Pack this in your next book adventure

Whether you’re an author or reader you don’t want to miss a thing during your next trip into that alternate world of fiction. Pack wisely.
Here’s what you wouldn’t dream of leaving behind:
1. Your imagination. You want to psych yourself up so by the time you crack that first page, you’re ready to visit a whole new world where you will meet fascinating friends and freakish foes. Be available for them.
2. Your emotions. Make room in the suitcase of your heart while spending time in this book world. Expect to laugh at people’s hijinks, cry inside a little with their pain, grit your teeth over wrenching sacrifices, sweat out that worrisome suspense and become absolutely enraged over injustices. Feel, think and live with these fictional characters as if they are real.
3. Your senses. Latch onto descriptive passages till they pull you deep inside this story world. Hunt for smells that tantalize, exotic colors that intrigue you, penetrating sounds that echo in your ears and heart and odd textures that interest you or give you the willies. Sense deeply what your story characters are experiencing until your book jumps to life.
4. Your questions. Do not forget to wonder. (Every child knows how to do that.) You never really know what’s going to happen next in the world of this book, anything could be lurking around that next corner. But you still have to try to guess. If you are right, you can pat yourself on the back and reassure yourself about how shrewd you really are after all. If you are wrong, you can be outrageously amused at this clever, unforeseen twist you encountered.
Other questions to ask yourself include:
* What in my life makes me identify with this particular character? Why is she or he growing on me? (Dig deep.) Is there something about my own life that this character is reminding me of?
* Why do I care about this character’s obstacles? Why do I relate to particular challenges? Have I experienced anything remotely similar?
* What did I not see coming? Why was I so blindsided? What does this say about how I perceive reality?
* How did I know this chapter would go the way it does? Have I had similar outcomes? Why? Or, have I had opposite outcomes and I’d love a chance to redo that episode in my own life? Am I happy or frustrated with how events are going? Why?
* How does this book stretch my imagination? Doe this story speak to me? Why? How? Is there a message here I can apply to my own personal reality?
* Now that my curiosity is awakened, what else can I pick up on?
Yes, it’s the author’s job to generously ladle new adventures and sensations into fiction so this world hits readers in the heart. If you are writing a book, your job is  not only to spice up a fictional world, but to challenge your readers to scour their own souls as well.
Buckle up. Bring the right baggage.  Make the most of your trip.
It’s story time!