I'm wondering right now just how autobiographical to make this book. The central situation will be different from anything I've been in, but I could easily steal lots and lots of details from my own love life to put into it, and I think it'd make it a better book. But it seems like there are likely to be elements of that to be quite wary of...
Yes, I vote for wary! 🙂
Personally, I like to take the essential truths that I understand about the stuff I’ve lived, and to take the tiny details, and the personalities and throw them into a blender with stuff I’ve seen or read or heard about and then set it to puree.
Now, Ms. Shaw, I just know you’re going to write your own memoir one of these days; isn’t it only fair that I squeeze as many details about you as possible into this book, just so people get a fuller picture? [evil grin]
I’ve actually already warned Karina that I’m planning on stealing masses of stuff from our relationship for this book; she’s a little bewildered at being turned into a guy, but otherwise seems fine with it. 🙂
Hi Mary Anne,
I don’t know if this helps but several of the best kinds of books (fiction – literay/commercial) selling in Britain and Australia at the moment rely on ordinary situations with familiar themes ordinary but very deep so as to make it almost completely realistic and readers grab them for bestsellers (even literary : think Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, for instance). So if you put elements of your own life and cover it up with different names/places very discreetly but just the some scenes themselves: unexpected but interesting where the reader could see that this could have happened in real life (I don’t know about the USA’s market but out here in Europe/england/australiasia and even places like singapore; at the moment, it would work very well to your favour. Also, whatever is published in London is often distributed throughout the world (with the exception of America almost overnight). So if you have your book being published in the UK, it will automatically pickup international audiences in Africa, Far East, Australiasia (and if you have translated rights – then Europe as well) I believe they will jump on your secret autobiographical bits. cheers, Susan (stil from London)