But, I can write.

I’m at 1,700 words for the first draft of the fourth installment of About to Sin. It’s moving slowly because I’m helping a friend move. Ever try helping a 50+ year old woman with ADD pack?

I don’t recommend it.

We’ll start in one room and before I know it she’s followed some “Red Ballon” into another room. I go behind her and repack all of the boxes. She’s the only person I’ve ever known who tried to put cosmetics, jewelry, weaponry, and physics books in the same box.

However, I have received permission to fictionalize her situation. In a way I feel helpless. I can’t wave a wand and heal her broken heart. I can’t snap my fingers and make her understand why her lover did what she did. I can’t wiggle my nose and allow her to remember 10 awesome years and erase one horrible day. I can’t do any of that, but I can write.

I want to see her with a happy ending and I can’t think of any way except writing it. I’m no therapist. I don’t understand, fully, what it means when she says that her therapist says her lover had been dissembling. But, I can write.

What are the ethics of fictionalizing fact? I can disguise it enough (no one, no reader, no publisher, no editor would accept the real way they broke up) to shatter the fact behind it. Also, I write m/m so even the genders will change. And the fact will be the start of the story not the meat or the end. So, I’m not worried about the other woman discovering the story, seeing herself and suing me. My friend has given me permission, so I’m not worried about her thinking I’m trying to capitalize on her pain.

Can anyone think of something I’m missing on why this is a bad idea? (No, not the story, but fictionalizing fact in general.) I’ve never walked down this road before. Is this something that's generally not allowed? I don’t want to put my publisher or myself in a compromising position. If I have to, I’ll write it just for her. If I do that, I’ll keep it lesbian which will be interesting for me to write. LOL!

Any advice?