Last week, I took a copy of my newest book, Superheroes and Bakeries, to the office. There’s a volunteer who loves my work, so she always wants to buy the next book. After passing the book off to her, I continued with my work, and she disappeared. She wasn’t volunteering, but had to be on site for a meeting. Anyway, a little while later, she peeks her head back into the office and says, ‘I got to page 37.’ While I had a good idea what she was referring to, I don’t actually know what’s on each page of the book. I responded with, ‘what’s on page 37?’ She said, ‘my name.’ She was quite pleased with the surprise.
This led to a big conversation about how my real world wiggles its way into my writing. And does it? The easy response is, yes. But truthfully, the answer is more complex. Are there other characters in Superheroes and Bakeries who are in my real life? Again, the easy response is, yes.
Names of people I know and experiences I’ve lived through find their way into my writing. However, the actual person is not the character, and the character is not the living individual. What do I mean?
Let’s take a look at The English Teacher’s Magic. This series is highly reflective of my first career in teaching English to international students. A lot of Matea’s, or Tea (TAY-ah), experiences were inspired by my own. While living abroad, I found that most places were not that different from Canada. (Much like Tea doesn’t find a lot of difference with the Fae Realm.) However, the differences I did experience were subtle. A person’s ethnic origin means they are socialized into a different set of behaviors. The things we learn at home are reinforced by society around us and are perceived as natural or ‘right’. As a result, we interpret meanings behind actions based on our socialization. (This is a bit of a deep dive into my undergraduate and graduate studies.)
All this explanation means my main character’s struggles had a lot to do with cultural foundations. Tea didn’t understand Lothair, one of the love interests. She had a hard time understanding her boss, Rose. And the students were another challenge. The idea of, ‘I’m doing right but it’s wrong’ was a common theme. It was also how I felt a lot of the time while living and working with other cultures. The statement means: I’m doing what I know is right based on my culture. What I’m doing is wrong for the adopted or foster culture. During my teaching career, most students resonated with this statement as they navigated their lives in Canada.
In previous blogs, I mentioned how Lothair’s and Tea’s love story was highly inspired by two of my students. (An arranged marriage of two students from Saudi Arabia.) Jacklyn was a character readers have a love-hate relationship with. I admit that too often, I’ve met teachers like Jacklyn. They are good at heart, and amazing teachers. They’ve also had a lot of bad experiences. Through Jacklyn, the book touched on a systemic issue. The issue happens when students and their families manipulate the administration, and a teacher is blamed. That said, there are many good and supportive administrators out there.
The volunteer mentioned earlier, commented on how much working at my present place of employment has impacted my writing. I suppose it’s true. I never would have met Marcy and Luca. Luca Becomes a Therapy Dog is a children’s book that was completely unplanned. As mentioned in a previous blog, Marcy provided real stories of Luca’s puppyhood that are in the book. However, the book itself never would have been written if I hadn’t met Marcy and Luca.
So does the real world seep into writing? The easy answer is, yes! The real world does indeed inspire the fantasy world.
K. M. Wray 