Thursday, October 15, 2009

Art imitating Life

"Have I got a story for you," or "You should write my story." I can't count the number of times I've heard those phases. If I had $5 for each time someone said that to me, I could retire from the writing business, or maybe not. This is my segway into my blog topic. Does real life transcript to our manuscripts? Can you point to different situations that you are almost positive relate to something you've seen or heard in real life? Maybe! Maybe not! Think about it.

I've been a published author for approximately seven years. Since I started to write, I've enjoyed writing about subjects that intrigued, puzzled, or upset me. Circles of Love is an example of my exploration of a painful topic. For years I pondered the idea of having no clue to where you came from. The heroine in Circles of Love went in search of her parents after realizing she couldn't marry the hero until she knew who she was. The story earned me topic honors from Romantic Times Book Club.

For example, while negotiating my latest contract my editor suggested that I write connected books. I didn't want to write about another large or extended family so I opted for stories connected by a large company. Living in the Detroit area, my ideas swirled around the automotive companies since Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler are all located in metro Detroit.

I didn't want to use any of these companies so I created my own. French-owned and operated Gautier's International Motors was born. I had no idea that the auto industry would stall, fail, or file for bankruptcy protection to stay in business and start new. Chrysler would offer the hand of partnership to Fiat and my little story, I Can Make You Love Me would follow some of the events that marked the news in the Detroit area regarding the auto industry. Again, art imitated real life.

There are many topics to explore and try to make sense of. Two are in my latest release.

Here's where you get into the act. E-mail me with some of the incidents that you feel would transcript to a novel. Let me know your thoughts on the subject. My e-mail address is karenwowens@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you and remember don't be a stranger.

To find out more about me check out my website at karenwhiteowens.com. I'm on Facebook and Myspace.

2 comments:

Jewel Amethyst said...

Talk about art imitating life, "A Marriage of Convenience" was inspired by an aquaintance who married for a green card, and stuck around for love. Different circumstances, but very similar ending.

But many times it's the other way around, life imitating art.

Liane Spicer said...

It's sometimes hard to tell which is doing the imitating, art or life - kind of like the chicken and the egg question.