I got into an interesting discussion with a reader the other day that showed I should probably make a few things clear for the reading public.
1) Dying Embers is entirely a work of fiction. I made all this shit up in my head and while I may have borrowed a few minor character traits from people I've met in my life-travels, they're scattered throughout and no one character has any resemblance as a whole to anyone I've ever met.
2) I have never been cheated on. I've only been married once, and my husband is so totally faithful that even when some ass started a rumor, I laughed my ass off. The only cheating I ever encountered was that one dude in college who slept with a chick at a party when he was supposed to be my boyfriend. I dropped him like the sack of dirt he was, but I never cared enough about him to even wish him dead.
3) I have never killed anyone. Not that I haven't thought about it, and my imagination does run wild, but I do know right from wrong, and no matter how much some people may deserve a little payback, I would never follow through. Hell, people, I swerve to avoid running over frogs. The only thing I kill with any amount of glee are brown recluse spiders. Those suckers deserve to die. And venomous snakes.
4) Neither Jace nor Emma is modeled after me, or anyone else I know.
If the story you read makes it seem like I've been there, then thank you. That means I've done my job as a writer. And yes, while the common mantra in the writing community is 'Write what you know', it isn't the case here. I make shit up and write it down.
I hope you all enjoy the shit I've made up. I'm having a blast letting my imagination run wild and then sharing the stories with you.
Oh, and I almost totally forgot! Deb Salisbury and DL Hammons need to email me (besanderson at gmail dot com) your snail mail addresses so I can send you both bookmarks - just cuz. =o)
I'm giggling like a girl... Sorry but it always makes me giggle when people confuse reality and fiction. Hell yeah, I wanted to be the first starship captain in Starfleet, I'm a member of a sci fi association who get together, dress up and pretend we're flying space ships, but that's all it is - make believe. I don't know if I've told you this, but I've started writing a book on several occasions, even got up to Chapter 8 once. I figured if I can read it, why can't I write it? The answer to that is I just can't. I can't keep myself out of it and my opinions & history colour everything I write. I can imagine the story but I can't put it down on paper. The best authors keep themselves out of it and write fiction. So kudos to you that your reader actually thought your book was about you - sign of a good story.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could give you a morning laugh, Fran! No, you never told me you tried to write, but it doesn't surprise me. I bet you had a lot of fun doing it.
DeleteNow, I'm not saying there's nothing of me in the writing. I weave experiences and people and my opinions and history and everything in there somewhere. I can't see how someone can be a writer and not weave themselves into their work. I think the best authors write in such a way that they're in the fiction, but not so it's in your face noticeable. Thanks for the kudos!
About that whole "Write what you know" thing? Yeah...you can "know" a lot of things, especially with research. If we all wrote what we know, there'd be no high fantasy, no SciFi. Harry Potter wouldn't exist if a single mum on welfare didn't go to a coffee shop and create a world in her imagination. No GAME OF THRONES, no DISCWORLD, no hobbits or a Lion named Aslan. There'd be no dragonriders in Pern (I NEED to reread those books now!). There would be no Dracula or Frankenstein. There would be no Tara with Rhett and Scarlett. Imagination is everything whether our stories are set in some fantastical dreamscape or rooted in the gritty reality of cops and murderers, of politics, of cowboys and pirate ships.
ReplyDeleteFor a reader to get so lost in the world created by a writer's imagination is a gift--to the author and to the reader. I want that writer when I grow up. ;)
ROFL! Now I know why some writers stick "A Novel" on the cover. But congrats on making it so real she was worried.
ReplyDeleteYay! I'll go hunt down your email. Thanks!