I was questioning myself for giving my protagonist dead parents, as people view it as a cliché. But then I realized... I have dead parents! My father died when I was 24 and my mother when I was 34, only six years older than my protag. I am writing about something important to me -- making your way in the world and experiencing adulthood without the guidance of parents whom you loved and trusted. Not going to change my truth for the sake of avoiding others’ judgement about a trope.
Yeah, I have the little made-up internet person who gets mad at me living in my brain too. But I'm glad you're not letting it get you down. If it's important to you, you'll have something important to say about it, haters be damned.
