Books We Love Insider Blog: #RosesandLove

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Do Your Hobbies Find a Place in Your Stories? (Author Confessions) By Connie Vines #BWL #Author Hobbies #RoseGardens

FACT: Authors often engage in unique, active, or intellectual hobbies that enrich their storytelling.

Ernest Hemingway’s big-game hunting and Agatha Christie’s archaeology, to mention a few.

Do you, as an author, include your hobbies or your personal culinary choices, etc., in your stories? Or, as a reader, are you drawn into the story because of the sensory details and "realistic'' tone?

I know my choice of location/setting is from personal experience. While the name of my city may be fictitious, it is based on a 'real-life' place.

What about your hobbies?

As a writer, do you find your heroine/hero likes to cook, play chess, or tend to a garden?

I like to include my pursuits. I find it enriches the characters of my stories. The reader will gain insite to a character. One pursuit will highlight a character's patience; another will highlight a skill, creativity, or impatience.

From a reader's perspective?

Care must be given not to "over tell" or to convert my readers.

I dislike green peas. It doesn't matter how the peas are seasoned, hidden, or blended. I will 'gage' when I try to swallow them.

There are certain 'troups' that will not follow; certain 'historical periods" I have no interest in reading.

I recognize this to be a universal truth.

Do not be discouraged. I know a "great teaser", book cover, or promo can/will entice a new reader to purchase a book.

However, dedicated fans are really purchasing "your voice". The 'author's' voice.

The way you weave your story, the tone, the humor/emotional intensity.

It is the unique way you add bits of reality into your 'fictitious world.' Making your story a reality for your reader.

This post focuses on my rose gardens.

The vivid colors, the scents, and, yes-- the thorns!

Authors, what bits of yourself do you add to your stories?