Oscar Wilde said it…

so you have to believe it right?  Well, in this case I do.  Mr. Wilde, poet, novelist, dramatist, and critic, said, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”

Life, in this case, is the trial going on in Catoosa County Georgia in which Tonya Craft, a teacher is accused of allegedly molesting three of her students.  I have no idea if Ms. Craft is guilty or not but when I saw her story, I was somewhat astounded because it so closely resembled something that happens in the second book of my Eternal Shadows series–the “art” in this case, though I use that term very loosely!

In Storm Shadows, which will be released soon, by the way, the heroine, Betty Sue Corn, is a middle-school librarian and she is wrongfully accused first of improper behavior in front of her students and then of sexually molesting some of her students.  She is suspended from her job while the school board decides what to do with her and while she waits, Nathan–who’s feels he’s responsible for her suspension–offers her the use of his cabin on Eternity Mountain.  And of course, while she’s there she becomes involved with Marc, one of Nathan’s blood brothers.  Marc, living under the same curse as Nathan and the other two Tassel men, Matt, whose story was told in Snow Shadows, and Luke, whose story is next in Sun Shadows, is an immortal shape-shifting cougar with psychic abilities.  He is determined not to have anything to do with Betty Sue because he’s been “seeing” her for years in his visions and he “knows” if they get involved one of them will die.

Given that I first started writing this book over a year and a half ago and at the time I’d never heard of Ms. Kraft, although she was first accused in 2008, I’d say this one’s a close call.  So what do you think…is life imitating art or art imitating life?

Hmm…maybe it’s a case of six of one, a half dozen of another.  And speaking of another, here’s my favorite Oscar Wilde quote:

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”  Love that!

ETA:  Tonya Craft was found not guilty of the charges today.  I’m sure that’s a relief but what happens now?  She’s lost her job, her home, and two years of her life.  I’d say make the students who accused her do something to pay her back somehow…but they’re not even ten years old!