Does an Author's Life Shape Their Fiction: The Real Stories Behind the Stories

One of the questions I get asked the most is, “How much of your novels are true?”

The short answer: all of it… and none of it.

All of my books, including The Rogue River Incident duology, Hidden Beneath the Pines, The Good Sheriff, and Memories of an Ash Covered Sky, are works of fiction. Even so, you can find parts of me in every character, in what they say, and in what they choose to do. I believe all authors put something of themselves into their creations because it is what makes the story feel real.

I wouldn’t know how to write fiction without leaning on the life I’ve lived.

When I sit down to write, I don’t consciously say, “I’m going to put this one argument with my dad in the book” or “this awkward date goes here.” But all those memories, relationships, friendships, struggles, triumphs, failures are there. My experiences as a son, father, husband, friend, coworker and even stranger in an off the beat-and-path place all find their way into the stories.

Even the settings come from places I have walked. The rugged open-range roads of Southern Oregon. The quiet trails along the Rogue River. The smoky skies of wildfire season. I have dodged cattle on backroads, skirted Timber rattlers, reeled in steelhead, floated the Rogue and gotten drenched, not as much by the river but from summer storms that soaked my tent at night. I have watched the flames, smelled the smoke, and felt the heartbreak. Those real experiences help make my fiction feel authentic.

Do other authors just make it all up? I don’t think so. Even fantasy writers who create dragons and castles still write flawed, human characters. Those flaws don’t come from thin air. They come from somewhere inside them, shaped by their own experiences, relationships, heartbreaks, doubts and dreams.

When you pick up one of my books, you are not reading my life story, but you are seeing a version of it. The people and events are fictional, yet the emotions are real. Some characters are shaped by people I have known, filtered through my own experiences. If you want to see what I mean, start with Memories of an Ash Covered Sky. This novel was inspired by the devastating Almeda Fire in Southern Oregon and by my own feelings of loss, resilience, and hope. Like fire, these emotions can consume and destroy, but they can also clear the way for new growth. We all encounter them in one form or another.

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Thank you for letting me share my stories and a little bit of myself with you.

Mike Walters Novels