Why Alzheimers?
I’ve seen it happen time and again
at booksignings. People who have never heard of me or of Island Girl, will stop
to chat with the visiting author. They’re smiling, curious, perhaps reaching
for a copy of the book until I tell them it’s about a woman diagnosed with
early onset Alzheimer’s. That’s when I watch that hand retract, see those
finger curl back as the smile fades. “Alzheimer’s?” they’ll say. “That’s such a
frightening subject.”
Yes it is,
and that’s why I wrote about it because I don’t believe in Write What You
Know. I believe in Write What Scares the
Crap Out of You, because that’s where the best stories lurk.
I’m not
talking about fear of spiders or zombies or even serial killers. I’m talking
about the ones we don’t mention, or if we do, we whisper in fear of judgment or
yell in fear of change. I’m talking about fears that are deep rooted and often
arise from a feeling of helplessness, from knowing we have no control over the
situation. Things like abandonment, betrayal and loss. Loss of home, of love,
of faith in ourselves, in God.
As a
writing teacher, I always tell my students to think about what scares their
character and then make that happen. They often skirt the issue at first, fall
back on humour by giving me fear of clowns, or bad breath or being tricked by a
transvestite. Carefully avoiding uncomfortable topics or ideas, usually out of
fear of censure. So I push harder, make
them dig deeper. Ask them to see their character as more than a one dimensional
cut-out because it’s not the easy strengths or movie-star good looks that make
a character real. It’s the vulnerabilities, the flaws. The very things that
have the potential to make that character weak and unlikeable are the very things
that will make him real to a reader, because those vulnerabilities, those
flaws, are also what make us human.
Deciding to
write Island Girl meant first admitting my own deep fear of Alzheimer’s, an
illness that leaves the body intact, but steals away the essence of a person,
leaving her dependant on the good nature of others for even the most basic
care. In creating the main character, Ruby, I wanted a woman who was accustomed
to being in control, proud of her achievements as a strong and independent
single mother. And then I wanted to take that control away and see what
happened.
Ruby isn’t me by any means. But
through her, I was forced to face my own fear. To look at Alzheimer’s from all
sides and explore all possible outcomes in order to tell an honest story of one
woman’s journey. So if Alzheimer’s scares you as much as it did me, I hope
you’ll be like those folks in the bookstore. The ones who took a breath, and
let those fingers uncurl.
Cheers
Lynda
To learn more about Lynda and her work, visit her website, www.lyndasimmons.com, or check her out on Facebook and of course, check out my review and giveaway of Island Girl!
