Pastime or Addiction? And How Real Virtue Came To Be

Katy Lee’s new novel, Real Virtue, deals with online gaming and its possible affects on real life. She’s written the following post to tell us about it. Welcome, Katy!

Thank you, Sandra, for inviting me to your virtual home today to talk about the gaming aspect of my novel, Real Virtue.

Did you know video game addiction is becoming an increasingly difficult problem with the youths in America today? It can affect the everyday life and social situations of children through young adults. Video game addiction can hinder a child’s learning skills, cause real life problem solving to become more difficult, and cause a child to spend far less time with family and friends. 

In Real Virtue, the story opens with my heroine, Mel Mesini, reaching the highest level in this online interactive game she plays. A game that promises her a life she can love. She’s playing while she is supposed to be working. She plays because she doesn’t feel so great about her real life. She plays because it’s a world she can control. 

Or so she thinks. 

During my research, I read many interviews with gamers, mostly teens and young adults, where they admit to preferring their virtual lives over their real ones. Video games can become super appealing, especially if their real life is not so great. In a game, a player can zap out of a situation they don’t like. They can’t do that in real life. In a game, a player is rewarded for beating the next level or quest. In real life, it’s hard to accomplish things, and even when you do, people don’t always notice, or for some, care. 

And that is where my character, Mel Mesini, comes in, and this is how Real Virtue came to be: 

So there I was, flying cross-country, when the older gentleman to my right asks me if I have a second life. 

“A second what?” came my reply. 

He then continued to explain the details of his job of creating virtual possessions that gamers on interactive game sites can purchase for their avatars.  

“Seriously? People spend money on a fake character?” And apparently enough for this guy to make a living on. 

So, the remainder of my long flight was spent plotting out the story that would become Real Virtue. 

My questions to myself were what would happen to someone who took their virtual life just a little too far? What would happen if that said someone lost all these possessions to, say, a villain bent on revenge? How far would someone go to protect their virtual life? Would they be willing to give up their real life for it? Just what would drive a person to do it? Who would this person be? 

And since I write romance, my next question was just what kind of person would be their perfect match? And Voila! Mel Mesini and Jeremy Stiles were born.

BLURB:

In a virtual reality game where she can fly, someone’s aiming to take her down.

Mel Mesini is a New York City restaurateur and an avid, virtual reality world traveler. She’s risen above her misfit life and now bears a striking resemblance to her glamorous, gaming avatar. But her successful life—both online and in reality—takes a swerve the night her father is seriously injured in a hit-and-run. Mel is careened back to her judgmental hometown, where being the daughter of the town’s crazy lady had made her the outcast she was. To make matters worse, Officer Jeremy Stiles, the man whose harsh, rejecting words had cut her the deepest, is heading the investigation. 

Jeremy knows he hurt Mel and attempts to make amends by finding her father’s assailant. When he realizes she’s the actual target, his plan for reconciliation turns to one of protection—whether she wants his help or not. What he wants is answers, especially about this online game she plays. Is it a harmless pastime as she says? Or is she using it to cover something up? As a faceless predator destroys the things that matter to her, Jeremy knows he’s running out of time before she loses the one thing that matters most—her real life. 

Real Virtue is available now in ebook from www.Amazon.com and www.BN.com and from my publisher, www.SoulMatePublishing.com. Paperback coming this fall! 

Thank you, Sandra, for having me on your blog! Readers, I love comments and would love to hear from you. 

And please keep in touch with me at my website: www.KatyLeeBooks.com

You will see links for Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads. Let’s connect and get to know each other! 

 “So then we are no longer strangers, but members of the household of God.”

                                                                    ~Ephesians 2:10

Katy Lee writes higher purpose stories in high speed worlds. As an inspirational author, speaker, home-schooling mom, and children’s ministry director, she has dedicated her life to sharing tales of love, from the greatest love story ever told to those sweet romantic stories of falling in love. Her fresh and unique voice brings a fast-paced and modern feel to her romances that are sure to resonate with readers long after the last page. Her debut novel Real Virtue is a finalist in many writing contests, and took second place in the 2011 Georgia Maggie Award of Excellence. Katy lives in New England with her husband, three children, and two cats.

http://www.amazon.com/Real-Virtue-ebook/dp/B007SHM5AQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1334628132&sr=1-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1110011399?ean=2940014205566

http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/real-virtue/

Thanks for telling us about your new novel, Katy. It’s an intriguing book with a sobering premise. 

As Katy alluded to, techonology has its advantages, but can be misused. Have you ever tried one of these online games, or known anyone who has gotten so caught up in a virtual life that their real life suffers?

I have received no compensation for this post and have no material connection  with any product(s) mentioned. Embedded links are strictly for the convenience of my readers.