Linsey Lanier
Sally Kilpatrick
Sia Huff
Romily Bernard
Darcy Crowder
Marilyn Baron
Tami Brothers
Sandra Elzie
Carol Burnside
Debbie Kaufman
Maxine Davis
Tammy Schubert
Susan Carlisle
Pam Asberry
Lindy Chaffin StartI Confess, You Confess
By Carol Burnside
I confess. I’m deeply empathetic – the quintessential Hallmark and Folgers commercial crybaby. We won’t EVEN talk about movies and favorite TV shows. Here’s an example:
Recently, Hubby and I took a quick trip to Ohio for the weekend. Though we were only to be gone overnight, I took my laptop for writing and a book to read. I’m glomming on J.D. Robb’s In Death series lately, so I grabbed the next book in the series and after writing for awhile, began to read.
Anyone who’s familiar with the In Death series knows that it’s sexy, it’s heart-warming, it’s funny and sometimes a bit gory. But this time it was sad and made me weepy. Not once but twice in a tears-running-down-the-cheeks, grab-the-tissues way and a couple more times in a blink-fast-and-sniffle way. The title? Portrait in Death.
Don’t worry, I won’t include spoilers here. But I will say that a major character makes a startling discovery about the past and it affects that character and their relationships so deeply that you feel it too. Having read about these characters for some 16 books and 3 novellas, you better believe I’m invested in their lives, past and future. Major things like this situation I expect to weep over. That’s a given with me. But the deaths in this book were young college-age kids full of promise and talent. Their deaths seemed particularly tragic, the notifications at the homes of their parents particularly sad, Eve particularly affected.
Hubby thought I’d lost my mind, I’m sure. With each progressive sniffle, I caught him glancing my way. When I grabbed a fast-food napkin out of the glove box, I had to confess the book was sad and was getting to me. Hubby (with disbelief): Seriously? I’ve gotten teary over movies, but never a book.
Poor man. That’s almost as sad as the book was.
Okay, I confessed. In a way, Hubby confessed too. Now it’s your turn.
Have you ever cried over a book? If so, do you remember the book, the author?
If not, what else makes you weepy every time?
Tags: Carol Burnside, JD Robb
About the author
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Carol Burnside / Annie Rayburn | http://AnnieRayburn.com Annie delivers on the promise of "sizzling romance that tugs at your heart." Her books have soft scifi and light paranormal elements, but there's nothing soft or light about the erotic romance and she doesn't skimp on the emotion!
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June 14th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Carol,
Thanks for the confession. Yes, I cry over sad (or really happy) movies and…yes, book.
I shed tears over A Time To Kill. I hate anything where a child is hurt, but rape? Hideous.
There have been others…which I could think of one where it was such a happy moment that I shed tears, but right now, they escape me.
Thanks again for sharing & have a great day.
Sandy
June 14th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Carol,
I really enjoyed the post! Oh yes. I automatically get a wad of tissue when I start reading.
One that does it to me every time is a small Christmas book, Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. And parts of it make me laugh out loud.
For a movie, I usually start sniffling when the words, An Affair to Remember, drift across the screen.
I laughed until I cried the first time I saw the movie, Same Time Next Year, when Alan Alda tells the story of his wife at his boss’ party.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Like you, I cry over books, movies, TV shows, you name it.
I’ve cried over a lot of books, but the one that touched me most was “The Book Thief.”
And, I’m also a big fan of J.D. Robb. I’ve read every one of her books.
Marilyn Baron
June 14th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Thanks for weighing in, ladies.
Sandy, A Time to Kill gets me every time – especially his summation at the trial – Augh!!
Brenda, I have tissues on my end table, right where I watch TV. Gotta have ‘em handy.
Mailyn, I swear we’re kindred spirits.
June 14th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Hi Carol,
I’ve just turned my sisters into JD Robb fans! So cool.
I’m a really tough sell on the crying. Books and movies can get me to have a big lump in my throat but rarely cry – the Incredible Journey was the exception.
The usual deal breaker for me is a race. Any kind, human, horse, whatever. But especially horses because, well, that’s what I’m about. And I’m always the butt of jokes at the track because if my horses win, I’m cryin! All the guys laugh at this because I have a bit of a rep (necessary) for being pretty darned tough. Not much I can’t handle.
Huh, until whoever I’m rooting for, comes roaring down to the finish. So yeah, tv sports make me cry too.
And I’m really glad to know that stories effect so many people. After all, that’s what most of us are striving to do isn’t it?
June 14th, 2010 at 11:10 am
I cry all the time over books and movies. The sappier the better. It is hard to do and I’m always impressed when I find a scene that makes me laugh until I cry. They are always the best. I read a book a long time ago that was so funny I woke my husband laughing. I had to read the passage to him. That’s what I call great writing.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Ah, Kathy, you just reminded me of a book I cried buckets over as a child – Black Beauty! OMG, just thinking of the mistreatment of that animal, even in fiction form, makes my eyes start tearing.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Hey, Susan, when you come to visit next month, we’ll have to watch a sappy movie together and share a box of tissues. Now, that’s heavy-duty bonding time there!
June 14th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
hey Susan, I’m with you on the laugh til you cry movies. McClintock and Cat Balou. I remember watching these as a kid and my entire family laughed til we cried!
Hey Carol, thanks for ‘following!’
you inspired me today.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
and as for funny books, I’m not allowed to read Janet Evanovich in bed. Hubby says, laughing is one thing but that loud snorting, choking sound while making the bed shake, trying not to laugh…
it scares the stuffing out of him!
June 14th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Oh, Carol, a better question would be what books and movies I DON’T cry at.
One of the worst sobbing fits recently was the opening sequence in the movie Up. And I didn’t have any tissues because it was a Disney film–I usually only shed a few tears at the black moment in those.
As for books, I wept like a baby throughout the end of Gods in Alabama and the Help. Tanya’s books often bring me to tears–the good kind, people.
My best friend Janette still laughs at me for crying at Bambi and Beauty and the Beast. And she’ll really start laughing at how much I cried at this Hallmark movie called Miss Rose White.
Hubby just goes and finds the kleenex and shakes his head at me. The other night though it was the fourth of the Mummy movies, and he says, “This one? Really? This movie is really bad.”
I know, know.
Oh, oh, and I just remembered that I get choked up EVERY time I read Munsch’s I’ll Love you Forever. Both hubby and I groan when the kids bring me that one.
June 14th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
OMG, Sally, can you imagine if we were all watching one of those movies together. Anyone coming into the room would probably want to know who died.
Got to use that in a book sometime. LOL!
June 14th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I’ve never cried over a book. Never. Movies, a few I’ve had to choke back the tears, especially when I’m in a theater and the screen is so big and everything seems so real.
This post was really interesting to me because lately, it seems like I’m more on edge with the tears. It’s like I’m getting sentimental in my “older” age. I went to the monastery in Conyers on Saturday and was close to losing it during mass.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
The Notebook. I was on a plane traveling from Las Vegas to Atlanta. It was a bumpy ride when we were getting close to ATL and I couldn’t get up to get a tissue. I was sobbing and slobbering and my nose was running…so embarrassing. The guy sitting next to me finally handed me his wadded up napkin from his drink cup holder. I just could not stop crying.
Since then, I do not read books guaranteed to make me sad when I’m flying. Only hot romances for me!
Oh, and another book…Siempre te Quere…Spanish version of I’ll Love You Forever. Much, much better than the English version. “Simepre te quere…siempre te amare. Aunque en mi haya vida, siempre sera mi bebe.” I thought about that book this past week when I was caring for my father and I thought of all the times he rocked me on his knee. Now I’m the one changing the diaper and rocking him to sleep.
So sad. Okay, now I’m crying.
June 14th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Oh, Carol, I’m sooo behind in my J.D.Robb. This sounds like a really, really good one.
I cry all the time over stories whether I read them in books or see them in movies. Especially at the end. I have to be careful while listening to CDs and driving, LOL. In fact, I’m getting a bit sniffly just reading some of these titles.
Fortunately, I have a hubby who gets teary-eyed right along with me when we watch a mushy movie. I love it!
June 14th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Funny, but not haha! I just finished Sharon Sala’s Blown Away where the heroine lost both parents and her cousin in one fell swoop in the very beginning of the story. I kept tearing up as she dealt with her grief through the story. I did the same thing the next day while watching a Hallmark movie I’d recorded a few weeks ago. My daughter says I’m a big crybaby. Seems like in the last year or two I have finally turned on the waterworks I’ve repressed for so long. Now, I cry over EVERYTHING, LOL.
I am a huge J.D. Robb fan, too, but those books have caused me to tear up…yet.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Carol, looks like you’ve hit a chord here with everyone. I definitely cry over books, movies, commercials…. Heck, just the other night I got all choked up over an Ally McBeal rerun (Netflix).
June 15th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Anna, you must release that inner sobber waiting to get out. Believe me, it’s every bit as cathartic as a good laugh.
Ana, I never read The Notebook. After seeing the movie, I didn’t dare. I would’ve loved to see your seat-neighbor’s face when faced with a blubbering you.
Linsey, if you’re more behind than me, you really should put one a month in your read-next pile. They’re too good to put off.
Cheers for another crybaby. Debbie, if you haven’t read Portrait and you’re a cryer, I swear it will get to you.
Yay, another kindred spirit in Darcy. Ally McBeal, eh? I’ve never seen that show.
June 15th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Oh man! I just read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher! Oh, My! I teared up plenty. I even did a review on the book (coming soon here) because I loved it so much.
Another one that hit me was Deadline by Chris Crutcher.
Both stories are YA stories and both deal with the main characters dying. But BOTH books are so incredibly good, I highly recommend the read.
Thanks for sharing this story with us. I haven’t read JD Robb but several different people have recommended them. So I will have to eventually give them a try.
Tami