Heather, you make a lot of good points in this excerpt. I especially liked this ... "We are all shaped by what happens to us in society and what happens to us politically. What writers then do is shape stories around these various experiences..." That kind of hits on the fundamentals of writing any fiction or non-fiction -- be honest in sharing an experience with others. A writer to be any good has to write from the heart, from his or her own experiences, which is exactly what make literature so much fun. We all lead different lives and to be able to learn about a piece of someone else's life in a book opens your eyes to all kinds of things. Good writing, Heather.