Authenticity!

Years ago, I had an amputation of my right leg due to a car accident. While working through this trauma, I wrote a book titled "A Leg Up on Life." That process helped me to understand better how therapeutic writing truly was for me as an author.

This past summer, my leg was amputated again, from below the knee to above. This was due to a poor revision attempt to correct a chip in my tibia. My big takeaway from this ordeal was that my first book was incomplete. For the holiday season this year, I am introducing a title release, “Able”. This work is a rewrite and sequel of sorts to the prior book.

I recently discussed with someone about the use of ChatGPT or other AI tools in the process of writing. My argument was that, particularly with fiction, writing needed and deserved the authentic voice of the author. Their counterargument focused on the power of ChatGPT as a research tool. I share this with you as the organic and fiction author that I am. I care deeply for the authenticity of my books, but I am not trying to share a researched fact.

You may ask,” What does this have to do with your upcoming work?” The majority of what I write is based in the genre of romance fiction. My new work, and its predecessor, are more in the line of a memoir. That said, it is still my story, and not a research or technical paper. To this end, authenticity and the feel are what I hope to extend to my audience, not facts and references.

My setting, regardless of its significance in the work, is vitally important to me. To this end, I try to ensure I have visited in every capacity I am able, settings that would be appropriate for my written work. As I grappled with the finishing work on “Able”, I found that I had become detached from my sense of place, from my setting. This past weekend, I took a trip to a local botanical garden and reset my mind, my writing, and my place of reference. I had no intention of placing this garden into my book. Rather,  because it grounded me with my essence in nature and being currently in a wheelchair, I found that it helped to recenter and increase the authenticity of my writing both with this particular book and as a whole.

As writers, authenticity is of utmost importance. Authenticity is not always about facts and details. It is often about tone and intent. I share this with the idea that an authentic author writes what they know in their soul, not their mind. As I bring this final thought to a close, I offer to share with you my trip to Dow Gardens. Join me in finding your sense of authenticity. ( https://youtu.be/fTvlBetkGs4 ).