Ever hide a gem in your writing?

[zeldas_lullaby]

Have you ever hidden a gem in your writing, in either a good way or a bad way?

What I mean is, have you written or published a book (or a story, or whatever) in which there's one little sentence or paragraph that seems to flow perfectly well with the story, but in truth it's either a snub or a "hello" to someone you know/know of?

Kinda like an inside joke, or maybe a way to "get" someone you're mad at. Similar to playing the original Legend of Zelda and naming your character Link, which starts you on the second quest! A little surprise.

It could be good or bad. Ever done it?

[moderntimes]

Well, like any writer, I use my personal experience to build on the story I'm writing. So I suppose there are many mouse droppings (not really gems, ha ha) in my books, snippets of real conversations maybe, characters who are amalgams of real people, things that have happened to me, and so on.

There was one person whom I didn't care for much and so I had a fictitious doppelganger of her killed off in a particularly rude way.

So yeah, if you can call those "gems" I suppose I did.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Oh yeah, paragraph two of your answer is what I'm talking about, moreso than your previous examples. Death by elevator shaft.

I might post some of mine at a later point!!

[moderntimes]

Strangled and tossed into a Jacuzzi, where she drowned, by her drunk and doped up boyfriend.

[zeldas_lullaby]

HA HA HA HA HA. Perfect. Sometimes writing can be the best revenge. That's what I'm talking about.

OK, here's mine: you know how my series is about middle-school advice columnists? Well, I sent a very sincere piece of fan email to my absolute favorite advice columnist when I was still putting together Forever Twelve. I told her how much her advice had affected me over the years, how it had helped me gain perspective on life, etc. I asked if I could send her a copy of my upcoming book (with no expectations of her endorsing it, reading it, etc., I made it clear that it was just a gift). I offered to mail it to the newspaper she works at.

I was crushed when she didn't write back. Crushed! I mean, she was always publicizing her email address and saying that she answered her emails, etc. I suspect it was personal. (I probably came on too strong, but still. I mean, have a heart.)

Suffice it to say, she is no longer my favorite advice columnist.

Anyways, I added this passage to my book after a month or so, when it became apparent that I would not be hearing from her. In this passage, our heroine is waxing philosophical about a troubled classmate:

Why do her mental issues have to become my problems? I’m not a psychiatrist. I’m just an advice columnist: a career that doesn’t even require a middle school diploma.

SCOOORE.

Do I have any belief that she'll ever read my book and feel miffed? Of course not. I'm so lame at revenge. This reminds me of an episode of Frasier in which he gets mad at someone who's been stealing his parking place. He tells Roz he's going to leave the person an angry letter. He takes out some paper and writes, "Dear Discourteous Driver..."

And Roz is like, "Yeah, that'll show 'em."