The Show Must Go On

As a fiction writer I’ve often had to remind myself to be careful not to cross the line of believability. Like, what if I wrote a novel in which the president of the United States has supposedly caught and beaten a deadly virus. I’m telling the story in the vice president’s viewpoint... A bunch of my aides have caught the virus, there’s about a week until the election, and my plane has just landed at a campaign stop...I know, I’ll do the hundred yard dash to the waiting throng, pumping my fist in the air. It’s a win win. Undecided voters will think either me and the chief are stronger than any old stupid virus or they’ll think maybe the whole thing IS a hoax. And also the chief will be pleased. And if he kicks the bucket...Yeah, if he really had the virus and kicks the bucket I’m in. If he faked the virus, I’m still in. Okay, the hundred yard dash. Just be careful, don’t stumble... Hmmm, crossing the believability line in this fiction racket is tricky.