Where Do You Get the REAL You Put Into Your Characters? Guest Blogger: Sandra Tilley
A question readers often ask me is "Are your characters based on real people?" My answer: yes and no. Of course I take personalities, physical features, mental qualities, etc., from people I know, but I also rely on the ideas in my head. I don't choose a person to be a character in my book; a character chooses me. Then I get to sort through my options and decide who suffers from low self-esteem or who can toss a football fifty yards or who gets to be the skinny, hot chick. I never thought about anyone confusing my characters with real people–until recently. While scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook, like I do about a hundred times a day, I saw a notice about my high school reunion. Over the years I've connected with some high school friends via social media with no mention of a reunion. Until now. In my debut novel, The Ghost and Mrs. Miller, Libby Miller joins the committee to plan her twentieth high school reunion. On the committee are her de...