This week’s blog question is whether there are any topics you won’t write about. Sure. I won’t write about politics, religion, or another person’s spouse. One of my earliest pieces of advice came from my dad who lived most of his adult life in close quarters with a bunch of other men on naval ships. He said those three things were topics no one should ever discuss. I assume because they were hot buttons that would cause fights. I’ll take that to mean I shouldn’t write about them, too. They’re nothing but trouble.
There are also topics I won’t address because I simply couldn’t do them justice. Same sex romances, for example. I read them, and there are some 
great romances in that genre. But I know my limitations and I would not be able to write a same sex romance that would be good enough for anyone to read. This is also a problem with stories that have strong animal characters. I love dogs and cats but I don’t have all that much experience with them, sadly. Would I be able to portray them as main assets in a book? I fear not.
Other than those things I should never address in writing and those I don’t think I can do well enough, I don’t think there is anything else I avoid—other than the things stipulated in every publisher’s submission guidelines, and you know what they are. For the longest time, I refused to write about anything having to do with Vietnam. The period of the war was just too painful. But I’ve gotten past that—I made myself get past it with a novella (Coming Home) and using it as part of the background in my book, Burning Bridges (written as Anne Krist).
What won’t you write about? Or as a reader, what won’t you read?
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Burning Bridges by Anne Krist: old letters put the lie to Sara’s life. Now, mending her past mistakes while crossing burning bridges will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.
Excerpt:
When the question arises of whether I prefer to drive to a mall to shop (or even down to my quaint little town) or let my fingers do the walking, there’s no doubt that I prefer to shop from home. It could be that I’m lazy but I don’t think that’s the whole answer. The fact is, I never really enjoyed going shopping, mostly because walking and standing have always given me trouble thanks to Mr. Polio. But I am kind of lazy, too.
online. Of course, I admit that there are difficulties with shopping from a computer screen. The colors are not always true. The clothes don’t always fit and have to be sent back. Orders don’t always arrive and then there is the hassle with refunds. But for the most part, I’ve been pretty happy over the years, plugging my credit card into the slot on the side of the computer. (That is how it works, isn’t it?) And as stores continue to add online to their shopping options, I get happier and happier.
Jan Selbourne was born and educated in Melbourne, Australia and her love of literature and history began as soon as she learned to read and hold a pen. After graduating from a Melbourne Business College her career began in the dusty world of ledgers and accounting, working in Victoria, Queensland and the United Kingdom. On the point of retiring, she changed course to work as secretary of a large NSW historical society. Now retired Jan is enjoying her love of travelling and literature. She has two children, a stray live in cat and lives near Maitland, New South Wales.
Lorelei Confer lives on a peninsula in the mid west coast of Florida with her high school sweetheart, now husband, and AJ, her long-haired Chihuahua.
When love is a gamble, place your bets on the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society.
filled with laughter, hidden identities, private fears, adorable children, secrets, and the sweetest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Duchess.
The series begins with A Dose of Danger, which is mostly set in Wyoming. Kim McMahill grew up in Wyoming which is where she developed her sense of adventure and love of the outdoors, and after traveling the world and living in six other states, she has recently returned home. Kim started out writing non-fiction, but her passion for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival, and happily-ever-after endings soon drew her into a world of romantic suspense and adventure fiction. Kim has just returned the first round of edits for the fourth novel in the series, A Measure of Madness, to her publisher and is working on the fifth, which will bring the reader full-circle back to Wyoming.
Are you the sort of person who plans every detail of a trip? Or one who takes off with only vague ideas of where you want to stay each night on the way to your destination? Do you even have a destination? Of course, traveling for fun and traveling for business are two different things. I want to talk here about vacationing.
were living in Virginia but of course had trucked extensively in the western states she wanted to see. She pulled out a map and started at the Grand Canyon, then worked her way up through Utah, Colorado, and into the Dakotas. We worked at a school and had the summer off, so I said, “That will be a great month-long trip, You’ll have fun!” “A month?” she said. “We’re doing this in two weeks. I have every minute planned.” Wow! They came back exhausted but I guess had spent at least ten minutes at each attraction, lol. They had fun, and that’s all that really counted. But that’s not the way Jack and I roll. As they say, different strokes for different folks!
Alana Lorens has been a published writer for more than forty years. Currently a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, she loves her time in the smoky Blue Ridge mountains. One of her novellas, THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE, is set in the city of Asheville during the old Bele Chere festival. She lives with her daughter, who is the youngest of her seven children, two crotchety old cats, and five kittens of various ages.
Emma Ames is an alter-ego of Amazon bestselling author, Ann Everett, who is an alter-ego of a real person. All three live in Texas.