Monday, September 13,
2010
Someone Finally Asked
It
Bryony's basic
storyline was outlined decades ago, so I find it interesting when certain
elements mirror life today. For instance, from the very beginning, Melissa's
mother, Darlene, was a single parent, who supported Melissa and her younger
brother Brian through freelance writing assignments.
Someone asked me the
other day if I modeled Darlene's character on me. I denied it, and that was the
truth. At the time of the novel's conception, I was married with two small
children and a third on the way. The possiblity of raising those children (and
the three that followed them) as a single parent was the farthest thing from my
mind. Heck, I had never given freelance writing a thought. I'm not sure I even
knew thet option existed.
Besides, since I
married my first husband rather young (two weeks after my twentieth birthday),
my work history was slim: babysitting, office work, one fast food restaurant,
and a summer internship at a newspaper. I was a happy stay-at-home mom and had
no desire of ever being anything else.
However, since Darlene
cared for her husband Frank before his death and later raised two children in
the middle of Simons Woods, I wanted some lucrative work-at-home employment for
her. At the time I began the story--1985--the only jobs I knew that could be
performed at home were envelope stuffing and writing.
It seemed more likely
that Frank, a former photojournalist, would fall love with Darlene the writer
rather than Darlene the envelope stuffer. Also, having Munsonville's village
board hire Darlene to create promotional literature for Simons Mansion gave her
a good reason to relocate the family. I was well into the second round of edits
before it occured to me that someone might think I modeled Darlene after
myself.
Actually, I am none of
the characters. All but one spring completely from my imagination. Only Ed
Calkins is based on a real person and his imagination, brought to literary
life, with his permission, by my imagination. I've heard sometimes authors base
charcters on themselves, but for me, creating them only from the impressions
that roll about my mind has been much more fun.
Denise M. Baran-Unland at 7:27 AM
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