Net Work Book Club discussion

Good advice? Or not? I'm guest blogging on that topic today and invite your input at http://debbie-peterson.blogspot.com/

If everyone wrote only what they know, there would be no fantasy, no sci-fi...and darn little in the way of erotica.

Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) wrote: "If everyone wrote only what they know, there would be no fantasy, no sci-fi...and darn little in the way of erotica."

Naughty, naughty--but I agree. If I wrote only what I knew, it would be about how to make the perfect pie crust, the main reason your car doesn't start, or the importance of using hand sanitizer.

I write suspense and romance novels, (and people love the heroes in my books) but I've never experienced true love, and certainly not like the men I write about. Also, I've never met a serial killer, but I think I created a very convincing one. :)

I think it is good advice as there is nothing worse than reading something that you know is not right for the situation or character.

Having said that, Orinoco is right in that if I wrote only what I know about I wouldn't have written a time travel book! I have stuck to settings I know well though.

Time travel, fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi are those genres where one can't possibly 'write what you know,' but if the characters have authentic emotional experiences, and if the world building is clear, readers will go along for the ride. What you've done, Anna, in your time travel books is what my blog post suggested: give the readers the kernel of authentic experience at the heart of your time travel universe.

It's true, it drives me nuts when people write books set in the 19th century or even the 1920s and then use slang and phrases that became current in the 1980s or whatever. I've been reading The Winter Garden Mystery and Ms Dunn often commits anachronisms...such as a character saying they've done something "since forever." In the first volume of the series one constable speaks of "nooky" to mean sex...pretty sure that word is a) of American origin b) was not used in the twenties.

While I'm writing an historical novel (I include time travel in that) I immerse myself in the early 19th century and am brain deep in bonnets and breeches - then the telephone rings. Now that's time travel!

Thank you, Helen for your trust!

Orinoco, I'm with you on that. It can spoil an experience that could have been terrific.