Writing Tip for Today

All the writing books tell you to "write what you know." Good advice but let me qualify that. It doesn't mean you should tell the complete, unvarnished, stick-to-the-facts story. It means write what you know, but then make it all up.
Okay, what I mean by that is write about incidents, thoughts, feelings, conversations and people you know but use that as a springboard to tell an engaging, compelling story. Embellish, cause conflict, exaggerate...change the way things turn out. That's the beauty of fiction.
About eight years ago I reconnected with my high school boyfriend on Classmates.com (that's me and Dave, right, and it was great fun to see him after all those years!) and that was the inspiration for Mr. Right-Enough. But it was only an inspiration...remember: IT'S FICTION!