You Are What You Write

It is said you are what you eat.  Well if that's true then I'm some weird mutation made of sushi, coffee, sweet tea, chocolate, and Special K protein cereal.  

But I believe we are what we write.  And I'm a nuclear medicine, Geiger-counting super mom, who can fling fiery sticks and knives into the air without blinking, and this must explain why I write thrillers.

Anyhow, your life is unique, you have lived it and it's your story. Nobody else's. You may have grown up by the ocean in a big city or perhaps you learned to fish in a small town in the mountains by a lake? You might be an amateur astronomer or an oral surgeon, or teach night school.  Or you could have the uncanny ability to whistle the Battle Hymn of the Republic while tap dancing.  

But what I'm trying to say is nobody else on earth has had the same experiences in life that you've had, and all of this plays into our outlook/voice/approach as a writer.  

Have you ever sat down and thought about the curious life experiences or talents you have?  Have any of these events wiggled their way into one of your manuscripts?  If I were a betting woman, I'd take those odds to  Vegas and bet that yes, you have written some of your own personal life experiences into your manuscripts.

If you haven't thought about this before, I double-dog dare you to dig down deep and think about your life right now.  What's unique about your background?  Are there any special skill-sets you possess?  What are your most vivid memories?  Which types of people make you irritated or mad?  What in your life has made you cry?  Have you ever witnessed injustice or endured a painful situation?  What's quirky about you?

All of these thoughts you can use to create your next manuscript, and to get you going we'll do a fun exercise that I hope can unlock some inspiration.  

Let's play "Getting To Know You"!

Tell us 3 wild and crazy facts about yourself we didn't know! Do you think these things helped turn you into the writer you are today?  How do these things influence your writing style or voice?  Have any of these deep, dark secrets made it into your manuscripts or inspired the type of character you create?

I'll get started first.  These are three wild and crazy things you didn't know about me.

1) I know how to use this device, and use it often.  As a writer, sometimes I write about unseen and deadly forces at work, which I guess, is kind of like ionizing radiation. It's all around you, but sometimes the characters don't see the danger.  But in case you're wondering, YES I will write about a character having to use this little contraption in the future, and YES it might find its way into the sequel for the manuscript I'm querying now.  Hopefully there will be a need for a sequel. 

This is a Geiger counter & I measure radiation with it.  

2)In college I used to twirl these at halftime as the featured twirler for the Univ. of Memphis.  I guess this says that in my writing I am okay with having my characters do dangerous stunts & take risks.  

Samoan knives and fire batons.  I would twirl 3 of them.

3)Also in college, I was in a few pageants.  It made my competitive nature come out even more and I loved that part.  It was fun winning scholarships, and one of the most difficult ones I competed in was a national pageant that I sadly lost, but made it into the final six. The winner was somebody you might have heard of, who was in a movie last year you also might have heard of. 

Yea, I was standing to the left of her (Roselyn Sanchez) onstage and was sort of p*ssed off.
Can I say that now after 19 yrs?  Hell yea.
I wanted to win. But then again, she was really nice & I liked her.  But I still wanted to win.  But if not me, then okay.

Looking back & thinking of my life's strange twists and turns, it's definitely no wonder I write the way I do. I've experienced love in my beautiful marriage and as a mother, have traveled (and want to do more), but I've also experienced  heartbreak, struggles, and many challenges during my forty-something years on this planet.

All of these things make us tell the stories we do, and each tale told is a part of you.  Cool, that rhymed!