Fiction mimics real life...doesn't it?

I have realized over the years that I am attracted to writing stories based on real life experiences, whether they are mine or someone else's.

While visiting a convicted murderer (

 

While growing up my mother would tell endless stories of when she and her 13 siblings were growing up in the wilds of Tumwater, Washington.  They were charming and hilarious and real!  She went on to tell of her early days in San Francisco, playing semi-professional women's basketball, buying a bar and grill, and working long hours, then going out dancing all night.   Years later I heard the rest of the story, from my two older siblings;  how our mother had 'farmed' them out to get them out from under foot.  The many men in my mother's life.  It was difficult to write about my mother in this way, but I believe that I was faithful to the truth. (