Christine Warner | Something Borrowed...

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?

About Christine Warner

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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About A FRIENDLY ENGAGEMENT

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.