Economics 101 for Writers

I’ve blogged before about things that turn me off in novels, but I ran across a new one last week while reading the latest book from a very popular romance author. In this book, the heroine finds herself without funds and tries to skip out on her hotel bill. She’s forced to choose between working off her debt as a hotel maid or going to jail. Not a tough choice, really. And the hotel seems to have trouble staffing their housekeeping department. 

Except, the author makes a point of mentioning that lots of people in this town are unemployed. 

Do you see the disconnect here? The failed logic?

Now I’m a self-admitted economics junkie. I’m thrilled to find clips of Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell and Dambisa Moyo on youtube. I think it’s tragic that most people are economically illiterate because nothing—absolutely NOTHING—effects every aspect of your life like economics does. For me, it’s a no brainer that, in a town with high unemployment, there would be people lined up for any job they could get.  Instead, the hotel owner hires illegals and deadbeats (to whom she pays more than minimum wage) rather than employing her neighbors who need a pay check.
And no one in town resents this.

It’s completely illogical.

Is it enough to ruin the novel? It wouldn’t be if I liked the characters more. Or if I’d liked the author’s last book (I didn’t.) But even if I liked the characters, this would nag at me. My trust in the author is shaken.

Authors are amateur psychologists. They have to understand what motivates people. They have to take that knowledge and craft viable backgrounds and thought processes for their characters that feel real. Since economics is really about the decisions people make in given circumstances, an understanding of economics should be a logical outgrowth for an author. If you understand the basics (and youtube can give you a first-rate crash course), you won't embarrass yourself when you write your character's environment. As an added bonus, you'll be taken in less often by your government's B.S.


Any other economics junkies out there? 

Six Sentence Sunday - A Knight in Cowboy Boots #9

This doesn't follow last week's SSS sample immediately, but it's pretty close behind.

            

When someone knocked insistently on the door at her back, Maddie’s hands clenched, her finger tightening on the trigger. The explosion sounded like a cannon going off in the room and the sharp smell of gunpowder filled the air. The bullet spun Zach around. He fell against the bed, and slid down until he was sitting on the floor beside it, facing away from her.

             

“Oh my God!” The gun fell from her numb fingers and bounced across the floor.

Other six sentence excerpts of mine can be found here.


If you want to see more Six Sentence samples, go here for the list of this week's participants. (If you're a participant, I try to always comment back.)


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Six Sentence Sunday - A Knight in Cowboy Boots #8

 Back for another Six Sentence Sunday.


Who would guess that this would lead to a romance? Some guys are just impossible to drive off.




She jerked the gun free and, with both hands throttling the grip, pointed it as she turned.

 “Whoa!” Instinctively, Zach backed up another step, his hands rising in the air, not in surrender, but as though denying he was any kind of threat.

He looked at her cautiously. If he had any sense, he’d look a lot more scared, Maddie thought. Couldn’t he see the way her hands were shaking?




You can find a longer excerpt here. A Knight in Cowboy Boots is available at Amazon and other ebook vendors.


Other six sentence excerpts of mine can be found here.


If you want to see more Six Sentence samples, go here for the list of this week's participants.


If you want to participate in the future, here's a FAQ.