Reality in Fiction

Writers struggle to make their characters live and breath, to make them "real" to the readers. The goal for me is to make the reader feel like my characters could be someone they meet in real life.

On the other hand, I can't inject too much reality in my stories. The main goal of my fiction is to provide escapism for my readers. It's what I look for in my own reading. Too much realism reminds the reader of the very things they are trying to escape from.

Apparently, there's another problem I didn't realize until I released the first three books of the 888-555-HERO series last spring. People have their own definition of reality, and if the story doesn't mesh with their reality, the reader gets a little irate. (Or in one case, VERY irate. LOL)

While Canyon Pointe is a fictional city, it's based on parts of New Orleans, Denver, Phoenix, and Houston.

For example, everyone is aware of Houston's thriving Hispanic community, but it's not all Mexican-Americans. Houston has Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Guatamalans, Hondurans, etc. Little Vietnam has the greatest collection of restaurants outside of the home country. DH's primary care doctor was from Pakistan; mine was from Taiwan. So there's more than one or two ethnic groups in any major U.S. city. I wanted Canyon Pointe to reflect other U.S. cities.

A lot of Harri and Aisha's quirks are based on several female attorneys I know in real life. All of them a tough and passionate about their jobs.

There's also the age difference in relationships in my stories. Again, many women I know bucked the trend in America and married guys younger than them, including my own paternal grandmother, who was part of the Greatest Generation. So I'm having a little fun with Rey, a Gen Z, pursuing Aisha, a Gen X.

It's funny how the older Gen Xers and younger Boomers find my stories appalling. Appalling, they say! Especially, the "liberal agenda"!

Ummm, what?

Apparently, having a multi-ethnic, multi-age cast blows some people's minds. Except that's the world we live in now.

We live in an apartment (our immediate house-buying plan was blown up by my cancer last year) squarely in the very red Midwest. We're a town surrounded by farms and fields. Yet, ours neighbors in the complex have run the gamut of ages, from white Gen Z kids rooming together, to Millennial Pakistani grad students, to older Gen X empty nesters in the proverbial rainbow of colors.

Our reality is that things are changing. Things are ALWAYS changing. All the righteous anger in the world isn't going to change that.

So, in the meantime, I will continue to write characters that reflect people I know in real life. Now, get off my lawn!

Real Life Intrudes

Darling Husband had planned to take today off and escort his dad to a doctor's appointment, Circumstances necessitated FIL seeing the doctor a few weeks earlier, so DH had what he thought was a free day.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'd like to point out HE'S the one who put together the list of errands for us to do.

So while he put the battery charger on the '98 in order for us to take it to our mechanic later, checked for new seats for the '98 at the local junk yard, and bought breakfast for us, I was still dreaming I was one of the Doctor's companions and trying to solve a plot against him/her with a few other companions.

(Considering I've been plagued with nightmares for the last several weeks, it was a good dream, and I'll take it!)

After breakfast and showers, we headed over to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Both cars need their registrations renewed before the end of the month. Also, I needed to renew my driver license, which with the new, extensive checks to keep so-called "bad people" from doing "bad things" meant I had to show my birth certificate, Social Security Card, marriage license, and two items mailed within the last thirty days with my current address. Okay, it wasn't just me. All of us had to produce a ton of documentation, which meant it was taking longer than normal because after the first clerk went through everything, a second had to repeat the process.

Just in case any of us bribed the first clerk. *eyeroll*

Then after a side-trip home to grab the prescription, we were off to the vision center to order DH's new glasses. Glasses are a very important accessory and fashion statement. However, I couldn't talk him into the pair that were in Seattle Seahawk colors. LOL

After the steel-rimmed glasses with red-orange accents were ordered and paid for, we headed down the street to Jo-Ann Fabrics. Now that Genius Kid is a welder for a living, I need to patch some holes in his jeans. All I can say is steel and embers are rough on clothing.

Finally, we had a chance to grab some lunch...

Only to have the FIL call. He was having problems with his internet access.

But we had to get the '98 over to the mechanic's before five, so first, we headed back to the garage. The car started, but the two front tires were low. We dug out the portable air compressor and filled the tires, and we were finally on our way to the mechanic's.

Of course, their office manager had to tell use about her trip to Vegas (she's the only person I've met who loves Barry Manilow more than me) and show us pictures.

We had to swing back to the garage because DH left his Pepsi from lunch there (we were both pretty thirsty at this point, and I wasn't sharing my ice tea). And we finally made it back to the FIL's apartment. DH isn't sure why, but the FIL's Roku drops his own internet and wants to connect with the complex's open wi-fi. So DH got the Roku reset, wrote down direction for the FIL in case it happens again, and loaded more books for the FIL on his Kindle.

We finally walk into our apartment to be greeted with "Where have you been? What's for dinner?" from GK.

Needless to say (1) we ordered pizza, and (2) I have no writing to my name yet today.

So I have my feet up, a couple of cold drinks, and some peace and quiet. The real question is how many words can I get done before I fall asleep in my recliner.

Back in Business...Sort of

Ivan has been fully loaded with programs and data. I'm thankful I didn't lose any wips or the box inventory I'd been working on when Isabella went into cardiac arrest. However, we're picking up the moving truck at noon, we actually ran out of boxes and need to buy more, and we have a houseful of furniture to load, so I know I won't get any writing done today or tomorrow.

I'll be posting some interesting personal news about Apple on Wednesday, but it may be late in the day.

'Til then, be safe and productive everyone.

What a Morning!

Currently reading - Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson

So much for my day off. *sigh*

We spent the morning at the orthodontist going over treatment plans for GK. He's only ten, but his freakin' adult canines are lying on top of his upper incisors. The poor kid may be looking at oral surgery if the orthodontist can't coax them down by shoving the other teeth out of the way. I'll give Dr. A a lot of credit. He's trying to avoid pulling any teeth, something both DH and I went through.

We got home. DH and I had a long talk about how we were going to finance the steel cemented to GK's teeth. Then GK went to his best bud's across the street, and I thought, "Whoopee! Finally! Quality writing time." Only to have Isabella's screen go black. (Okay, I admit my shame. I name inanimate objects, including my little Inspiron 710m.)

Dang it! I just got her back from the shop. The tech had replaced her power ballast, and that seemed to fix the screen blacking out five seconds after she booted up. Until today. At least Isabella waited until I turned in this month's column before her lights went dark.

So I borrowed Irvin (the spare 700m) from DH, dropped off Isabella at the repair shop, and am now sitting in the cafe' cursing myself for forgetting my hot pink iPod (courtesy of the fabulous Carly Phillips and her contribution to the Brenda Novak auction) because Irvin does not contain my music library like Isabella does.

Thank you for listening to me vent. Please feel free to add your own vents in the comments below.

I will now return to my regularly scheduled writing program already in progress. . .

I Hate Real Life Sometimes.

Still reading - Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn

Last week was . . .

Oh geez. There's no words without sounding like a whiny baby. Let's just say a lot of personal stuff hit the fan. But the topper was a dear friend's husband ending up in the critical care unit of a local hospital. Her issues pale in comparison to mine.

So I dealt with most of the personal stuff by Thursday, and focused on finishing the current wip. Needless to say, I haven't blogged or read for the last week, but darn it, I'm one scene away from finishing ZW. Once I'm done this afternoon, I'm finshing my Kitty book!

Reality Bites

It's been one of THOSE weekends. I'm doing good to get some of the little things done. That's in addition to the major things like soccer games, working the day job, and meeting a non-fiction deadline.

This week's objective? Get as much crap done as possible so I can enjoy the double delight of this weekend-my birthday and Samhain-before the reality of NaNo sinks in on Sunday.

Keep your fingers crossed that my sanity stays intact.