Real life reflected in fiction

I’m afraid I owe all my readers a huge apology for my chronic absences over the last few weeks. I have a lot of reasons for being mostly unable to write here, and I will explore that eventually, but instead today I’m writing about the impact of the Iran elections and the fallout on my own work.

Amnar is about a repressive regime and the impact it has on people. It’s not your typical good-versus-evil fantasy. Over the last week or so, I’ve been writing the early chapters of Amnar: The Inheritance, and it’s been almost painful to see, very vividly, the mirror of the Iran elections taking place at the same time.

I’m very active on Twitter most of the time, and my tweetstream is constantly filled with information, reports and photos about the protests that have taken place over the last week. This is the first time I’ve followed a major world event from Twitter’s hashtags rather than an established news source.

Seeing it unfold in front of me has had an impact on my writing, too. When I first wrote the Amnar series, I was locked away from the world for the most part. I didn’t really follow the news; I simply didn’t have time. Somehow, watching what’s happened in Iran has raised the bar.

I’ve always wanted Amnar to reflect not some kind of fantastic escapism but the real impact of living in that kind of system on people’s lives. I’ve also wanted to make sure that there is a greater depth to the understanding of how people react under those circumstances.

Being constantly aware of what’s going on somewhere else in the world started to seep into my writing very quickly. It’s startling how quickly and powerfully it’s inspired me to go to greater lengths to provide deeper realism within the Amnari political world.

There is a level at which I’m left feeling uncomfortable, too. I’ve been asked several times by different listeners whether the events in Amnar reflect real life happenings in parts of our own world. I’ve never been this specific before. It appears the new Amnar will be even darker than I had imagined as I head on into the series.