Monday, February 1, 2010

Careful, or you'll end up in my novel

Many of my characters are based on real people. Friends, relatives, and ex-boyfriends all find their way into my work. In MINDER, I knew I needed to flesh out one of the characters (Dr. Williamson). But had no idea who the man was -- until I shared a cab in New York last April. By the time we'd arrived at Penn Station, I knew I'd just shared a cab with Dr. Williamson.

I called an old friend last night, because I realized that a character I'm developing for my next book, BOOLA, is basically her. She's cool with it. And it helps that the character, Stef, gets most of the best lines.

So, fellow writers, where do you get your character inspirations? Fellow readers, how would you feel if you recognized yourself in a friend's book?

How about in an ex-girlfriend's book? Would you admit it?

1 comment:

StephTheBookworm said...

That is so cool and funny too. I think I'd be flattered to appear as a character in a book... unless of course it was negative. :) In my short stories, I usually don't base the characters on anyone I know (at least, I don't think I do... maybe subconsciously?), but my poetry is always based on someone. Interesting and thought-provoking post!