this famous song or the Bible, but I want my stories to entice people to question their beliefs and then come to “own” their faith.

So here’s my question for you. If you are a writer, what are your writing goals? If you are a reader… what books have been “flashlight-worthy” for you?