As I've mentioned in the blurb above, I'm working on editing my 5th draft of my novel Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone. I've posted a sinopsys on another page, linked above, which describes the book as including many of my own personal experiences in my life journey since Cheryl died in 2010.
One thing that's been on my mind through these past 3 years or so since I scribbled out the first rough draft - is this fully fiction, part fiction/real life, memoir, what is it? I recently read a blog that answered that question for me - autofiction. The word was coined in 1977 by the author Serge Doubrovsky. It's a new term to me and a new term to many writers. Autofiction - a fiction story that includes many real-life stories from the author's life. Autofiction is a form of fictionalized autobiography. It falls between fiction and autobiography. Autofiction is not a genre, and one will not find it listed as a category on book-selling websites. Fiction is fiction, regardless. Authors write their stories from their imagination and from there own personal experiences, often basing their fictional characters on people they have known in real life, or fictional scenes on situations they faced in their own lives.
Looking at the outline/timeline of my book I calculate my story to be about 20% real life situations. There is about another 10% of the total scenes that are exaggerated real life situations. In the story, all of the cities/towns that the protragonist visited or lived in are also cities/towns I have personally visited or lived in. I have many photos of these places in my photo gallery (the link is at the top of this page). I have now been, as of this writing, in Colombia for 8 1/2 years and I've lived in 7 different cities/towns.
Here are a few books that are also of this "autofiction" genre -
Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys
The Door by Magda Szabo
Sylvia by Leonard Michaels
The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz
The Love Object by Edna O’Brien
The Lover by Marguerite Duras
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Rose of No Man’s Land by Michelle Tea
My upcoming book Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone falls into the category, not genre, of autofiction. It blends my real-life experiences, exaggerations of real-life experiences, and pure fiction. I hope it will be of interest to wide range of readers as it includes drama, romance, fun and adventure. Stay tuned for further updates as I hope to see it published in Spring 2022.