Fiction writing

Random Author Ramble: Taking liberties, shoutouts, and being too “clever”

What started this meander was thinking about research put into fictional books. It’s true there are some great fiction novels that practically exude “this author researched the heck outta this” and then there are others that exude “aw, come on, that would never happen, what is this, Sci Fi?”.

My own personal style? I’m somewhere in between. As some of you know I love, looooove, love things having to do with American gangsters–usually old school gangsters of the Luciano and Capone sort. I also love the rich history of the FBI and other crime-fighting branches of the US Government. Everyone and their dog knows by now that I love the history of Chicago and the history of Nebraska (the two of which have quite a long history of being connected). My family’s from Chicago, I’ve heard tons of interesting stories. I grew up in Nebraska (for the most part) so I’ve an inherent knowledge of that unique whatever that makes up a Nebraskan.

Does that mean I am 100% accurate all the time in my books? Of course not. And, I will confess, intentionally not. Why? Because I’m telling a story, a fictional story. I took some liberties. Quite a few liberties, as only the purists will know. *waves* Sometimes this is to protect the truth, but most of the time it’s because I think that’s our right as authors, in essence, to say, “Yeah, but what IF it were to happen this way?” So, some things are made up and some things are shout-outs. Some things would never happen (particularly with regard to some of my law enforcement characters), and others are as accurate as I can make it. As a reader, I have always enjoyed sorting out what is an actual place, person or thing, versus what the author just made up. So when I write, I write as that type of reader.

For instance, in The Good Life there’s Castle Corner. Which does not exist. Nor does Anderson Adventures. Yet I have shout-outs to all sorts of places that do exist like The Cornhusker, and Karma nightclub, Lo Sole Mio, Runza, Valentino’s, Mahoney State Park, Roncalli Catholic, and yeesh, many, many more Nebraska things. And while Ashland absolutely does exist (I love that town!), I didn’t even bother to try to be accurate in any shape or form. It’s alternate universe Ashland and Gretna, where the Anderson and Valentini families run amuck. Well, not amuck, but dispense shenanigans on the regular. So, when I write, I’m saying have fun on your scavenger hunt of hidden meanings and clues, but don’t take it so seriously!

Unfortunately, I have discovered there are some readers who find that confusing. For instance, just today I was asked about this passage at the end of The Good Life:

“Mmm, I dunno, I usually go for the scruffy nerf-herders instead of peace-keepers,” she pushed him up and tapped the St. Christopher medal around his neck.
“But I sense the force is strong with you… Get it? Because you’re on the force…” She dissolved into snorts on her way to the door.

I can totally understand, based on the dialogue, where the reader might ask, oh, is a St. Christopher medal for law enforcement? And no, I have had to answer a number of times already, that is St. Michael, the patron saint of law enforcement. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. I was trying to be clever that Kyle was Demi’s home port, so to speak, after her travels away from Nebraska. But, as my inbox would suggest, I was too “clever”, meaning not clever at all. Haha! Ah well, I’m sure there were plenty of you who didn’t pay it any mind. Just like I’m pretty sure by now my friends connected to the Omaha Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have learned to just “go with it” and have a chuckle at their fictional counterparts. I’m just telling a story here, people!

What was my point?

As usual, I have no real point except to admit that I enjoy when people discover/recognize my nods to history and real places and people that, yes, I did, on purpose, flirt with the “that would never happen” and I was trying to be clever with hidden meanings. I’ll just have to hope my readers forgive me when I fail miserably, haha!

What about you, as a reader or author, how accurate do you like your stories to be?

 

 

 

Subscribe to Gen’s Fan Newsletter for sneak peeks & special promotions!

Ok, so, this will probably not be news to some of you, but Facebook filters out posts. The truth is, only about 10-20% of you are deemed worthy by them of seeing my updates. That’s probably being generous.

Anyhoo, my point, yes!

Here it is: Due to the filter-unless-you-pay-us shakedown of Facebook, and the incredibly fast moving nature of Twitter, and my bad habit of forgetting other social media outlets exist, the ABSOLUTE BEST WAY for you to not miss out on any special sales, free giveaways, or advance peeks is to sign up for my new fan newsletter! Brand spankin’ new, peeps!

We are talking free stuff from me to you, the BEST fans in the universe. I may not have a huge fan base, but if I have a thousand true fans, that’s better than a fickle fifteen minutes of fame. (Not that I would say no to both, haha!)

So, subscribe to my Newsletter to receive these special alerts, promotions, and deals! Those of you who know me know that you will actually NOT hear from me all that often. No spammy, no spammy, just fan love from me!

All it requires is an email, you don’t even have to fill out your name (though that helps when your email program filters junk mail).

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That one post in which Gen answers @laDEEda51’s questions about The Writing Process

So, my friend Deidre at The Red Velvet Chair  asked me to be a stopping point on a blog hop about The Writing Process. I told her I am the chainmail killer. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually tagged forward on one of these things. She was all, ‘pssh, don’t care, whateves’. So I agreed to answer the questions, on the off-chance you were curious as to the answers. It totally wasn’t hard and I’m not sure why I was whining in the first place (story of my life).

Gen’s Writing:

1. What are you working on?

I am currently writing The Good Life, a full length Dom & Kate novel. It features the characters in my popular free short romance The Bird Day Battalion  set in Nebraska. Even though Dom and Kate’s love story is still a major part of the plot, as it centers around their wedding (Ooops! Spoiler! LOL), the main romance is between Kate’s twin brother Kyle and Dom’s sister Demetria. It’s a funny, quirky romance with a strong emphasis on the bonds of family and friendship, a recurrent theme in all my writing. Fans of Bad Penny and Caroline in the V-Day Aversion (Dom&Kate#2) will be happy to know they both make an appearance.

2. How does your work differ from others?

Hmmn, that’s a tough one I guess in that we all write differently. All my stories are told 3rd person, in that manner in which the prose is narrated by the character, thus prone to vernacular. Also, Bird Day Battalion is the only book I’ve written in which there is only one point of view (Kate’s). All my other books have at least two points of view. First, I Love You  has six, (seven if you count the epilogue!) Some like that sort of “head-hopping”, others don’t, however it is not the same sort of head-hopping you would find in a Nora Roberts novel in which you are privy to the thoughts and feelings of more than one character in the same scene, omniscient style. In my books when it is Kate’s point of view, for instance, it is constrained to her and what she knows and feels like in Harry Potter. I also make it a point to include sex scenes from both the female and male point of view which is not always found in romance or family dramas, it’s usually one or the other.

3. Why do you write what you do?

Well…I don’t know. I write what I love, I guess. Family dynamics, love and loyalty, romance, cops and mobsters. I wrote  The Downey Trilogy set mostly in Chicago because I love that city; it is where my family is from. Likewise, I set Bird Day in Nebraska because that is where I was born and raised (mostly).

4. How does your writing process work?

I let ideas and scenes mull around in my head for a while before I write them down. Usually I type them up without writing them on paper, but sometimes I simply have to get them out and then if I am not near my computer, I’ll write them down on whatever I have nearby. I don’t usually write in sequence, or rather I do, but will leave out entire blocks if a later scene is just vivid in my head. Then I go back and bridge to it. I’ll write a scene, flesh it out, then rewrite it a bit, then edit, then edit, then edit. It’s a very circular or ebb and flow process. I try not to force myself to write if the mood is not with me. On those days I edit or proofread or block chapters out (meaning I write down who is in each chapter and what happens, so I can make sure it flows, and there are no major anachronisms or gaps). Oftentimes in the course of doing that, I will end up writing anyway. If all else fails, I strap my inner Hemingway on and fix myself some whiskey. ;p

Thank you, Dee! *smooches*

A friendly reminder for my friends doing NaNoWriMo…

??????

 

Haha! Nothing like a dose of Jason Statham  to get you motivated, huh?

I’m busy writing on The Good Life, the Dom & Kate novel (which is actually just as much a Kyle Anderson novel).

By the way, not to sound too needy or anything, but feel free to rate/review Third Time’s The Charm wherever you bought it or at Goodreads! I adore all the tweets and inboxes I’m getting, but why not share those thoughts with others?

Don’t be shy, I appreciate you more than you can possibly know! 🙂

A wee bit of #RandomGen on a fine Thursday…

I was thinking… periodically I come across blog posts, or articles or whatever that talk about research put into fictional books. It’s true there are some great fiction novels that practically exude “author researched the heck outta this” and then there are others that exude “aw, come on, that would never happen”. My own personal style? I’m somewhere in between. As some of you know I love, luuuurve, love things having to do with American gangsters–usually old school gangsters of the Luciano and Capone sort. I also love the rich history of the FBI and other crime-fighting branches of the US Government. I also love the history of Chicago and the history of Nebraska (which have quite a long history of being connected). My family’s from Chicago, I’ve heard tons of interesting stories. I tried to throw some shout-outs, if you will, to those histories in my Downey series. BUT, I’m telling a story, a fictional story. I took some liberties. Quite a few liberties, as only the purists will know. *wink* I think that’s our right as authors, in essence to say, “Yeah, but what IF it were to happen this way?”

What was my point?

I have no real point (ha!) except to say I deeply enjoy when people discover/recognize my nods to history and real people but, yes, I did, on purpose, flirt with the “that would never happen”. That’s the point to telling a yarn…

 

Speaking of #RandomGen… did you know Al Capone’s older brother Vincenzo–“Jimmy”–lived in Homer, Nebraska? Yeah, for realsies. Went by the name of Richard Hart. And–get this–he was the town Marshall for a while.

I know, right?

Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction.

HAVE A FANTASTIC THURSDAY!

*smooches*

Gen