a change of things and cognisance

I love writing magical-realism and sci-fi/fantasy. Magical-realism, if I'm explaining it correctly, is a story based in our world but with magical elements, and sci-fi/fantasy, is well, for simplicity's sake, Harry Potter... You're probably wondering where I'm going with this? Let me tell you...

In my head, are dozens of ideas brewing for stories written in the magical-realism genre, but today I came to the realization that I think I would like my next book to be based on something more ordinary. I don't mean ordinary as in boring, because really what is ordinary? But as I was trying to explain to a friend's mother-in-law the other day, I write mainly magical-realism only because I find it easier for my mind to go to a far out place, rather than regurgitate stories from my childhood. She didn't quite know where I was coming from and thought it was odd that it would be easier for me to create a story from the twisted depths of my mind, rather than what happened to me in 2nd grade. But my response was precisely that, it's not easy to grab a story from youth and turn it into something that will keep readers turning the page. So, maybe it's because I didn't have an ordinary childhood, or maybe because I like to see the quirks in people, but I've decided that my next novel may just have to be a "simple" book based off of my childhood. My mother remarried when I was seven and I had a rough time with it, especially because her new husband (my step-dad) made my sister and I eat jumbo-sized salads for dinner every night instead of the mac-and-cheese we were used to - sounds silly now, but wasn't then. And also because we had to move back and forth between northern and southern California because of his job. These are the events that may seem ordinary in the long run, but when you're 11 or 12 they can almost break you....you know what I mean?

Sorry if I'm rambling, and thanks to you who managed to make it through my midnight scribble, but if I have made a point, it's just that the ordinary is never that. Each of us must go through specific, sometimes trying events in life which get us to where we are today. And it's exactly those events which make us who we are.