Secrets

Secrets are a key to good fiction.

If you're keeping a doozie, or just want to read others' secrets, take a look at the Post Secret blog. Some of these lines could be a great opening line for fiction you're working on.

In my novel, Down For Whatever, each of the four main characters has secrets. Keith Hemmings is a preacher's kid keeping his whole life a secret from others. Marco Antonio Vega is keeping his love for a "regular" guy from his family who loves his "Hollywood" guy. Tommie Jordan keeps his insecurities about not being good enough for his boursghie (spelling?) college boy a secret... for a while. And Rafael Dominguez has secret relationships with pretty much EVERYONE in L.A., East L.A., and the San Gabriel Valley.

We've all got secrets. Things we don't want others to know. Some, we want to be found out. To free us. To make good publicity. To be talked about.

Lots of secrets... but overall a lot of fun at Long Beach Pride event this weekend. Met hundreds of people. Oskar, Daniel, and I handed out thousands of Down For Whatever postcards. Mostly at the Hip Hop and Latin stages, but all over the festival grounds. The funny thing is when you tell people you're a writer, they want to open up about their secrets. They want to know if you'll base a character or story on their live or story. Interesting how that happens.

Unfortunately, while all the stories I heard yesterday were interesting and fascinating, half of them I don't remember. Well, I do... but thanks to one too many adult beverages, I've forgotten most of the secrets people shared with me.

Maybe it's a good thing I'm holding so many secrets.
fs