All the Feels – Crafting Your Reader’s Emotional Journey by Pam Barnsley, Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at 7:00 pm (EST)

Of all the skills we writers bring to our short stories and novels, the ability to evoke an emotional response in our readers is arguably our most vital. When our reader feels their own fear, anger, sympathy, desire for revenge, nostalgia for a time gone by, laughter, heartache—that is what engages them.

Great hooks, strong voice, tight plotting, interesting characters, and smooth prose are all important, but the greatest satisfaction for the reader comes from having gone on their own emotional journey. There are tips and tricks we can use in our writing to evoke those emotions.

Pam Barnsley is a writer living on Vancouver Island, whose short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Cold Canadian Crime Anthology, Midnight Schemers and Daydream Believers Anthology, and Dangerous Games Anthology. Her novel, The River Cage, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Best Unpublished Novel in 2020. Her short literary story, The Troll Artist, was longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize in 2025. Pam is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, and Sisters in Crime. She is also a former snowboard instructor, award-winning poet, and from her father she learned the ancient art of training a cat to jump over a stick. Find her at www.pambarnsley.com.