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Character Inspiration
How Did Anna-Leis come About
The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.― Raymond Chandler
I am often asked where my character inspiration comes from. This is followed by are they based on real people. In the case of Anna-Leis, I have borrowed the strength of amazing women I have been blessed to know. The biggest inspiration to Anna-Leis has been my late best friend. No, she didn’t survive childhood abuse like Anna-Leis did, she survived spousal abuse as well as an amputee. Though the circumstances were different, the strength to survive was the same.
Years before she passed away, my best friend had a reaction to one of my stories that stick with me today. I wrote this story about an amputee well before we became friends, but something compelled me to share it with her. The story touched her, as she sat there reading tears forming in her eyes, I realized the story had touched her deeply, and when she asked me how I had made the character seem so real, I was taken aback because I had worried the character would fall flat on the page. I did what I had always done, I put myself in my main character’s shoes.
Several incredibly supportive men I have known in my life have influenced Clarence’s character, including my best friend’s second husband after we met. I called him my friend on a cold February…
