Reality and Fiction Collide: A Letter from Aunt Lou

One of the best---and most nerve-wracking---things about having a story published is knowing that friends and family members are reading it...and wondering which character is them.

The truth is, even though it's fiction, as writers we draw from our reality, so it's only natural that certain physical characteristics, personality traits, and even experiences of those we know will find their way into our stories in some form.  But as I've explained over and over again, even though bits and pieces of reality make it into my stories, they're all split up and scrambled and then melded together in new ways so that none of my characters are wholly based on any one real person.  And...well...now it's confession time.

There is one character in Three Daves that was written with one and only one real life person in mind. That'd be Aunt Lou, my MC's Godmother. For the part, I needed someone warm and honest and fun and with that certain je ne sais quoi that draws people to her. And I wanted someone gorgeous, a real presence in the room. Lucky, lucky me that my real life Godmother just happens to be precisely that woman.

So "Aunt Lou" has read the book and her reaction is in---last week I received a letter from her. Wanna hear it? I thought you would:

Darling Bev,

You are one bad girl. I always knew you were one cool. smart, good-looking chick [see why I love her so much?] but I didn't know how raunchily hilarious you could be.  I read your book in three nights. I couldn't wait to get to the next chapter. I was literally laughing out loud at 4 a.m. all by myself. I don't know if you've read any of Lisa Kleypa's books. They have plenty of sex but not your ability to make it so funny.

My favorite character besides Jen was, of course, me!  I couldn't have described myself better. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.  How lucky am I to have you as a Godchild?

Love,
Aunt Lou

Major *whew*!  Isn't that note the sweetest?  And yes, she actually signed it "Aunt Lou." I hate to inform her there's no sequel planned, but I'll certainly do my best to come through on my raunchy hilarity in the next story. ;)

So how about you---any "fictional" characters in your stories not quite so fictional?

A few more items:

1. Enjoy the show Chuck & want to see it return for season 5?  See post below.

2. Think you know your 80s Movies?  See the Three Daves Facebook Wall.

3. Join us for the Meet an Author Monday blog hop, hosted by Cali Cheer Mom, where you can mix & mingle w/ other writers.