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!

The Monday That Got Away

Usually, I drag my butt out of bed in the morning (or what's morning for me), take my first handful of drugs for the day, then stumbled to the kitchen for the first round of caffeine. The first productive thing I do next is check my e-mail.

Most times, there's a note from one of my West Coast writing buds and a bunch of ads. But not today. No, siree!

There were a bunch of work related e-mails, including some from readers (which are always nice to get). And not just e-mails, but texts and voice-mails on my phone as well as messages through other social media. There was switching over/changing some of Genius Kid's accounts so his dad and I could deal with his financials while he is at basic training. Plus, one of my dentists (yes, I have more than one, LOL) called. His receptionist squeezed me in this afternoon to go over some test results.

Let me put it to you this way--I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast until three in the afternoon.

So it's nine in the evening, and I'm just now pulling up my wip.

I'm looking forward to August. GK heads off to begin his adult life. Darling Husband will be spending several hours a week at the soccer stadium as the high school's official time keeper. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get a little ahead in my writing production.

Music I've Been Listening to

At least Joan Jett and the Blackhearts get appropriate credit here as the fictional band, the Barbusters.

When Did I Become the Old Writer?

I don't mean my chronological age.

While talking with some other writers, I realized I've been writing for twenty-six years. Been actively pursuing publication for twenty-six years.

Now granted, I've been published in non-fiction for twelve years now, fiction for eight years. But actually putting pen to paper/typing on my typewriter/typing on my laptop? Yeah, twenty-six years. That's roughly half my life so far.

(P.S. I found the first thing I ever submitted. It sucked. Really, really sucked.)

Then I hear these other folks who've been publishing two or three years whining about how hard things are now.

It's all I can do to keep my Pepsi from spraying from my mouth. Now, I get why the old-timers (writers with a couple more decades of experience than me) get a peeved with newbies.

On the other hand, folks with more experience than me are also complaining about how hard it is. Everything changed overnight for them, and they don't know what to do.

Honestly, both sides are wrong. Today's Information Age is the best time ever to be an artist of any kind. We have so many options. We can reach billions of people around the world. I've sold books in five different continents. I've lost track of how many different countries. We writers have nothing to complain about. The audiences are there. It's up to us  to find them.

So either quit bitching about how hard writing is today, or get off my lawn!

In My Tiny Bubble

The world's gotten to the point where I put on my blinders in the morning and focus on my writing. Or Supernatural.

Why?

Because I see writers following the politicians and doing the same shit. Do something that's unethical and/or illegal, something they know damn well is unethical and/or illegal, and when they're caught, lie their asses off.

The problem is the bullshit can't last forever. Eventually, everyone gets tired of the bullshit, and writers who are doing the unethical/illegal shit will get slapped down.

What's funny is that these writers saw what happened to their predecessors. And yet, they follow the same crooked path. Then, they're oh so shocked when they get busted as well.

So I'm going to put my blinders back and focus on entertaining my readers. Because like the Hokey Pokey, that's what it's all about.

Summer Sale - A Question of Balance!

A Question of Balance will be $0.99 from now until July 30th. If you've been wanting to try it, now's your chance!

Amazon US
Amazon, Non-U.S. countries
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashword

Music I've Been Listening To

Despite the video's label, the real credit goes to John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

Relearning an Old Lesson

It's been so long since I've released books on a consistent basis I'd forgotten one of my own rules--the best advertising is putting books out on a consistent basis.

I released the first three books of the 888-555-HERO series March through May, but a personal situation put me behind on the next Justice book, so I pushed the release schedule back. Not a big deal, right?

But Hero De Facto hit what we call the 90-day cliff on Amazon. That's when books disappear from the algorithms because they are considered old. Or they do unless you constantly goose the promos or ads.

But the third method of goosing the system is simply to release another book. Seriously.

I released A Matter of Death on Monday. The same day I had a surge in page reads on 888-555-HERO books through Kindle Unlimited. The last time I had any page reads was July 5th. The last sales on that series was July 2nd. But I've consistently had page reads all this week in addition to the lump of sales for the new book.

Do this mean I'm not doing any paid promos or ads? No, but I don't always do them on same day as a release.

One thing to keep in mind is this is what's working for me. It's not a hardcore blueprint for everyone. You may have to experiment a little on your own titles to figure out what works for you.

In other words, YMMV.

Recommended Story

Fellow fantasy writer Joseph Bradshire is experimenting with reading his stories on YouTube. "Fire Flower" is a sweet story. Hope you like it.

A Matter of Death Is LIVE!

Yep, folks! It's a release day! My fourth this year, which alone makes 2019 so much greater than the last five years.

Even better, I've figured out preorders on all the major retailers, so the latest Justice novel is available to everyone at the same time! Including the paperback! (Though you may have to get your local book store to order it from Ingrams for you.)

Below are the blurb and links. And just to warn you, you may need some hankies at the end of the book.

BLURB
Two skinwalkers controlling Tandor had been bad enough, but then a demon army waltzed up to the city gates…

Anthea, Luc and their allies are trapped inside the border city of Tandor. They’ve lost all contact with the rest of Issura and their neighboring countries. And if the demons get by Tandor, the entire continent will become their dinner table. But the city is low on food and more importantly, water.

Can Anthea and Luc find a solution? Or will they be forced to activate the final defense spells of Death to stop the demons, and kill everyone in Tandor and themselves in the process?

Magic and mayhem have never been this desperate. Or this fatal.

Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo
Smashwords