Day 32 - April Fools

Watching all of the posts on social media today to see who is trying to prank the world and who is on the guessing side it made me wonder, how many people put holidays, cultural events or specific times of year into their stories. Going back over some of my writing there aren't many things that stand out like that. I do have one book which will eventually become a series that has a historical time to it but so far that is all.

I have never written a Christmas story, had someone celebrate a birthday or anniversary. In fact the only time I can remember incorporating anything like that would be in Never Give Up when there was a dinner to celebrate a promotion and in Survivor everything comes to a head during Jasmine's birthday though it isn't exactly a party. Welcome to Syn is et during the time of the Salem Witch Trials but they are only loosely related.

My books don't generally touch on events that take place such as walking the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan over Labor Day weekend, or the pride parade in San Fransisco because either my books aren't set there or they are things only people in that area would understand anyway. I don't write about holidays because I like the stories to be more open and could have happened anytime or at least anytime in a season. It did make me think about whether or not people use those times and traditions in their storytelling.

There are, of course, books dedicated to holidays, birthdays and cultural events but it seems that many writers I know do not write about specific times unless it is interwoven into the actual storyline.  Unless it is a Christmas story the holiday season isn't usually mentioned except perhaps in passing. Unless a character comes into money or powers at a certain age they don't tend to bother celebrating. So it isn't just me apparently.

For my readers I would love to ask, do you enjoy sharing these occasions with the characters? Would you prefer to see more holidays and events mentioned or celebrated within the story or do you like seeing them only fi absolutely needed? I am curious about what the readers think on the subject or celebrations in a book.