My history of my writing is getting closer to modern times now, and my interest has turned to women's fiction. Pretty much all of my life, I'd had a story in the back of my mind of sisters who love but don't understand each other. This is real life, and I've always been fascinated by how siblings relate to each other. We share more with them than with any other humans: genetics, timeline, proximity, and experiences. Yet as adults we often fail to understand each other in the most basic ways.

When this book comes up, I often think of a comment a reader made. First she told me how much she enjoyed the story. Then she added, "Of course, the bit about there being bunkers under the White House was a bit of a stretch, but otherwise, it was good."

I'm sure by now everyone knows that there are bunkers under the White House, due to Trump's destruction of that venerable building. But the larger question for me was, "Do people really think I would make up a thing like that to advance the story?"

If you do, I don't. Nothing I put into a story is ever "made up" in the sense that it doesn't exist. Writers talk a lot about world-building. You create a world for your story, and then you have to live inside that world for the duration of the story. If it's science fiction, the writer must convince the reader that this might be. If it's reality-based, the story must center on what is.

I know some authors stretch credulity. People don't really pass out from a drug-laced handkerchief held over their mouths for three seconds. Guns don't really have endless supplies of ammunition. And people don't conveniently go unconscious for ten minutes and then wake up and carry on. Etc.

But authors--at least good ones--try to be faithful to facts when they can. When I put a bunker under the White House in a story, it's because there is one. If a weapon is used, you can bet that I've checked it out with my gun-savvy husband and made sure it works as I describe. When I tell you that Mary I of England cheated at cards, it's because that's what the evidence says. Every respectable author I know tries to stick with facts in the details of the story, even though we write fiction. 

Sister Saint, Sister Sinner presents sisters whose lives are wildly different. One becomes a national figure. One lives a normal life but feels like a failure. And one murders her only son.  This book is available here for $4.99.