Why Did You Write That?
Sometimes people are mystified by how we writers choose
our topics. I mean, what would compel a
Mid-western housewife to write a romance set in pro-wrestling?
The truth is, it’s my grandma’s fault.
She used to sit me in front of her black and white TV when
I was a little girl to watch Sunday morning wrestling, packed with excitement,
adventure and high stakes drama. The
image of Grandma, or Googie as we called her, a prim and proper elderly lady
waving her fist at the TV during a match has stayed with me, let me tell
you. Heck, I thought every kid’s grandma
watched pro-wrestling and shouted at the refs.
From watching pro wrestling with Googie I learned that
life wasn’t always fair, and that the wrestlers only pretended to get hurt – it
was all part of the show.
Some years later, as the mother of two boys, I happened
to be passing through our family room and noticed they were watching World
Championship Wrestling.
I smiled,
remembering Googie. Then I sat down and
watched for a few minutes. Wrestling had
certainly changed since I was a kid. The
wrestlers of today were muscular, toned and, well… hot! The other thing I noticed was how dangerous
the “sport” had become. Now the
wrestlers were jumping off fifteen-foot cages onto folding tables and being
locked in cages to fight until someone passed out. These guys were risking their bodies
for…for…what? Fame? Money?
What motivated them to participate in a form of entertainment that was
ridiculed by non-fans? My writer brain was hooked.
While doing research about pro-wrestling, I discovered
that although pro-wrestling is considered “fake” the injuries are quite
real. A pro-wrestler’s list of injuries
can rival any other professional athlete’s.
So besides the potentially serious injuries, wrestlers are also looked
down upon. After all, everyone knows
pro-wrestling isn’t real. Or is it?
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What’s real about pro-wrestling? What I learned was that pro-wrestlers are
just regular guys trying to make a living doing something they enjoy. Hmmm, sounds like a great idea!
http://www.patwhitewriter.com
I have read the series and it is funny and fun and great writing, Pat. Loved the characters and cute stories but I did initially wonder how you got into wrestling!
ReplyDeleteI must admit, I haven't read this series yet, but it has inspired me to add it to my ever growing TBR list of books. While you were watching Sunday morning wrestling with your Googie, we were watching Killer Kowalski and Pedro Morales with my dad. Mom was usually cooking, or if she was present, she sat there with a book in her hand, trying to block out the noise. It's not necessarily that I wanted to watch it...but one tv set...and dad got to choose the station. My son was into it in later years, as it got more staged with the Ted DiBiases, Hacksaw Duggans, and Hulk Hogans. Yeah...I had to look up all these names...couldn't come up with anyone off the top of my head. But as I saw them, I was like, "Oh yeah, I remember watching him with dad," or "That's the one my son and his cousins loved to watch." So, while watching wrestling isn't my thing, your post sure brought back some memories for me. Thanks, Pat.
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com/titles.html
John: What has this got to do with Pat's blog?
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