That's NOT how it happened!

Yesterday I decided I need to get back to writing every day. This blog has been a great motivator, but I haven’t written anything related to my book since getting to Israel and I’m scared. I’m scared it will slip away from me. I’m scared it would never happen. Sometimes I wish I chose a different topic, that didn’t require so much study, that didn’t incorporate two genres, that didn’t pose a risk to my relationships.
The research was supposed to kick start my writing but in reality the more I research the less I feel I know. And every day I discover more versions of the truth, some that I never even heard before. If I had a penny for every ‘That’s not how it happened!’ and ‘Who told you that?’ I could have made a hefty donation to the Yemeni Jews Museum in Rosh Hayin, because God knows – they need it.
“I’m writing fiction,” I tell everyone I interview now. “It’s just based on the family history.” “I’m writing fiction,” I tell myself on the way there. “FICTION!” I think as I wake up. It’s my new mantra. It’s what keeps me going. It doesn’t matter that I’m writing about something that happened 90 years ago in Yemen and who ever knew the truth is long gone. It’s still a hot topic; still loaded with emotions. I’m writing fiction. Because otherwise, once the book is out I’ll to have to deal with a mob of family members, all running after me and screaming: “That’s not how it happened!!!” and “Who told you that?”
Maybe it would be easier for me to write this book in Canada, where I don’t have to see my family. Maybe I should concentrate on my research and not worry about the writing until then. When I’m back at my desk in Vancouver facing the Burnaby hills, sitting on my ergonomic chair and sipping a cup of Continental coffee I’ll write this story without being so concerned with people’s feelings, without battling guilt and fear – those nasty censors. I’d be able to write this story without feeling as if I’m carrying an entire community of people on my shoulders, and since I haven’t been practicing my yoga – I doubt my shoulders can carry that much weight.