STRANGER THAN FICTION BUT NOT AS MUCH FUN

Hello all! Dana Corbit here.

Here is my question for the day: Is truth stranger than fiction? Okay, it’s not a terribly original question, but I’m at least going to try to give an answer.

Well, sure…if we’re talking about realistic fiction, anyway.

Who would ever think to write a novel where the heroine gave birth to octuplets? Or even consider a story about a pregnant man? Even my own great-great grandfather wouldn’t make the cut. He’s the one who Grandma tells me was shot as a horse thief after he took his neighbor’s horse out of the barn as part of a Halloween prank. Too odd to be a fictional character.

But whether truth is stranger than fiction or not, I can tell you that writing fiction can be a lot more fun, particularly when we put ordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances. I already knew this because I come from a newspaper background where the facts are the facts, ma’am, but I am even more convinced of it after writing my most recent trilogy, Wedding Bell Blessings. (The first book in the mini-series, An Unexpected Match, is an August Love Inspired release.)

The trilogy started with a true story: My best friend, Melissa, and I really did joke about arranging marriages between her three sons and my three daughters. We were pregnant together three times, and we did produce matched sets, so it only seemed right. Though our kids are years from marrying age - Melissa and I are still babies ourselves - we get the feeling our idea is doomed. Whoever said the kids should get to pick their own partners? Free will doesn’t have to extend to our kids’ wedding plans, does it?

On the other hand, in fiction the possibilities were endless. I had a wonderful time creating matchmaking matriarchs Amy Warren and Trina Scott and their brood of kids. Sure, their stories are fantastical, but it could happen, couldn’t it? And because God does have a sense of humor, the stories don’t turn out as even the mothers envision.

As for the true story part, my friend and I have given up on our own matchmaking plans. Really. Not that we haven’t mentioned the idea a time or two or three.
Is truth stranger than fiction? Check back with me in a decade or so, and I’ll let you know…