Fiction & Reality

Hey Everyone,

Sorry about not posting yesterday. My offspring wasn't feeling well and didn't sleep very well in the night (consequently neither did my husband or me). Offspring felt better during the day. We went to the doc's office and ran some errands and today husband has off and is hanging out with offspring, which means I'll have a chance to finish reading Cheri Jetton's e-book, Crimson Snow, (41 pages left!) on my e-reader. It's good and I recommend it (you can get it on Nook or Kindle). I talked about Cheri's story on Wednesday.

So, here's the question for the day (and weekend) does fiction mimic reality?

Obviously, as far as I'm concerned, not completely. I have a type of shape shifter in my fantasy romance (with paranormal elements) novel, but my husband isn't a shape shifter (at least I've never seen him do it). But he did do something the hero of my novel, Surreal does. He made a promise to be there for me and he has been. Monroe (the hero of my novel) doesn't come right out, but he's always there for Sasha--trying to "rescue" her from everything.

But have you seen instances where fiction and reality coincide? How so and which novels?

Please tell me about it :-)

Have A Fabulous Friday!

Inner Workings Part 2

Happy Thursday All,

Wow the first whole work week in the year 2011 is almost over. Time loves to fly (I think it uses Continental or American Airlines--my experience with these airlines has been good, by the way, just in case someone's wondering). Bad joke, I know--goofy sense of humor jumps up again.

Over the years I'd ask this one friend "What if?" Questions. Now, these "What if?" Questions are entirely fine for fiction writers--in fact, they're pretty much a must. Like asking "What if I set this story in the future?" "What if vampires were real?" "What if the heroine was a short, stout elderly woman who bashed people over the head with a cane?" (Okay that last one, I don't know of any author who actually asked themselves that one, and I haven't, but I thought it was funny).

Someone I know once told me (years ago, this might have changed by now) they didn't deal with "What if?" questions. Now, we weren't talking in terms of writing--we were talking about impossible things actually happening in the real world--but not for a story--for reality.

However, if fiction writers quit asking themselves "What if?" they and their readers would be in for a real jam.

Part of writing is asking "What if?" For example, when I was writing SURREAL I asked myself:  "What if the hero and heroine meet in the heroine's dreams?" and "What if they thought the rift would close separating them forever?"

We have to ask those impossible questions as if they're possible because fiction isn't always about what's reality--it's about what makes a good story.

I don't know of any witch who lives in the woods in a Gingerbread House and eats little children, but for Hansel And Gretal it works.

We don't know what the year 3020 will be like, but if Sci-Fi writers quit asking "What if in the year 3020 they had these types of space ships?" Their stories wouldn't get written. Shoot, Gene Roddenberry might not have come up with Star Trek if he didn't explore the possibilities of what was currently impossible.

If you're an accountant and you're working on bookkeeping you obviously can't contemplate "What if?" if the "if" isn't a part of the equation. It wouldn't be realistic and it wouldn't make the bookkeeping accurate.

Or Doctors can't contemplate when they're in the middle of an emergency "What if I could duplicate myself 90 times?" Because they have to focus on the task at hand (and nobody wants an unfocused doctor working on them).

However, for writing and careers like that, the "What if?" question is incredibly important. We must ask ourselves "What if?" every story we write. In fact, nearly every scene and word. Because the minute we quit asking "What if?" and quit looking for possibilities in the impossible, that's the minute our stories quit being open to what could happen.

So...what "What if?" questions do you ask when writing your novels?

Have A Thoughtful Thursday!

Is Your Genre Your Life?

Good morning folks!

It's not yet 9:00 a.m. in Texas and I've finished my coffee...although I'm wondering if this is going to turn into one of those "Two-Coffee Days". So far I'm managing without the second one. Go me!

Anyway...the title of this post might be a bit confusing. Genre being your life? Huh? You lost me, Bethany! Here's what I mean...

A comment on my last post made by J.J. triggered the idea for this post (so kudos go to her today).

She mentioned she's writing a YA Paranormal filled with religion, legend, Indiana Jones elements (I'm guessing action/some type of discovery), etcetera. Ironically, I wasn't confused. She had me at YA Paranormal. My brain started clicking with all the possibilities that would fill the pages of her novel. In short, I'd pick it up, have a look and probably read it.

I read a lot of Paranormal/fantasy. Some ghosts. Some vampires. Magic. Fairytales. Time travel. That kind of thing. For example: I got into The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I've been reading Kerrelyn Sparks' Love At Stake series.

I'm not into all vampire stuff, but if it's got the element of love, sacrifice for love, and characters I can come to love, I'm sure to read it. (I absolutely adore Kerrelyn Sparks' character, the vampire, Gregori. I think he's hailirious).

So what do I mean about living my genre? Well, I read paranormal/romance/fantasy, I write it, I often think in terms of it. People have told me all my life that different things are impossible. Okay, so maybe it's highly unlikely that a centaur's going to gallop through my backyard (ooo, story idea!), or that a unicorn is going to start talking to me, or even that I'll meet a crazy fairy with an odd sense of humor (reference to a character I once wrote named Femme de Noir; she was a bit on the nutty side), but, who's to say other things won't happen? You never know when someone might even train monkeys to wear hula skirts and dance to steel drums (odd, I know, but can't you just picture it?)

The point is, I don't negate wacky ideas simply because they're wacky (unless it's a guy telling me they're the most awesome man that ever existed, then I'll have to put it aside--1. because I can't stand egotistical men, 2. I'm married and could care less, unless it's my husband and 3. they should be acting like puffed up birds to a girl who's interested in them romantically, not wasting their time on me. But you never know when that egotism will make an appearance in a story--whether it be my own story or someone else's).

You never know if it might make a great story line, or just a thought to crack you up when you're on a sugar rush.

Living your genre is letting your brain/imagination run wild with possibilities. If you're a writer, it's about sitting there thinking "What if this happened, and this...and what if this person was this or that?"

I have a friend who generally doesn't like to be asked "what if" questions. He says they're usually made up of things that wouldn't really happen. That's fine for him. He's one of those logical, practical types (although he does love a lot of great fiction...)

For a writer, a "what if" question is often the beginning of a ride through another world...the world of his or her novel (or book proposal, if you're doing nonficition).

A writer has to think in "what if" at least sometimes. Can imagine if Tolkein or C.S. Lewis never sat there and let their imaginations answer the "What if" question? Would we even have The Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit or any of the Narnia books?

How about if Anne Rice never sat there contemplating what her characters would be like. Would Interview With A Vampire have the same impact if she had just said: "So and so interviewed thus and so vampire, but we know vampires don't actually exist, so the point is moot." Huh? Then what would be the point of the novel?

Just imagine if J.K. Rowling never penned Harry Potter. The world wouldn't have met Hogwart's Castle through her style.

Readers and writers like the "what if" questions when it comes to novels because it opens the door to everything. It opens the door to a young magician going to school to uncover his talents, it opens the door to a sparkling vampire who can't bear the thought of being a threat to his beloved, it opens the door to a talking Lion who's often considered an image of God/Jesus, it brings out the power in a ring, it helped us meet a vampire named Lesat.

That's part of living one's genre. Going through life and suddenly thinking "What if this happened?"

Who's to say one day we won't have a story about monkeys who wear hula skirts and dance to the sound of steel drums? Just because it doesn't necessarily exist, doesn't mean it's impossible for an author to think: "Huh. I wonder if..." or "Hmmm...what if...." Then off and running with some tale about just that.

You never know. When you live your genre it's possible for centaurs to run around in your backyard (like I said, story idea, my brain is clicking!) You just have to know where to look.

Enjoy your genre life :-)

"What if...?"

Have A Wondering Wednesday!