If you'd indulge me for a moment, I'm changing course today. In the past few days, we've been flooded with some very painful images, and of course it brings to mind other recent and not-so-recent tragedies.
We all have ways of coping, whether it's the loss of a loved one, or the more distant feelings of loss for people we never met.
I've never been good at writing while I'm upset. I can't even read fiction when I'm troubled. Later on, however, I note that tragic themes can surface in my writing. September 11 figures in Princes of Anfall. Flooding figures in Lords of Ch'i.
Besides helping ourselves, how can we help others? After all, we're just romance writers, right? And romance readers, right? But we're a community, and communities can do a lot when they band together. Offer solace, talk, chat, blog, instant message, show compassion, reach out.
REACH OUT. Do you know someone who is depressed, suffering a loss, overwhelmed by television images, upset about Don Imus, whatever... And perhaps, if you're a writer, you can find a way to tell an important story, no matter how cloaked in mystery, romance, or comedy.
1 comment:
We believe that our characters feel the same emotions we do, and that their lives can be touched by both tragedy and joy. There can be great emotional release in reading a book that touches the heart, allowing us to cry when we might not have...or laugh when we no longer think we can.
If the emotions are honest, then fiction can be very healing, give us hope that their is a light at the end of the darkness. Gia
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