Quagmire (n): A situation that is hard to deal with or get out of; a situation that is full of problems. Conundrum (n): a confusing or difficult problem.

So, based on the definitions above, can a person have a conundrum in a quagmire? A difficult problem in a confusing situation?

First, I'd like to say that I chose the above words because they sound funny, and are words that just describes two simple things...a difficult situation and a difficult problem.   I come from a world that uses the K.I.S.S. principle all the time...Keep It  Simple, Stupid.  So when I hear people say that their "situation is something of a quagmire." Or they "have a conundrum."  I just smile. You got a bad problem!  Don't be fancy with it.

Secondly, does using those two words make your situation worst?  Your problem worst?  Or is a bad situation or problem just that...bad?

Writers have a tendency to use words in their works that they feel are more impressive, or expressive, than simple words.  I'm not sure whether it's to impress the reader with their vocabulary or because they feel that the more expressive they are, the more elevated their work is portrayed.  I tend to put these books down, to be picked up later.

I write simply.  Too simple for some authors.  It's been said that my books are layered with simple constructed sentences and that my characters are not as expressive as they could be because of it.  I can understand that because I write like I talk.  My characters have my thoughts and my wise-ass manner.  My slang and dialect comes out in my characters.  It's unfortunate sometimes because one of my main characters (MC) is Australian and I don't know anyone from Australia and even listening to movies and television doesn't give the sense of what a real Australian would say in the situations I put my MC.  It's also unfortunate because any country that puts out a commodity like Chris Hemsworth (and his siblings! Gawd, you guys are lucky in Australia!) should be genuinely represented in my books.

It's just that I feel my readers...all readers as a matter of fact...have vivid imaginations and can hear the characters' voices the way they (the readers) feel should be portrayed.  The readers can visualize each book's characters the way they see them. The readers don't have to see Chris as my Australian character, like I do. They can see Sam Worthington or even Alex O'Loughlin....Geeze, what choices!  Trying to decide between those three...a confusing problem.

I do like that conundrum. In my own private quagmire.


By the way, book 2, The Agreement: The First Year, is out on Amazon and the third will be out by April 2015.  Thanks for your support.