Top Ten Tuesday

Ten reasons I love writing fiction:

1. I really and truly love not being bound to the truth. With nonfiction I was challenged to always tell the story exactly as it happened and not take any creative license. With fiction I can start with a kernel of truth and extrapolate to my heart's content!

2. I love reading fiction more than non-fiction so it makes sense that I would love writing it.

3. I've met so many great writers through my fiction writing. They inspire me in my walk with God and in my effort to be a better writer. They have truly become some of my best friends because they "get" me.

4. I get to talk to people who aren't there without being referred to a psychiatrist.

5. I finally have something to do with all these ideas that have been swirling around my head as long as I can remember.

6. When I hear a snippet of conversation between two people or observe something funny, quirky, or profound, I can file it away to use later.

7. I love to tell a good story.

8. I love to create interesting characters.

9. I love to visit places in my mind that are either 1) my favorite places or 2) places entirely of my own making. In my new novel, She Makes It Look Easy, I created a neighborhood for the characters to live in. This neighborhood only exists in my mind, but to me it's very real.

10. Fiction writing challenges me on so many levels. It's like exercise-- I don't always like the stretching and pain, but later, I am glad for it.