We are delighted to have Sable Hunter once again grace our blog. I love her guest blogs, as well as her books. So sit back and enjoy as she discusses the vicarious lives of readers and writers.
by Sable Hunter
Not too long ago an acquaintance of mine asked me
how I was doing. I answered her like this:
A – Well, Jess is dating a new girl. She’s a
chemical engineer and a Vegan.
B – Uncle Michael bought a motorcycle and is
taking lessons.
C – I’ve just about finished the book to solve Aron’s mystery.
My readers will be so relieved.
Then, she asked the dreaded question. “No, I want to
know what you’ve been doing.” Well,
heck. You know what I’ve been doing. I’ve been taking care of the others,
writing from dawn to dusk and growing older and more boring by the minute!
Ha! It’s not as bad as I make it out to be. I bought
a motorcycle and took lessons. (I didn’t enjoy them, but the rest of the family
was happy). And my writing and all my endeavors are doing well.
But what is my source of joy? Is it in getting out
and doing dangerous things and falling in love and meeting new people and
seeing the world? Or is in puttering around my house, having daydreams that
won’t ever come true, and creating heroes I’ll never kiss?
My acquaintance (please notice that I’m not
referring to her as friend) judged me harshly. She says I am living vicariously
through my books. Instead of doing something with my own life, she says I am
just writing about other people’s lives.
Well, I disagree.
Ha! Are you surprised?
I may not be walking into bars and approaching
strange men and offering myself to them in exchange for a margarita, but I am
placing myself in situations to be examined, judged, and accepted or found
wanting. What I do takes guts.
I have offered to a critical public the very essence
of my dreams. No one has to guess what I’m like. I’ve poured all of my
insecurities and foibles and quirks into every female character. No one has to
wonder how I like sex or what festishes or kinks I am drawn to, I’ve put all of
those on broad open display. Do I have a crush on someone? Yeah, and if you
read my work closely enough, you know exactly who it is. Do I have questions
about the meaning of life or the validity of religion? Obviously, I don’t even
try to hide the fact that I listen to a different drummer.
Before I began writing, I was a public speaker. Talk
about courage? Now, there’s a career path not many would choose. Getting up in
front of a crowd, every eye upon you, watching you speak, watching you move
your hands, your body language – just the thought of making themselves
vulnerable in that manner gives most people sweaty palms and a weak bladder.
But, I loved it. I can get up in front of a crowd and talk for an hour without
notes.
So, I do have strengths. I can pour out my heart in
the written word and accept judgments given in a series of stars whereby some
don’t judge my writing, they judge whether or not they like the characters I’ve
created, even when I’ve done an excellent job creating a character I intend for
them to dislike – ha!
I can stand before an auditorium full of people who
have come expressly to hear my views on any number of esoteric topics and I can
look them in the eye and persuade them that black is white and white is black
and there are at least 50 shades of grey – ha!
But what I can’t do is the one on one, the intimate.
I can speak to 100 with ease, but two or three rends me weak with trepidation.
That is why I don’t do book signings or conventions.
That’s really beside the point though. I enjoy
living vicariously. It allows me to go places I’ve never been and walk beside
people I shall never meet. Living vicariously through books allows me to feel
emotions I won’t allow myself to experience in real life.
Whether I am creating a world of my own in one of my
books or immersing myself in the writings of another, I can gift myself with an
illusion.
The other day Jess was reading a book. He said it
was good, but it had no purpose. I questioned him about his thought process on purpose.
And what he said made me think.
He said my books served to allow women to experience
the whole spectrum of a relationship. The thrill of the first meeting, the
magic of a first kiss, the ups and downs of courtship, even the sexual
fulfillment of the coming together of two people who desire one another more
than anything. I was flattered – I didn’t realize I was doing that. What a
purpose!
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t gotten to
experience all of those things – not as many times as I would like. So I allow
myself to do so, in a controlled and safe environment.
Is it just like the real thing? Heck, no. But it is
damn sure better than nothing.
Living vicariously through books has allowed me to be
different people. I have stood in a Dom’s dungeon dressed in black leather. I
have flown a spaceship to a planet inhabited by sexy aliens who wanted nothing
more than to fulfill my every whim. Not long ago, I rode in a wagon train and
fell for a rogue outlaw who tied me to a tree, ravished me and made me like it.
Ha!
When I live vicariously, I can go back in time or
soar into the future; my recliner becomes a cozy time machine. When I live
vicariously I can kiss princes, I can seduce astronauts, and I can even fall in
love with a man who can shift into a lion! Come on! I may live in New Orleans,
but I can’t even find those guys on Bourbon Street!
Bottom line, I am a proponent of living vicariously.
I want my life to be exciting, but I know my limitations. If I have the ability
to weave a world where right prevails, love conquers all and holding out for a
hero is not an impossible dream – I am of all people most blessed.
I may spend the rest of my days on my sunny porch,
in my white rocking chair, dressed in my little cotton sundress with a few cats
draped on the bannister – but while I’m there, I’ll be writing and reading
about places and people who thrill my heart and sweep my mind beyond the stars.
Living vicariously is living victoriously.
And you always hear the analogy – he who can’t –
teaches. That’s bologna.
And it’s the same with writing.
Writing is not a substitute of doing – nor is
reading. But it adds a level of achievability and a realm of possibility that
mankind has explored and appreciated since Gilgamesh wrote his adventures and Homer
wrote his Odyssey. The Apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament while
sitting behind the bars of a Roman prison. Jane Austen wrote of love, but she
never married. Anne Frank dreamed of being – normal. God, can you imagine that?
And she wrote these words:
When I write I can shake off all my cares.
My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived!
So, to my acquaintance who took me to task for
living more in my books than in my skin – I challenge her to walk in my shoes,
travel in my mind, and experience what my heart feels. I don’t feel cheated.
I feel pretty damn alive.
Sable
Join me in my world and live vicariously with me in
my books. I’m not a bad neighbor – really.
Get COWBOY HEAT, HELL YEAH! bk 1 in the Cowboy 6-Pack for .99 cents (w/ 5 other smokin' sexy cowboy novels)
Sable Hunter Fans: Dying to know about her next Hell Yeah! book Skye Blue??? Check out this awesome post on Sable Hunter's blogpage about Noah's book.
Contest
Sable Hunter's latest book is I'll See You In My Dreams, Hell Yeah! V. Hunky lawyer Zane Saucier and Presley Love's story. We are giving away an ecopy of this book to one lucky comment (chosen by Randomizer.com). Be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you. Contest ends Sat., Aug. 17 at midnight.
Comment Question: Which is better: the kind of dreams you have at night or your daydreams????
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