This week’s question from blogger Stevie Turner is this. What elements of your life have you woven into your latest book? In The Red Dress, one of my characters, Jon, grew up in Wyoming but lives in California, where he does sound effects for movies. He’s based on my uncle, who has the same name, background, and occupation.
The following scene was inspired by a time when my late husband Bill and I visited my uncle and aunt in Valley Village. Here, Eve, my main character, gets to know Jon a little more.
***
In the kitchen, she found Jon at the stove. Ashley and Brenda were sitting at a nearby table, eating.
“Hi, Mom,” said Ashley.
Jon turned from the stove. With a broad smile and a Southern drawl, he said, “How about some fresh–squoze orange juice? I done squoze it myself.”
Eve laughed and said, “I didn’t know you were from the South.”
“I’m actually from Wyoming,” he said, reaching for a pitcher on a nearby counter. “I got bitten by the film bug and ended up here.”
“And he’s tired of just doing sound effects for movies,” said Brenda. “He wants to get cast in a new production of Gone with the Wind.”
“Now, you hush up, girl,” said Jon, again in his Southern accent.
***
Who is Brenda, and what is Eve doing in California? Read The Red Dress and find out.
By the way, from now until July 31st, you can download My Ideal Partner and The Red Dress absolutely free from Smashwords as part of its annual summer/winter sale. Click here to visit my Smashwords author page.
Also, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. Thank you for reading. Stay safe, happy, and healthy, and may you always have positive experiences.
New! The Red Dress
Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books
When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.
Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.
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My Corner 
I think authors often base their characters on people they know. I know I have in the past.
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I agree, Stevie. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
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I write memoir, mostly, but I have used people I know in my short stories. Just changed the name to protect the innocent. I even changed a name in a memoir piece, but the person recognized himself.
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That’s a good point, Glenda. I probably should have changed Jon’s name, but he wasn’t a bad person. So, I can’t imagine there being a problem. Besides, I put a disclaimer at the beginning of the book, saying any reference to real people or places is purely coincidental. I always do that with my fiction. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
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