Birthdays

Yesterday, we were supposed to be on Goodyear Lake helping a friend celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it. It was s a beautiful day, and being on the lake is a great setting for a party. Of course, our friend loves to throw parties, so the deck overlooking the lake rounds out the perfect setting. Lesley usually throws a party for me in the Fall. Not sure what we’re going to do this year, but with everything we have been caught up in, a big party sounds like too much to take on at this point. A quiet dinner at a nice restaurant can be a terrific way to celebrate one’s birthday, too.

Thinking about birthdays has brought back some memories of when my sons were young. I once held a birthday sleepover. Boy, do young children have a lot of energy. I can’t think of any stories I’ve read in which a series protagonist celebrates his or her birthday. I suspect one reason might be that a protagonist’s age can be a bit of a problem. It has to do with whether you want your protag to age a year with each year that actually passes. It’s hard to hold a character apart from some kind of aging process because of the way the world keeps changing. You want your protagonist to be relevant to what is going on in the real world, but not tied too closely to the news or calendar. For example, I had to give my series protagonist, Bobby Navarro, a cell phone because your rarely see public pay phones anywhere, and everyone now expects a person to have a cell phone. If you are writing about someone who doesn’t, it’s pretty much an historical novel.

So… birthdays? I suspect Bobby Navarro didn’t have many birthday parties as a kid. As a result of writing this blog, I’ve started giving the matter some thought. I think I’ll have to incorporate something about birthdays in my current Bobby Navarro novel. Who knows?

In the meantime, we still enjoy our backyard view of the stream.

 

Butternut Creek

Butternut Creek

Comments

  1. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I can remember reading about a character in a series celebrating a birthday either. Interesting post!

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