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Why We Need Fiction (inspired by A Place To Call Home)
If you’re in Australia you have probably heard of or watched the TV show A PLACE TO CALL HOME. I watched the final episode Sunday night, ending the series at season two, much to the disappointment of many fans. It was obvious the final few minutes of the episode were rushed to try and tie up loose ends, but still many viewers were left with unanswered questions.
It got me thinking how important fiction and fictional characters are to people, how we connect with them even though we know they aren’t real. As an author I try to do this on a daily basis; write characters and storylines that people are going to hopefully connect with and care about what happens next. With books you know you will get to The End, a proper ending, and know how everything turns out, but in television it is less assured. Writers, actors, producers, and directors often don’t know if the season they’re working on will be their last, and must not only prepare for a future season but keep in mind some options for tying up storylines should the show be cancelled. There’s nothing more frustrating than being left hanging, no resolution, no idea what was supposed to happen next.
Many fans of the show have taken to signing petitions to try and bring it back, and there’s a facebook page to show support for the show. I even wondered if fan fiction or a spin-off book would be possible to continue the storylines that had been planned for season three, who knows!
This reaction is a great example of the power of fiction in people’s lives. We all like a good story. Is it just the entertainment factor or is there more to it?
I believe it is human nature to be curious, and fiction stimulates that curiosity. I also believe that connecting with fictional characters helps us recognise similarities in our own lives – behaviours, experiences, relationships, issues in society – our real life world can be reflected through fiction in a controlled way that helps us make sense of life. And historical stories like A Place to Call Home remind some people and educate others on what times were like back then.
Ironically, fiction is both a reflection of and an escape from real life.
Whatever the reasons for enjoying them, stories told through TV shows, movies, books, plays, etc, are an integral part of human nature, and though the mediums for telling stories may change and evolve over time (as with the rise of ebooks), I don’t think the desire to enjoy stories will ever change.
What do you love about fiction both on the screen and on the page, and why do you think it’s so important for people in their lives?
And if you’re a fan of A Place To Call Home, what do you think would have happened next had the show continued? 😉
~ Juliet
FAST FORWARD Characters answer Five Fun Questions!
For a bit of fun, the characters from FAST FORWARD have dropped in from the future!
They each have the same five questions to answer, but of course, their answers will be quite different from each other’s.
If you’re new to this blog or my books, FAST FORWARD is my bestselling time-travel romantic comedy from Escape Publishing. You can read about it HERE.
And now, please welcome Kelli, Will, Kasey, Ryan, and Diora!
Kelli McSnelly (nee Crawford):
1. What is your favourite invention from the last 25 years?
It’s the e-pad! Otherwise known as an electronic personal assistant device – it straps onto the wrist like a watch, and does everything that a phone, computer, and credit card does. It even starts your car’s engine and locks your house! It’s an all-in-one super-dooper piece of technology and I’d be lost without it.
2. How would you spend your ideal birthday?
Despite what my son may think, judging by his choice of birthday present for my 50th, it is NOT going bungy jumping. It would be a costume party with my family and closest friends, and a heartwarming speech from my husband.
3. What is your best quality?
Back when I was 25 I would have said my appearance, but now that I’m more ‘mature’ I would say my resilience. And I mean that in relation to attitude and personality, not skin elasticity.
4. What is something you wish more people would know or understand?
It is not worth risking your life trying to fit into dodgy support underwear.
5. What would you do if you shared an elevator with an extremely famous person:
If they didn’t instantly recognise me from my modelling days I would introduce myself and ask them to share in a selfie to post on Facebook.
Will McSnelly:
1. What is your favourite invention from the last 25 years?
The inbuilt coffee machine in my car, helps to kickstart my work day. That, and the app on my e-pad which sends me useful facts and trivia at regular intervals throughout the day.
2. How would you spend your ideal birthday?
A costume party with my family and friends and a heartwarming speech from my wife. Or, a role-playing game marathon with my mates from the middle-aged gamers club.
3. What is your best quality?
My resourcefulness. Did you know I once resolved a traffic jam whilst wearing a Superman costume?
4. What is something you wish more people would know or understand?
That beautiful women can and do fall in love with smart, sensible, practical men, more commonly known as nerds or geeks.
5. What would you do if you shared an elevator with an extremely famous person:
I’d hand them a business card and invite them over for dinner.
Kasey Crawford (sister of Kelli):
1. What is your favourite invention from the last 25 years?
Mine, of course. You do remember what it was, don’t you?
2. How would you spend your ideal birthday?
An intimate occasion at home with my husband wearing our favourite caveman and cavewoman costumes.
3. What is your best quality?
My intelligence.
4. What is something you wish more people would know or understand?
Bugs have feelings too. If you step on them or spray them, you are a murderer. MURDERER.
5. What would you do if you shared an elevator with an extremely famous person:
Obviously, given my claim to fame from my Nobel-prize winning invention, I would be the famous person. I would be happy to sign an autograph if the person in the elevator wanted one.
Ryan McSnelly (21 yr old son of Kelli and Will):
1. What is your favourite invention from the last 25 years?
The Kitchen Assistant. Instantly boiled yolkless eggs and super fast meals? Hello.
2. How would you spend your ideal birthday?
Jamming it up with my band mates.
3. What is your best quality?
My friendly nature.
4. What is something you wish more people would know or understand?
That just because a man is passionate about interior decorating and wearing pink aprons while cooking does not mean he’s gay. Even though I am, I do, and I am.
5. What would you do if you shared an elevator with an extremely famous person:
Blabber something unintelligible and make it totally obvious I was having a fan moment (as long as I was a fan of the person).
Diora Bellows (nee McSnelly, 23 yr old daughter of Kelli and Will):
1. What is your favourite invention from the last 25 years?
My talking, self-driving car. When it takes over I can take the opportunity to do my nails. Multi-tasking at its best.
2. How would you spend your ideal birthday?
I’d eat as much chocolate as possible, have a pampering session at Queen of Beauty, a nice dinner, and a fun gathering with family and friends (which hopefully doesn’t culminate in me going into labour).
3. What is your best quality?
My assertiveness. Those people who delivered the wrong (baby-poo coloured) pram for my firstborn child didn’t know what hit them.
4. What is something you wish more people would know or understand?
That having big boobs is totally overrated.
5. What would you do if you shared an elevator with an extremely famous person:
I’d calmly ask how their day’s been and compliment them on their choice of clothing or accessories, leading into a chat about good design and how it’s also important within the home, leading to my original objective which is to hand them a business card for KC Interiors and set up an appointment for a complimentary home styling analysis.
Thanks Kelli, Will, Kasey, Ryan, and Diora! What a fun bunch!
About FAST FORWARD:
Aspiring supermodel, Kelli Crawford seems destined to marry her hotshot boyfriend, but on her twenty-fifth birthday she wakes in the future as a fifty-year-old suburban housewife married to the now middle-aged high school nerd.
Trapped in the opposite life of the one she wanted, Kelli is forced to re-evaluate her life and discover what is really important to her. Will she overcome the hilarious and heartbreaking challenges presented to her and get back to the body of her younger self? Or will she be stuck in the nightmare of hot flushes, demanding children, raunchy advances from her husband and hideous support underwear forever?
>> Available from all good ebook stores. Links are here.
Meet My Character: Lily Collins
This is the second of my ‘character interviews’, where I pose some questions to a character in one of my novels.
Please welcome a very special character, the young Lily Collins from THE LIFE MAKEOVER CLUB! If you missed the first interview with Lily’s mother, Cara, here it is.
Name: Lily Collins
Age: 7 going on 37
Occupation: school student
1. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A lawyer, a politician, or a journalist. Maybe all of them.
2. What’s your favourite school subject?
English, or Science. No, English I think. Especially when we get to write stories. I wrote a really good one about kings and queens once, and my king was called Lord Viagra. Mum said I should choose a different name, but Dad said it sounded good. It made him laugh for some reason, I don’t know why. He also said the kingdom would rise in his honour… well, duh! He is a king, after all.
3. Who do you like best: Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?
Well I do love chocolate, so I’m pretty pleased with the Easter Bunny, but I also love Santa because he brings me great presents like pink calculators and yearly planners. Plus, poor Santa has such a hard job, he deserves some recognition.
Hey, you forgot about the Tooth Fairy! I also like getting money under my pillow. But Mum says the Tooth Fairy has a new budget, so I only get fifty cents for each tooth instead of two dollars. The Tooth Fairy should really see an accountant, they help with money stuff, and Dad thinks the money that the fairy leaves could be tax deductable.
4. You have two little brothers, what do you think of them?
Sometimes I love them and sometimes they annoy me. Like Toby, he often wakes me up in the middle of the night when his teddy bear falls out of the cot. It wakes up Mum and Dad too, but they look terrible in the middle of the night so I try to help Toby sometimes so they don’t have to get out of bed and make grumpy faces. Jacob is good at drawing, but I got very angry once when he drew a martian on my pillow case in black texta.
5. Whats your favourite food?
I like sushi best. It tastes delicious and I like collecting the little fishy shapes they give you with the sauce inside them. I used to like chicken nuggets too, until I found out that they make them out of chicken boobies. Now I don’t eat them. Chickens need their boobies.
Thank you, Lily, for chatting with us today!
You’re welcome. I like talking very much.
Do you have any questions for Lily? If so, leave a comment! 🙂
Meet My Character: Cara Collins
This is the first of my new ‘character interviews’, where I’ll pose some questions to a character in one of my novels.
First up we have Cara, from THE LIFE MAKEOVER CLUB!
Name: Cara Collins
Age: 26
Occupation: Mother of three, wife of one (until Channing Tatum realises he loves me), taxi driver, personal shopper, chef, room service attendant, nurse, housekeeper (a bad one), artist (unpaid as yet), magician (I’m great at making chocolates disappear), human vending machine up until six months ago, and… what am I forgetting? Did I say I’m a mother?
1. What do you like to do in your spare time?
If I ever get any I’ll let you know.
2. What’s your favourite part of the day?
When I’m so fast asleep not even an earthquake could wake me up. No seriously, I love it when I snuggle with my kids before bed. It makes it all worthwhile. Sometimes.
3. What do you think is the hardest part of being a mother?
When you’re awake.
4. What do you do before going to bed each night?
I write my ‘To Do List’ (which can take a while), and my ‘Done List’ (which usually takes me about fourteen seconds), and transfer the ‘not yet completed’ items from the previous day’s To Do List to the new To Do List, and then add ‘Notepad’ to the Shopping List because I’ve run out of room on the To Do List. Then my son wakes up and after attending to him I forget what I was about to write on the new To Do List and then I usually pass out with the pen in my hand.
5. What scares you most in life?
Not having my husband and kids around. I know I complain sometimes, but really, they are my world and I love them more than life itself.
Thank you, Cara, for taking time out of your busy schedule.
A little birdie told me your seven-year-old daughter, Lily ,will be joining us for an interview on Friday!
Yes, that’s right. God help me.
Do you have any questions for Cara? If so, leave a comment! 🙂
JULIET MADISON 