A Common Thread

Well, I'm not sure what day this will fall on. It's technically 1 am my time, but apparently Blogger posts these on its own time. So, I might be writing two entries on the same day. However, I came across something interesting and this was as good of a place to write it down as any.

First off, my headache was apparently caused, in part, by dehydration. Figures. :-P So, after drinking some water, I'm feeling much better. :-) I even got some reading done, which is what lead to my marvelous thought.

One of the books my friend loaned me was, "Get Known before the Book Deal" by Christina Katz. I'll admit that I almost blew it off as she likes to talk about how creating a 'platform' applies to nonfiction writers. I'm not a nonfiction writer. Though, I do have a nonfiction book planned for the future... but that's currently beside the point. Thankfully, she had a chapter in there on how what she was saying pertained to fiction writers as well and gave a few examples, so I suppose I'll keep blundering my way through the book and try to apply it to my writing.

Anyway! I was thinking about the book I wrote, and the book I'm going to write next month, and realized that there was a common theme in them. One I didn't even realize existed until tonight. That common theme was someone helping another person, whether a friend or not, to avoid a terrible fate, whether the main character knew it was going to happen or not. In the end, the person helping expects nothing in return. In my first book, the character who helped did receive a gift, though she didn't ask for it. In my second book, the character helping gets an odd "present" out of it, whereas the main character benefits the most. However, "selfless helping" is the underlying theme in both of them. I believe my third book also runs along those lines, but it's not fully planned yet, so there's no telling. Though, it would appear that I enjoy writing books like that.

In our day and age, where we wonder, "If I help you, what do I get out of it" this theme is possibly an out of place one. However, I'd like to think that there are more people out there that would help their fellow man (or woman) without expecting anything in return. I'll admit that I'm not always that altruistic in my motives. I wish I was though.

Anyway! That was my amazing discovery this evening. I personally found it to be an interesting one. I thought my books differed quite a bit and didn't have anything in common. So, it was exciting to find that they did carry the same message, just in different ways. :-)

With that, I guess I'll turn in now. I'm looking forward to heading to bed and praying that my headache stays away. I'd greatly appreciate that since tomorrow is "Halloween Carnival" day. We're going to be busy trying to keep track of 3 boys in a crowded place. Oh, well. They're going to love it, so it will be worth the effort. Night!