When Jury Duty is the Best Part of My Week

"We'll get a funnel cake.  It'll be the highlight of my week." - Nicholas Cage as Jack Campbell, The Family Man

Whenever I can quote The Family Man, I will.  I can't believe the movie isn't more beloved.  Let's just say I'm more than a little obsessed with it.  I may have to watch it after writing this.

This week has been the kind that makes me look forward to the calendar rolling to Sunday so we can call an official end to it. 

If you're in the SoCal area, you know that we've had unseasonably hot weather.  I know Phoenix is hotter, I know the East Coast has gotten it badly too (and with the added bonus of humidity) but coastal SoCal is not used to temps pushing (and into) the 90s.  Especially when you have no a/c. 

It's been uncomfortably hot, making sleeping a chore.  This kind of heat also brings out the fleas and my dog apparently is the tastiest little morsel on the block.  He's had four flea baths in the last two weeks and I'm trying the second flea preventative in the same number of weeks.  Worse, fleas also apparently love carpeting (mine especially) and various bedding and blankets.  I discovered this on Monday night and had to wait until Friday morning to get an exterminator here.  Lovely.

Two days before I moved back in June, I received a jury summons.  Lucky me, I got called for Thursday.  It turns out that jury duty was the best part of my week.

For a writer, reporting to jury duty offers a wealth of possibilities.  The people watching potential is off the charts.  Can a bathing suit cover-up be considered "business casual?"  (Apparently it can based on someone in the security line in front of me.)  Why do some people bring a rolling suitcase to jury duty?  They do know they will be going back home by the end of the day, right?  Am I the only person who had no idea there is a game show called Catch 21 on the air?  And that Family Feud still airs multiple times during the day? 

I wasn't chosen or placed on a panel - - making for a long and boring day - - but I took plenty of notes on my fellow potential jurors.   Traits of some of them will make for fascinating characters.

Today I am doing very little, other than laundry and writing.  And I'm good with it.  Some days you just need to relax and recharge. 

How about you?  What are you doing this quiet Saturday?

The Perks of Being a Writer: You're in My Book!

Any fellow writers out there? 

Being a writer can be a lonely business.  You spend hours by yourself, stressing over what you're putting to the page (or stressing even more if nothing is being put to the page), second guessing everything from your characters' names and motivations to your choice to write in the first place.  You may find that your back aches and your ass spreads (standing desks are awesome) and your eyes get weary from staring at the screen, thinking what you've written is crap or utter genius.  Or somewhere in between.

One of the perks to writing fiction is the creative license.  If I'm writing a character based loosely on myself, for instance, I can cherry pick those qualities that I feel are my best and even shine a golden light on those that are less than stellar.  As an example, while I may be the most impatient person in the world in reality, my fictional heroine is quirkily impatient and it pays off for her - - she may have the winning lottery ticket or meet Mr. Right because she's impatient.  Something that was said to me by someone else may have been meant with contempt or general jerkiness but I can write it to garner laughs.  And whereas the real me may have taken ten minutes to dig up an adequate comeback, if at all, my fictional character is quick and has an acerbic wit. 

I take the qualities I love most in my friends and will often combine them to create characters in my stories.  Have a friend that will drop anything when you need something?  A friend that will organize the trip to the craft store when you think your best option is to make a voodoo doll of your ex?  Someone who won't remind you of the time you thought karaoke was a great idea (right up there with dancing on the bar) after a few cocktails?  Yup, he or she is going to find their way into my book.

This goes for people you don't particularly care for as well.  Piss me off and guess what?  You're likely going to be in my book and I may even kill your character.  Ha!  Not only that but while I may not see or give you a comeuppance in real life, in literary life, it's going to happen.

I love this about writing.  It's like therapy, only cheaper and without Kleenex.