TMI…

Too much information – that is the topic this week.

I suppose I’m at that stage in my life where I can get away with saying and doing most anything because I generally don’t care what people think. I can’t wait to join the red hat society. Let me qualify that by saying, I can do and say anything outside of the confines of work where being a role model and saying inappropriate things just doesn’t fly as the Chief Human Resource Officer.

This past weekend I was honored to be part of The Writing Block and I assured everyone that I would answer every question openly and honestly. I did. My wife, who is far more reserved about revealing any intimate parts of her life, was reticent about what I might share. I assured her that the questions would not be about our intimate life, maybe a bit about us as a backstory, but nothing too revealing. She remained skeptical, but let me do my thing. This coming weekend, I am On The Grill in the Lesbian Book Readers Club group and I’m thrilled. Why? I’ll get to that.

I am a total introvert in person, but behind the computer, I think I must be a closet exhibitionist. Nothing is off the table and I don’t think I possess a filter. I believe I confessed to being so OCD that I was answering a question while half dressed and changing into my work out gear. Sometimes, that gets me in trouble with my wife and I have to remember to be an open book about myself without dragging her into the melee. We’ve been together for eleven years now and I’ll bet there are a plethora of fascinating tidbits left to learn about her, while she has to be satisfied with the left over scraps I’ve forgotten to reveal about myself.

I am not sure if I have always been this way or if this is a new found freedom that I’ve found as a writer. They say you should write what you know, so if a writer filters everything, won’t their words be extremely boring? Isn’t it the odd and off the wall that tends to get noticed?

We live in a world now that overwhelms us with Facebook messages that even I think dances along the edges of the too much information rule. I’m amazed at what people share.

I feel fortunate to be included in a closed group with a bunch of really wonderful women who share my propensity to tell all. Not only is this a very freeing experience, I’ve learned a lot. Recently I learned that if you eat pineapple, your uh, shall we say, nether regions will taste like pineapple. Who knew? I definitely have to test that out. See too much information. Or…did you learn something new too?

Even though I’m a bit more mature than many other writers out there, I’ve had limited experiences in certain areas and I have to do a lot of research because I’ve chosen not to be a fade to black writer. Boy have I learned a lot and you should see the type of spam I get now. I’m sure I’m on some list somewhere based on the types of searches I do. Not only do I search material for my love scenes, but I search ways to kill people, types of guns the Russian Mafia uses, and some other very unconventional topics.

I used to work with a group of women who also had no filter and you should have heard the lunch conversations we would have. The older we get, the more we talk about our various bodily functions. Now it’s all over Facebook. Colonoscopy, loose stools, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, gag reflex, bladder control – those are just a few of the lunch topics. Nothing is sacrosanct anymore.

The reality is that as writers we almost have to be comfortable about revealing ourselves, because regardless of the genre we choose, there is a little bit of our lives and our experiences peppered throughout our works. I can honestly say that bits and pieces of my life, including my friends and family, are woven within my stories. However, at what point do we provide too much information and hurt those around us. I wonder a bit about whether my father recognizes himself in a few of my books. It hasn’t been a compliment to him. I think at one point I described him as a pig, as in typical male who is okay with lesbians, but not gay men.

So in this world of Facebook, selfies, and social media, I fit right in because I border on TMI. I’ve got nothing to hide anymore, that’s all been revealed in my books. Anyone who knows anything about me can see bits and pieces of me in the various characters in my books and especially the character, Mabel, in Out of This World.

Want to know more about me, join the grill this weekend or pick up one of my books!

My first two books, Love Forever, Live Forever, and Asset Management are available in both e-book and print format. Links below will get you to all the places you can purchase the books. Out of This World is only available through Amazon and is FREE to Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Thanks for supporting a new writer!! Coming soon is and Locked Inside.

Link to Out of This World: Amazon