Fiction Factoid: Klutziness

Here’s the first definition of klutz from dictionary.com: a clumsy, awkward person.

Synonyms from thesaurus.com: bungler, butterfingers, dolt, dullard, lummox, oaf 

And here’s a paragraph from wikipedia: A klutz is a person who is clumsy, foolish, inept, or accident-prone. The term is perhaps derived from the Yiddish קלאָץ klots (‘wooden beam’), cognate with the German Klotz, meaning a “block” or “lump”. The British slang, pillock and the Australian slang, galah are used with similar meaning, particularly in terms of being foolish and inept.

Why would anyone want to make their heroine a klutz? I have a couple of theories:

A) It adds humor to the story.

B) People with a similar malady can relate to the heroine.

Okay, okay. You got me. I’m one of those clumsy people that can total relate to Amber in Cheryl Wyatt’s A Soldier’s Promise.

Case in point: we have a water dispenser for our two dogs that holds roughly a gallon of water. It can be… um, interesting to fill up because you fill it with water, put the lid on, then you have to turn it upside-down (or right-side-up depending on how you look at it) so that it fills the little pan/bowl part with water. I’m usually pretty good about not spilling (much) of the water before I get it on the floor.

But two weeks ago, I got distracted and spilled THE WHOLE THING. Not only was I soaked, but it took two bath towels to sop up the water from the kitchen floor. Thank goodness we have tile in there.

That’s not quite as bad as some of the… ah, fiascos that Amber gets herself into with her klutziness, but I don’t want to spoil the story for you. You’ll just have to read it yourself.

Amber Stanton has a lot more going for her than just being a klutz. Find out why this heroine had me in stitches in review at novelinspirations’ featured author page. 

BONUS: Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing to win a copy of A Soldier’s Promise. Remember to leave your email address, so I can get in touch with you if you win (use the format lacy[at]novelinspirations[dot]com to avoid being picked up by spammers).

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