The Book YOU WISH YOU WROTE

It's not just the story...

Roxanna Rowan may be a genteel Virginia woman, but she is determined to brave the wilds of the untamed frontier to reach a remote Kentucky fort.  Eager to reunite with her father, who serves under Colonel Cassius McLinn, Roxanna is devastated to find that her father has been killed on campaign.
Penniless and out of options, Roxanna is forced to remain at the fort. As she spends more and more time with the fiery Colonel McLinn, the fort is abuzz with intrigue and innuendo. Can Roxanna truly know who the colonel is--and what he's done?   The Colonel's Lady by Laura Frantz

At thirty-two, strong-willed Amelia Peabody, a self-proclaimed spinster, decides to use her ample inheritance to indulge her passion, Egyptology. On her way to Egypt, Amelia encounters a young woman named Evelyn Barton-Forbes. The two become fast friends and travel together, encountering mysteries, missing mummies, and Radcliffe Emerson, a dashing and opinionated archaeologist who doesn't need a woman's help--or so he thinks. Crocodile on the Sandbar by Elizabeth Peters

And it's not just the words...

"Do you think I am an automaton? A machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips and my drop of living water dashing from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!  I have as much soul as you and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the  grave and we stood at God's feet, equal. As we are!" Jane Eyre by Charlotte  Bronte. 

"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic." The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

And it's not just the characters...

"Forgive me for startling you with the impetuosity of my sentiments, my dear Scarlett--I mean, my dear Mrs. Kennedy. It cannot have escaped your notice that for some time past the friendship I have had in my heart for you has ripened into a deeper feeling, a feeling more beautiful, more pure, more sacred. Dare I name it you? Ah! it is love which makes me so bold!"  Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

"I will find you," he whispered in my ear. "I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you--then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied,  and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. 

But there is one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest." His voice dropped, nearly to a whisper and his arms tightened around me. "Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well." Jamie and Claire, Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon. 

 
I'm glad I didn't write those stories, because I couldn't have done them justice. And they aren't my stories. BUT they have entertained me and enthralled me and inspired me.

Have you read any stories you wish you'd written? 
What is it about that book that captivated you?

I have a feeling ... "I wish I'd written that..."

Debra E. Marvin tries not to run too far from real life but the imagination born out of being an only child has a powerful draw. Besides, the voices in her head tend to agree with all the sensible things she says. Debra likes to write, weed and wander and is blessed to have the best family and friends in the world. She has decided she needs to live closer to her grandchildren. She’s thankful each day that God is in control, that He chooses to bless us despite ourselves and that He has a sense of  humor. Her work has finaled in the TARA, Great Expectations, Heart of the Rockies, Maggie, the Daphne DuMaurier and was recently placed as the overall winner of the Phoenix Rattler contest.  Not too bad considering she’s trying a mashup of gospel and . . .  gothic.