Authors’ backgrounds…
Like it or not, authors’ backgrounds influence their writing. In fact, this is so obvious, why even mention it? After all, perhaps this is mostly transparent or irrelevant to readers—the general theme of good vs. evil, for example, is common to most fiction, not just Christian lit. It might be diluted in some genres—romance and erotica come to mind—but then other universal themes come to the fore that are often dependent on writers’ backgrounds. They experience life; they write about it in their fiction in one way or another.
I’m no sociologist, but practice enough self-analysis that I know my background affects my fiction. That background is so varied that it’s more like an Irish stew and not limited to a particular region, era, ethnicity, and so forth. I suppose that helps make my fiction a bit more universal, but who knows if that’s appealing to readers? I suppose my complex worldview might turn come readers off, but I can’t help it—I write from experience, my own.
Like Asimov, my hero from my early years, I had a career in academia and R&D before I became a full-time author. That might not influence my sci-fi that much—so much of it is outside my scientific specialization—and it certainly doesn’t influence my mystery or thriller writing. Perhaps the only thing notable about that per se is that I tend to spin complex yarns—I don’t coddle lazy readers.
But there’s a lot of diversity in my stories, reflecting my upbringing in California, long sojourn living in Colombia, and travel for work and pleasure around Europe. That’s given me a worldview that can be best summarized as follows: We’re all on spaceship Earth together and had better get along. It also means my characters can cover the whole spectrum of the spaceship’s passengers, including their names. Some readers might think the characters’ names in my stories are difficult, but they are never stereotypes from a different culture—I don’t like stereotypes because my experiences have shown me that everyone is unique.
At a lunch one day, I remember talking to a fellow physicist in Colombia, a Latino and Princeton graduate on sabbatical at the university where I worked. We could have spoken in Spanish at that lunch—he was Colombian and I was fluent in Spanish by then—but he wanted to have a private conversation (the other customers at the restaurant were speaking Spanish), so we spoke in English. During one lull after soup and salad, he leaned toward me. “I can tell you’re from the Midwest,” he said. He was then surprised to learn I was born in California and grew up there. I admitted I had some roots in Kansas because both my parents were from there. I’d spent some time in Indiana too. His conclusion? My English had something of that je-ne-sais-quoi that told him I was a Midwestern chap.
I’ve lived in several places in the US and abroad and traveled to many others. I observe people’s similarities and celebrate their differences. I hope my varied background filters into my stories, even the sci-fi tales. I hope that makes them more appealing to all readers. I insist that my fiction reflects the realities of human experience…and mine. Some readers might object to that. They probably shouldn’t read my stories….
Authors usually don’t shine a spotlight on their backgrounds in their stories. Maybe they used to do so—Jack London’s are about the frozen north and Harper Lee’s magnum opus is quintessentially southern US. But the world seems smaller now, so we all should recognize our similarities and celebrate our differences, if only to appeal to all the readers of the world who can see themselves in our stories.
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Comments are always welcome.
The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan. This is one of my “evergreen books,” a novel as exciting and current as the day it was published; it’s also a bridge between two series, “Detectives Chen & Castilblanco” and “Clones & Mutants.” A DHS agent looking toward retirement finds a lot of excitement as she uncovers a conspiracy and meets a new love. The conspiracy answers the following question: What will a future US government do with its old retirees who know too many secrets? The romance answers the question: Can a divorced woman heading for retirement find love in her golden years? DHS agent Ashley Scott is the main character. She had important supporting roles in the “Chen & Castilblanco” books, so I thought it was only fair to give her a starring role! Available in .mobi (Kindle) ebook format at Amazon and in all ebook formats at Smashwords and all its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and lending and library services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Taylor, Gardners, etc.)
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
