Recently overheard:

1. "So the electrician told me that something chewed up the wires between the walls. I asked him if he saw any mouse drippings."

2. "I'm not wrong very often, especially when I'm right."

3. "Are all the people buried in that cemetery dead?"

I started thinking about what I write about the most. What's my big theme? Everyone's got one. It's something that rears its head in your writing whether you want it to, or not.

I write about family.

Usually, my protagonist is the one person who doesn't quite fit into the niche their family has placed them in. I think this is common. We all feel jammed into the pigeon hole our siblings or parents or whoever has placed us in, I think. And the worst part is, no matter how hard we try to escape The Hole, it doesn't quite happen.

Which is okay--in fiction, anyway--because it creates both internal and external conflict.

The book I'm rewriting (for the 10,000 time, I think) is about a guy who wants success in his career. Why? Because he's the youngest of five boys. All his brothers have career success and he doesn't want to be the only one left to live in their parents' home forever. Besides, they torment him--he needs to prove himself.

Another one of my books--now mellowing before I begin rewrites--is about one of his brothers. He can't shake his family's view of him no matter how hard he tries to show them he's changed. (Hmm...that sounds vaguely familier.) Funny how these things tend to run in series.

One book NOT about that particular family involves a woman named Chesca. She's trying to make her family stop pestering her to get married (and make babies) by dating a completely unacceptable guy. Little does she know he's not really a bicycle delivery boy for Rocco's Meat Market but an FBI agent trying to gather as much information about the mob guys in the back room. (Think: My Big Fat Greek Wedding hangs out at Satrialli's in The Sopranos...)

In one way, I find it sad that I write about people trying to escape their family's expectations (or pressures) because I know I'm using my writing as a catharsis. On the other hand, it's easy to figure out where to start when I begin plotting a new story because all I need to do is start with the family and work my way out from there.

What's your theme?