Recently, several of the books I’ve been reading have brought something to my attention and I thought we’d take a look at this today. What is it? Well, it’s the artful way that authors either explain certain character knowledge or they methods they use to push a story along.

It was written in the stars…sort of.

Ah, fate! This is when it seems that all factors in a story point to the inevitable meeting of characters. I found this to be the case in The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst. Each of the two main characters were in need of something and as it turns out, they could solve each other’s problems quite easily together. BUT, and fate seems to always have a twist, there was history between the two which meant that neither one would have considered that particular person as the solution. Fate’s totally funny that way though, right?

Right place, right time.

Similar to fate is when something would never have happened if a character (or more than one of them) hadn’t been in a designated place at just the right moment. This plot method brings to mind The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. If Claire hadn’t been at the standing stones, she would never have met Jamie and one of the bigger love stories in the time travel sub-genre would not have happened.

This also popped up in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. The two teenage protagonists find themselves sitting together on a six hour plane ride that may possibly change both of their futures forever. As it happens, the third seat is occupied by a much older lady that offers up tidbits of wisdom about love and marriage to the two decidedly jaded teens that may help them get over any fears and resentments they have. Imagine the luck of it all?

I just happened to research that subject in great detail.

The biggest “coincidences” I found presented itself to me in the pages of Karen Marie Moning’s Beyond the Highland Mist. I had picked up book three of this series way back when I was reading The Outlander books, but hadn’t gotten around to it until now (ten years later, incidentally). Feeling it would be too much like Gabaldon’s story, I decided not to read it back then.

In Moning’s tale, the female lead, Adrienne, has some convenient knowledge that really helped her acclimatize from her 1990’s existence to the “new” one in the year 1513. First, was her affinity for languages. This allowed her to mimic the Scottish brogue with little trouble…at first. She also had done some interesting research on the internet while still in the 90’s, which involved architecture and, of all things, falconry. Ok, the buildings and terminology, I can understand and probably have done myself. But “falconry”? That seemed a bit of a stretch.

Though those were some specific and unusual aspects, the same can be said for elements in the aforementioned Gabaldon books. It can’t go without mention that Claire’s medical experience as a nurse in her pre-time travel life came in handy in the past, as she displayed vast knowledge of healing herbs and methods of keeping those around her healthier than they would have been had she not been there.

I think fiction is all about making the implausible palatable for the reader. Authors need to expand their horizons to create circumstances that will make their stories unique for their audience. As readers, we also need to be able to suspend our disbelief at times to see where the stories will take us. So, fictitious life will always be full of “convenient” occurrences. And yes, some will make our eyes roll a little, but it’s all in the name of entertainment 🙂 .

What situations have you all read that made you say “pul-lease!”? Have there been some “fated” stories that made you squee with how the author made something happen without any eye rolling needed? Do you have a favourite plot contrivance that you never tire of? I’d love to hear!

About Jackie

Jackie is a quirky mom, living in Ontario, Canada. She's a bookkeeper by day and a book lover by night. She also blogs at The Novel Nation and writes occasionally for Heroes and Heartbreakers.

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