Wednesday, April 22, 2020

When tropes become real life

You're going to see a lot of quarantine/stuck together novels in the near future, except it won't be a standard manufactured trope. Now, it's real life!

How many of you have read a book about people stranded in a cabin in the snow (or The Stanley Hotel...)? It's a fairly common trope. Throw two people together where they aren't able to escape and see what happens. Yes, it could happen, and sometimes does, but those types of things don't often catch people unaware, and not for days at a time. I saw a movie where a pilot and a flight attendant get grounded due to weather, and she invites him to her family's home. I bought the premise, until they were grounded for several days. I think it turned into four or more days before it was over. Most airports dig out before then, so they lost my suspension of disbelief.

But now? My sister was nearly stranded when the travel ban was first implemented. People weren't able to return home, or to leave. With the state of things now, people quarantining and travel restrictions, we're living the trope. I read a story about people who'd traveled to meet someone, people who were on a first date, and suddenly they couldn't go home and that first date turned into a very long date.

For the most part, it seems most travel restrictions have allowed people to return home, but there are exceptions, and those exceptions are what light up an author's imagination. The possibilities abound, from worst case scenarios to being comically trapped with the one person you'd least like to get stuck with, to people eager to take advantage of the situation where it doesn't work out the way they hope.

Have you had a pandemic experience that put you into a situation you didn't expect? Quarantined unexpectedly or unable to travel home? This author would love to hear your stories.

I'm also excited to share with you that Hillendale #2, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, is releasing next month, May 12. If you're the preordering type of person, you can do that now. Otherwise, if you follow me at Amazon or Bookbub, they'll shoot you a reminder when it drops.

Get it here

2 comments:

  1. The Hubster and I both had to cancel/postpone travel tours, which (we hope) are being rescheduled. The hardest part was not being able to visit my 94-year-old mother, not so much because it would have been impossible to get there--there are still flights--but because I wouldn't dare take the risk of bringing the virus to her.

    Congratulations on the new book! Looking forward to reading it.

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