It's time for...

Ask the Author!

This is an occasional post - prompted by a question asked by a reader which seems to deserve more than a short reply. The reader (if a Hive member) who asks such a good question will be rewarded with a share of Hive Basic Income (HBI) as a thank you.

Today's question:
@(not-so-random reader) asks (I'm paraphrasing):

Do your characters suffer the same events (good or bad) that you suffer in your own life? or... How much does your personal life affect the events of your characters?

Answer

Yes, but no... and definitely not "like that."

All of life: the good, the bad, and even the ugly... all of it is inspiration for writing. It's experience - which gives me perspectives to include in my writing. Hence, my adopted saying: "Anything you say or do may be used in a story..."

Every place I've been. Every person I've met and had some sort of encounter with. Every bit of pleasure as well as every bit of discomfort and every bad thing - everything goes together to make a person - and a wealth of experience to draw upon when making my writing as real as I can.

It's not so different from painting a picture or writing a piece of music (both of which, I have done.) You have a limited number of basic colors to mix together to create a unique blend of colors and shapes to produce a portrait of some aspect of life. You have a limited number of basic notes to string together in a unique pattern of sound and rhythm to share a piece of life that is relevant to many... I have often referred to writing a story as "painting" with words... and it's definitely "composing" as well.

Every story I write has pieces of my experience in it - aspects of my own character... aspects of other people I've met/encountered... aspects of my personal experiences or my perception of experiences of others - even aspects of my hopes and dreams - or the hopes and dreams of other people I have met. In every case, I attempt to put myself in the shoes of another person - even if the person is only "alive" in my mind.

(Which reminds me of another thing I have thought about in the past couple of years since the passing of one of my aunts - the fact that she still lives in my mind and heart... that, in a strange way, she is now as "real" as my most developed characters as both live only in the mind and heart now... at least, from the perspective of our material world.)

NO story of mine has (or will) ever detail a real person or experience so closely that you could say it was taken from that person/experience. This is on purpose for many reasons: 1) it would actually make me legally liable for libel if I represented a real person like that and 2) it is far too personal for me, as well. Also, recent events - especially difficult ones - take time to "digest" before it can really begin filtering into a story.

I've been away from my first husband for nearly 16 years now, yet though I've portrayed abusive people in my stories, none of them have taken more than a few aspects of the treatment I received from him. Similarly, my move to Wisconsin has also come with a degree of trauma that I'm not really able to write about at this time - or include bits of it in any of my writing yet.

So, if one reads my works as if it's a window into my thoughts and feelings about my personal (family) life, it's going to be 1) inaccurate and 2) fruitless because that's not going to happen - not in any way that will be of any use to anyone. Yes, you can get feelings about my personal philosophies, but I have not hidden those and don't plan to. (Realizing, too, that philosophies can change and grow with knowledge, learning and simple time.)

Instead, read my writing as the works of fiction they are. Enjoy them as they are serialized (and/or buy the books.) Understand different philosophies, celebrate with them, commiserate with them, use them to inspire you or help you cope with life's difficulties... But don't read too much into them. They are what they are - nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks for reading... now, back to work.

Reviews?

If you have liked any of my books, please take the time to leave me a review/rating at Goodreads

Previous issues of Ask the Author

(I'm going to have to go and find them now...)
No. 5 - Inspiration
No. 6 - Character names
No. 7 - Author's Tasks
No. 8 - chapter structure

Image credits

This is the cover scene from Building on Promise and features Yewan Avicent and Tirry Jelham on the beach in Loxos, Gaskarii.

Figures posed in Daz 3D studio using Genesis and other free bits of clothing and hair.
Background image taken with my Samsung NX11 in Seaside, Oregon.
Editing done in Gimp and Photoscape.
All image work done by the author.

Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2105 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.

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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
find me on Twitter

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