I just read a very thought-provoking post from Amber Foxx on the blog "Ladies Of Mystery". This is spring 2020, and we are experiencing a pandemic. We are being asked to stay home, wear face masks, and practice safe distancing (amongst other things). These are difficult times, and we don't know what is coming up next.
Foxx gifts us with the concept of "neither holding on nor pushing away". We don't need to try and hold on to our old normal, nor do we need to push away the present. IMHO, if we try and hold onto the old normal, we will find ourselves denying the present.
When it comes to her characters, Foxx notes that current events exist in the background, and do have an impact on their lives. What was more important to me was that she places her characters several years in the past, because she wants to get the context right.
She talks about making notes on the present, with the thought of using these notes in future stories. We need to let the present gel in our minds so that we can make sense of it before we include it in our books.
My current WIP takes me way back, to a time when remote viewing was just coming into its own. My characters work for a (white hat) clandestine group, dealing with global concepts that go back to the Knights Templar era.
Can I make this work? I certainly hope so! One thing I do know is that I feel more comfortable working with the past than dealing with the present. Thank you Amber Foxx for helping me to understand why this is so!
(c) April 2020 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.
