Sunday Brunch - And things I think about when I'm not writing...

If you know me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram, you probably already know that Sunday is my dedicated BRUNCH DAY. It's the one day a week I don't think about what I'm doing. The plans are set. In. Stone. No, not really, lol. But I wouldn't mind if they were ;-)

So, since I've already got a solid Sunday routine in place, I'm adding a little something else to my line up. A Sunday Brunch Post. One little post a week that could be super writer related or completely random. Because I'm not big on commitments, and agreeing to write once a week is about as much of a promise as I can make...there are no guarantees it will be super insightful or helpful in any way...although I will do my best to at least be entertaining.

There, that's one of the things I've been thinking about whilst not writing right there. The other thing that's been on my mind a lot lately is this quote by Anne Lamott - “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” And how maybe I take it a little too literally.

Not that I'm writing mean shit about everyone who's crossed me (and the list is short, so there's really no material there) but I do tend to incorporate a LOT of aspects from my reality into my fiction and some days I wonder if certain people will read what I wrote and go WAIT A MINUTE.

For the most part, it wouldn't be a super big deal. I mean, there's one guy...and I'm not gonna say who or which characters may or may not have been inspired by him, but I like to use my experiences with him as writing inspiration quite a lot. I tell myself that he's so arrogant, he probably assumes I'm writing about him every time my fingers hit my keyboard anyway, so what's the harm? Then, there are others...close friends...family...old jobs...old bosses....old boyfriends. Okay, yeah, that last one, that's the one that makes me nervous. Not nervous enough to stop, but nervous enough to where I'm playing out conversations in my mind of what might transpire between us should said ex ever read said book.

Phone rings. In spite of my better judgement, I answer (mostly because this conversation is imaginary).

"How did you know about the gas station thing?"

"What gas station thing?"

"The gas station thing. Don't play stupid. I know you know what I'm talking about."

"Are you sure you have the right number?"

"I read the damn book!"

SILENCE. "Oh. That gas station thing. You really shouldn't tell my brother stuff. He has a big mouth."

Or...maybe it would go something like this...

"You can't do that. You can't just write about a person without getting their permission."

"I know that."

"Then why did you write about me?"

"I didn't."

"You're going to stand there and tell me FILL IN THE BLANK wasn't supposed to be me."

"It wasn't you. It was my EXPERIENCE with you. And I own ALL of my experiences. In fact, I think I'm going to use this conversation I'm experiencing right now in a blog post tonight."

And then of course there's always this possibility...

"So...you're still in love with me?"

"No, asshole. It's called FICTION."

"Yeah...sure it is." Smiles smugly. Will never believe otherwise.

And that's the scariest part of all. 

On the upside (and much closer to what will probably really happen) this guy, and any other guy I choose to write about, will likely never pick up a single one of my books, them being total chick books and all. We'll never have an awkward conversation and it's entirely possible our paths will never ever actually cross again. But, none of this is stopping me from thinking about the endless possibilities regarding an interaction post publishing. Mostly because I like having imaginary conversations in my head. That's pretty much how I got into writing in the first place :-P