Tip O'Day #253 - From Real Life to Fiction

Guest blogger Kathy Rowe on fiction “torn from the headlines.”

I agree with the recent guest post on Wredheaded Writer about taking true life events and turning them into fiction. Actually I take it a bit farther. In my Dragonslayers Saga, I take real world events and turn them into a coulda-shoulda-woulda type of story taking place on a governmental scale. What would happen if a new, deadly explosive was discovered that bomb dogs and other testing devices couldn't detect? How would terrorists exploit this technology? How much damage could they do on our home soil? How could the government stop them? That’s the premise for Mind Games.

On a closer note, many of my characters suffer from PTSD. That's normal for a group of fighting men (and one woman), but I approach it from an intimate perspective - my husband is retired Special Forces and suffers badly from PTSD so I work that into my characters in a very personal way. My goal is to help civilians understand what veterans go through, and that they will never be the same. That is a recurring theme in Battle Rhythm.

To learn more about Kathy, check out her blog here.

Dixon says: Before I started daily blog entries on January 11, 2011 (1-11-11!!), I had a handful of followers & not much of a plan. I thought it would be interesting to share the knowledge of some of the fine writers – both seasoned pros & newbies – that I’ve met online, so over 75% of posts have been guest comments from other authors, editors, reviewers and readers. Now that my first e-book, The Assassins Club, has been published, I plan more posts about what I learned during its creation. Also, I’ve found that “excerpt exchanges” with other authors are a kick. However, guest post will still be in the majority. I think we have a lot to learn from one another.

Happy New Years!