On Resolutions

I am not your typical thirty-something-year-old. I grew up watching classic TV shows like I love Lucy, Make Room for Daddy, Mr. Ed, and the like. One of the greatest facets to shows like these were the simplicity of their problems and the always perfect and happy resolutions that came within a half an hour.

There is one I Love Lucy episode where both couples (Lucy & Ricky, Ethel & Fred) are dealing with marital issues. At the end of thirty minutes, both couples are embracing. The women tell their husbands that they would much rather be in a rut with them than on a date with anyone else. How sweet! How romantic! How sadly untrue of real life!



Real life is dirty, grungy, raw, and anything but simple or perfect.

I live in reality, but I am a hopeless romantic. I want my life to have perfect resolutions like that I Love Lucy episode, but most of the time, it sadly hasn't. I'm not bitter, though. Still optimistic that each problem will resolve itself quickly and easily and the scene will end with everyone involved laughing (and maybe we'll even hear appaluse).

As a writer, I need to find a balance between that hopeless romanticism and reality. I hope that my books do just that.



Loving Her demonstrates the ugliness of today's world. Yet, we have couples that are truly dedicated to each other. Couples that truly stay by each other's side in sickness and health, in wealth and poverty, in joy and sorrow. They deal with death, illness, change. They deal with life and live in love.

Unbreakable Hostage deals with a dark reality, but ends in a way that we all hope our traumas will end: with tremendous hope.

Imperfect and Impeccable ride the emotional roller coaster that is life. They show us what true love and dedication are all about. Though the ending may not bring the resolution we had all hoped for, it does still bring us a peace and resolution that we can gladly accept. A resolution that brings us some peace.

My two short stories, Trajectory and Amnesie show us that even in our dark and imperfect world, love is the one thing that brings us comfort and hope.

As much as we want things to always end up rosey,we know that they may not. That doesn't mean that life doesn't have any rosey moments at all. Rather, life is a balance between the good and the bad; between the happiness and sadness. My reality is that balance. I have good days and bad days. I have joyful moments as well as sorrowful ones. As a writer, I use that balance and create new stories reflecting that balance.

So with that, I wish you Happy Reading!!!! ;)

But, do you have anything new to say?

Good Thursday morning all! I apologize for my absence last week. Between the wedding being less than two months away, some medical issues and of course, life, I simply did not have the time to plant myself to write.

But here I am today, ready to go!

Today, I want to discuss repetition.

Is there repition in writing? You betchya! Stories have been told and retold (just look at Hollywood for that!). Even blogs have been blogged and reblogged. Why is that? Why do we repeat ourselves?

Sometimes a story will come along and will greatly resemble another story, but somehow, somewhere, there is a twist - a change, a difference - and then you have two different stories.

Sometimes, a blog will be posted and it will greatly resemble another blog, but somehow, somewhere, there is a twist - a new word, a new opinion - and then you have two different blogs.

In a world where information literally moves at the speed of light, it is impossible not to have repetition and redundancy. It just is. But, what is unique is our voice, our perspective, our opinion. That is what makes each one of us different and special. That is what separates our writing from somebody else's.

So, it may seem like we don't always have anything new to say, but just hang on. That one little twist - that one that can change everything - may not show up until the very end. But that little twist makes each story and blog its own. They are unqiue...and new. So just hang in there. It's worth the read, trust me.

Amnesie

My newest short story. I highly recommend it! ;)

What happens to love when life changes? Two women in love, one debilitating change...

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/143499

Bragging Rights

I had a regular blog post all set for today, and I will return you to your regularly scheduled programming next week. ;) And now for something completely different. ;)

For you see, this week both Imperfect and Impeccable got 5 star - er, buggie - reviews from buggie4book.com! Needless to say, I am a tad excited.

And so, here are the links and a few excerpts from both reviews. Enjoy! :)

Imperfect:
http://buggie4book.com/2012/03/03/imperfect-by-l-e-harvey-review/

"This book was a wonderful read. I would read it again and tell people about it. I would give this book a 5 hands down I felt like I knew the people in the book. Gave me a new out look on gays. This book will show you that we are all the same and love is love is love.
Very glad I got to read and review this book." -Mellisa Neal, buggie4book.com

Impeccable:
http://buggie4book.com/2012/03/05/impeccable-by-l-e-harvey/

"LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! I read both books and cried like a baby in the end of the last one. I had to put the book down so I could stop crying long enough to finish. I give it a 5 I loved both books. L.E. Harvey is a wonderful writer who knows how to word stuff so people can understand and really think about what they just read. I will read these books again for sure no questions ask. The people in the book you feel like you know them. That is what I call a damn good book." -Mellisa Neal, Buggie4Book.com


Happy reading!!!!! :)

Real Fiction

I write contemporary fiction.

What does that mean?



It's fiction set in the here and now. It's basically real fiction. It's the stuff you see and read about every day. It's believable.

How can that be, you ask.

Simple, really.




Working in a scientific field has killed my imagination to some extent. The ability to create new worlds, different languages and even different species is long gone. It was there as a kid, but I lack that now.

But I don't lack imagination in "what if" stories. What if this happened. How does this current situation affect this population? My non-fiction background helps to lay the foundation for my current fictional work.




Is that a bad thing?




I think not.




For me, writing real, believable fiction is important. Could you really believe that someone who lived in a major metropolis kept an elephant as a pet? No. But you could you believe that they had a small dog and had all kinds of adventures in the dog park.

REAL fiction.



Could you believe the stories of a woman who takes a cross-country road trip on her motorcycle? Sure.

Could you believe the stories of a woman who takes a cross-country road trip in a canoe? Probably not.

So I go with REAL fiction. True fiction, if you will.



The best part is (and we all know this to be true), is that truth is stranger than fiction!

What does that mean for me as a writer?



That the sky is the limit!

I can write real fiction & still have some "off-the-wall" events or characters and it is still believable. For myself, I would rather read a contemporary fiction book that is a story I can truly believe than one that isn't.



That doesn't mean I don't like Sci Fi or fantasy or anything like that. I do. I am speaking solely of contemporary fiction. I want a contemporary fiction story that I can actually see the characters and events playing out as they are rather than some completely bizarre, unrealistic story. As a reader, I will disconnect from the characters & author. You can rest assured that book will then collect some serious dust in my home.

Does that mean I write the best stuff out there? Absolutely not! It's just that for me as a reader and a writer, I want fiction that I can get into. A good, believable story is the kind that I can sink my teeth into and simply get whisked away!

Hope you enjoy reading my real fiction as much as I enjoy writing it! ;)



Happy reading! :)