Sick today, but I'm going to write anyway. I never found my sticky note, and never remembered exactly what it was about. However, I now have a new sticky note that I wrote this morning in the car, about something else--something smaller and less big-picture than the gloriously comprehensive sticky note I once had and still mourn. But still. I have something to focus on.

This is not a networking or promotional blog, so I don't like to mention names of current authors or their books, usually. However, a writer friend just told me of yet another book with an autistic character who speaks without using contractions. This reminded me that there's a book coming out this fall called Episodes, by Blaze Ginsberg. I think it bears mentioning because Blaze is a young adult on the autistic spectrum, and the book is about his life, in his voice, from his POV. I highly recommend it over any books by people who magically had an autistic character's voice pop into their head, and therefore wrote a book with said character as MC.

I also see this as a warning to those of us who ever have a character's voice magically pop into our heads: just because you dreamed it don't make it real. I know that there's been a lot of storm and fury on the internet re. writing outside your own experience. Of course most of us write outside our own experience. Otherwise we'd all be writing autobiographies. However, my feeling is that while we have a right to write anything we want, our good intentions don't have to count for squat in anybody else's eyes. The farther outside my experience I go--and the closer to hitting someone else's raw nerve--the more I'd damn well better be prepared to take it in the you-know-whats after the book is out.

I also think there are a lot of crazy people on the internet, who will gladly give it to you in the you-know-whats, heartily and often, if they don't like something you did. So, write whatever you feel you must--but go in with your eyes open, is all I have to say.


Disclosures:

Yes, I have an autistic son.

Yes, I blurbed Episodes.

No, I don't know Blaze.

No, nobody I've ever met who is on the autistic spectrum speaks without contractions.


Side note: The formatting/structure of Episodes is extremely interesting and unique. Hmm, now that I think about it, I wonder if it's subliminally influenced me. Could be.