Roman(s) à clef (plural)

I’ve always loved that term.

In french, it means “a novel with a key.”

A roman à clef uses thinly cloaked names of characters and locations to surreptitiously present depictions of actual people or events. 

After all, “[a]ll the world’s a stage”

Jacques, As You Like It, Act II Scene VII Line 139.

I’ve been asked more and more during the past few years if The Claire Saga could be considered a roman à clef. In my stories I often use the actual names of friends and family in potentially recognizable real settings to tell stories that may or may not be true. It could be that I mix the stories with some pseudonyms, for those who enjoy being part of the story but may be worried about their personal or professional reputations, shift some of the locations and timing and maybe create aggregate characters through combining characteristics of multiple people I may have known. Or maybe not.

Of course, if I were to admit this collection of books were romans à clef, that would leave me – and some others – with lots of explaining to do.

So I am compelled for a whole lot of reasons to deny every bit of it. It is totally fiction.

Come on now, space travel, cryptids, wormholes, extra terrestrials, resurrections, quantumly compelled evolution, ley lines and a talking, psychic, magical mule?

But wouldn’t it be cool if the five books in The Claire Saga were stories with lots of keys? Just saying.

Now someone with a lot of time on their hands may approach living people bearing the same names as some of the characters in The Claire Saga, or mentioned in the Acknowledgments, or people that may fit certain descriptions and ask them if certain events occured. My guess will be that most of them will look at you like you have two heads and deny it emphatically. In fact, they will most likely deny knowing me at all. As they should. After all, admitting anything close to what appears in these stories could be problematic. But some may smile and shoot you a wink.

So, it’s best to leave that all alone. Ignorance is bliss. C’est une grande allumeuse.

Well, Saturday is here and I have my chores to do.

I better get those kitties cuddled and make my rounds.

You fine, five readers get those errands wrapped and then sit down in a comfy chaise lounge, with a drink in one hand, and lose yourself in a good book.

And while you are reading that book, consider what it must be like to share in those adventures.

If the book is any good at all, you will come away from it believing you have.

So let’s get out there and enjoy our weekend.

And no matter what else we get up to, let’s make today a great one.