Friday, July 14, 2006

Yes! Yes I Am!

Courtesy of Charity:


You're a Fluff writer!
Take this quiz!


In my mind, there's never been a question of what kind of writing I prefer. It's always been romance. Even when I dabbled in fantasy or suspense, romance seemed to take the front burner and the other stuff was incidental.

Interestingly, I am apparently in the minority of the folks who've taken this quiz. When I was finished, and got my results I checked... "Fluff" writers comprised only 1% of the total.

Speaking of Fluff --

When I moved to New Hampshire, I felt like I'd entered another world. I'm originally from California, and apparently we have a completely different language out west. It got me to thinking about people that write stories based in a part of the country they've never spent a significant amount of time in, because all the research in the world isn't going to give you the nuances and little idiosyncrasies that living there will.

For instance, when I got here, I asked how come there were Dunkin' Donuts shops EVERYWHERE. Seriously, they are on every frickin' corner and they're always busy. The answer? "Where else would you get coffee?"

Uh... Starbucks?

And that thing that you put your wallet, lipstick and keys in and then sling over your shoulder? In California, that's called a purse.

Here? It's a pocketbook.

You know how, when you go to the grocery store and get a wire or plastic box on wheels to push around and fill with your stuff? In California, we call those "carts".

Here? It's a carriage.

In California, I took the freeway when I drove a long distance. Here they're always called "highways" (mostly because they're never "free"... holy cow, I've never seen a place with more toll roads in my life).

And that "fluff" I referred to at the beginning? When I met my husband, he told me that one of his favorite things to eat was a peanut butter and fluff sandwich. Huh?

In California, we have "marshmallow cream". Out here, where hubby is from, they have "Fluff", always Fluff. Never, ever marshmallow cream.

It's the little things that trip me up. No wonder I'm so hung up on the details in my current WIP. The good news about that, though, is I lived in Colorado, so at least I know how they talk.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I came up as a Mystery Writer. That one only has about 6%, so it's not much more popular than Fluff. :)

And I had no idea I was so West Coast! I haven't lived in California since I was three or four! But I've never called a purse a pocketbook or a cart a carriage. And I've always eaten marshmallow cream, not fluff. Now I have used both freeway and highway. :)

Ceri Hebert said...

LOL I can relate! I came from Minnesota. We drank pop out there. I got such strange looks asking for that out here. In NH its known as soda. But I'm so used to the accents and terms that if I went back to Minnesota I'd be a fish out of water.