Thursday, May 14, 2020

Fictional Character and Real Life by Merrillee Whren

Back in December of last year, I did a blog post about Montana Memories when I announced the pre-order for my book, A MATCH TO CALL OURS, the first book in my Front Porch Promises series. This book's original title under the Love Inspired imprint was Montana Match because, as you might guess, the book is set in Montana. Notice the photo at the top of the blog. This photo is a real life shot taken by a friend who lives in Montana. The photos of the characters are what I imagined Brittany and Parker look like. It's not always easy to find photos that match the images in my head.

In this book I used some incidents from my own life. When Brittany first meets Parker, he gives her ski lessons. On her first ride on a ski lift, she nearly falls on her face when she gets off. That actually happened to me the first time I rode a ski lift. There is a blizzard in the story, and I have lived through a few Montana blizzards. The little girls in the story talk about watching a calf being born, an experience from my own childhood.

I have used things that have happened to my family or friends in numerous books. My husband crashed an airplane, and I used that in Hometown Dad. When I was in college in Tennessee, a bunch of us drove over to Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. My hero and heroine in A Song to Call Ours go to the Highland Games. In A Place to Find Love, I take my characters on a trip to Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands as I relived some of the things we did on a trip to Europe several years ago. When I wrote Four Little Blessings, I gave the reader a taste of my former home, Amelia Island, Florida, showing everything from the beach to historic Ft. Clinch.

I could name a dozen more incidents I have plucked from real life and put in my books. I find it fun to put some real life into my fictional characters. What is something from your life that you might like to see in a book?



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Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.

 

7 comments:

  1. Interesting post. I used things I see around me all the time in my stories.

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    1. Margaret, I think what happens around us can give us ideas for our books.

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  2. Mary, those are some interesting experiences. Maybe I'll steal one to put into a book. :)

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  3. Merrillee, I'm a musician and regularly feature musicians in my books. Consequently, I love to read about musicians. :)

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  4. Josie, it is great to be able to rely on our own experiences to make situations for characters.

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  5. I enjoyed your post and have added your book to my list.

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  6. Great post! It's great that you can personalize your characters like that!

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