A Little More History

I've posted about all the exciting things, contests, books etc, during the last few weeks, and gotten a bit distracted from my writing history.

If you'll recall, the last tidbits I shared were in story form. Basically, I shared real events that happened to me in ways that were easier to talk about. Now I'm going to share with you how those experiences, and others, helped me write my book.

We all know that we're supposed to "write about what we know." Okay, well, I wrote a romantic fantasy novel. I don't know much about the setting and what might happen in an alternate world--never been there--but I do know something about captivity, real and figurative. I do know what it feels to be put in the role of "victim" and how I react to it.

Recently, I attended a signing where author Jessica Day George spoke about this very thing. Her books focus heavily on relationships because that's something she knows. So, while she has this fantasy setting for her novels, the characters resonate with the reader because she pours what she knows into them.

That's what I hoped to do. In my book, THE PEASANT QUEEN, Krystal is put in a position in her family where she is given an impossible choice: marry the village idiot or run away. I faced different circumstances, but a similar choice. Krystal is taken prisoner by an evil king. Okay, my captivity was more emotional than physical, and he wasn't a king, but I felt trapped just the same. And I did NOT like it, very much like Krystal.

At one point in the novel, Krystal is fighting of the unwanted advances of an older man. Been there. At another, she has genuine fear for her life. Been there, too.

Most of us don't know how it feels to look possible death in the face and the things that race through your mind in those moments. When we're granted the reprieve of continued life, we reflect on what we would have left behind.

All of this is very real for me. All of this is what I know, and what I hope to pour into my novels.

Next week I'll tell you about that day I almost died. At least one of them.