One of the best parts—at least for me—when writing a book is that I can “borrow”
traits, habits, names, and other goodies from people I know to make my characters
come to life.
In A FRIENDLY
ENGAGEMENT, book one in the Friends First Novel series, I went a little crazy
in that respect, but it made the story so fun for me and I hope that all these
little “borrows” make the story a fun read, too.
I’d like to share a few of my “borrows”:
1. Our heroine’s name is Devi Boss. I “borrowed” the name Devi from my
niece. Devi is her middle name and I’ve always loved the uniqueness and it fit my
character so well. As for Devi’s last name in the book, that was kind of a little
joke from when my niece was a little girl. She liked to be in charge, so my dad
always called her “The Boss.” Wah-la—Devi Boss was born.
2. Devi’s motto in the book is live-your-life-in-the-moment. I “borrowed”
this from my daughter who possesses the same free spirit attitude as Devi and likes
to live her life in the moment, too.
3. For more name fun I “borrowed” names from a couple of other people I know.
They enjoyed that they’d become a character in a book, and I enjoyed giving
them a little shout out. One of Devi’s best friends is Cass, who has a boyfriend
named Trevor. They are both in a band. I “borrowed” the names Cass and Trevor from
my daughter and her boyfriend, who just happen to be in a band.
4. There is also a racecar driver in the book named Josue Rigueiro. I
“borrowed” that awesome name from a friend I worked with a few years ago. I love
his name, and I love his accent even more. If only I could’ve written that into the
story so you could read-hear it. Lol
5. Our hero Omar Esterly lives an orderly life, but sometimes lacks social
graces or fashion sense. He wears socks with sandals—which Devi finds funny—and
I “borrowed” this little habit from an old boss of mine. There was nothing funnier
than watching him walk up the pathway to our office in his shorts, socks, and
sandals. My office cohort and I used to give him a hard time about it, but he
always shrugged us off. I guess he was just living his life in the moment.
6. I “borrowed” one of Devi’s favorite movie scenes from one of my favorite
movie scenes. I love the upside down kissing scene in Spiderman between actors
Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. This scene literally makes me turn to jelly, and I
gave it a bigger role in my book than I’m detailing here. I hope readers enjoy it.
7. Omar has a habit of rubbing his neck when he’s a little stressed. I
“borrowed” this from my husband. I actually gave this little trait to all three of
the Esterly brothers. So when you read the three books in the series you might
notice this.
All these little borrows make the characters come to life for me, and I hope that
they do the same for my readers.
If you could give a character a fun trait or habit, what would you choose?
Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three
children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.
Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her
family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher,
she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and
write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.
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What's a little engagement between friends?
Omar Esterly is married to his job. But when Omar sets his sights on a potential,
family-oriented client, his confirmed bachelorhood becomes a problem. Fortunately,
his friend and employee, Devi Boss, has the perfect plan...
Okay, so it wasn't exactly Devi's plan to become her friend's fake fiancée. Lies
aren't her style. However, Omar offers her a big, beautiful raise - enough to track
down the missing father she's never known - and Devi reluctantly agrees to the
whole engagement hoax...
This was supposed to be a no-strings-attached win-win for both Devi and Omar, but
when they cross the line between friendship and...well, something more, Devi
realizes she's made a huge mistake that just might cost her both job and friend -
falling for her fiancé.
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