Normal

I wouldn't know normal if it came up and slapped me across the face. I just wouldn't. For a variety of reasons.

And I like it that way.

But . . . I had a mini-revelation while driving yesterday. I realized that the theme of "being normal" runs through not only my books, but many others. Because for characters who don't fit "the norm," there is a longing to be like everyone else. Whereas I embrace my eccentricities, many characters do not. In High School Bites, which I wrote under my YA pen name, Lucy just wants to be like everyone else, instead of destined to be a vampire hunter from a long line of women who hunted Dracula himself. Adolescence, where most teens struggle with learning their place in the world, is ripe for insecurities about what is "normal." So YA literature often explores that. But even look at Jason Bourne. His character wants out of the spy game. He wants to know who he is. To get back from normalcy.

On the flip side, there are many people who are "normal" who long to be more than normal. People who desire extreme fame and fortune, or who are stuck in a small town, longing for the lights of the big city.

I never wished for normal. But now I see the theme everywhere.

Thoughts?