You know the proverbial third rail - the top horizontal bar of the corral. Upon which hapless cowpokes suffer testicular trauma when trying to vault into the ring.
America is a polarized country; maybe it always has been and it's just more obvious these days. So why am I introducing current events - such as gunshot deaths in America - into my little Winter stories?
In a word, context.
I'm trying to become a better writer and one way may be to set the characters in a realistic setting. In, more or less, real time. Plus I believe it makes the story a little more textured. Less one-dimensional.
I don't have an axe to grind; I'm not trying to take a stand - left, right, or central. And I'm certainly not trying to change anyone's mind about anything political. Most people are pretty dug in.
The sad fact is, I don't have solutions to many of our challenges. Doesn't stop my characters from pontificating though.
Paige