I Address the Reader Only Once

When writing a novel, it’s tough enough figuring out if the first or third person will be used in the narrative. Also difficult is deciding how close do you want the reader to get to the author. Should he or she be acknowledged directly?  I did so just one time in the book.  Turn to page 283.  Roger, Otto, Detroit, and Paul McCartney have just gotten let off in the middle of the night at what is described as “the last exit before the desert,” in a heavily wooded area of south-central California. They are heading north along I-15 toward Las Vegas.The quartet has a good buzz on their heads thanks to their previous driver.  But now the starkness of the situation hits them all at once. “We sized up the vast canyon’s degree of severity.  Our elevation was ‘high, very high.’ The only hint of life was the glare of a Shell station on the far side of the interchange.” That’s when I, author Kenneth Lobb, felt the need to turn to the reader. “Not a lick of traffic came by in either direction.  I’m not talking about the entrance ramp, dear reader.  But I-15.  Nothing. Zero.” Maybe I was suddenly lonely and needed a friend. More likely, I wanted to emphasize that the nothingness around us wasn’t just on the local roads, but included the interstate as well.  Everything was silent and non-moving. It was a vast void of emptyness. No wonder within a few minutes Paul McCartney unrolled his sleeping bag and went to sleep in the shoulder of the ramp.