I mentioned in a previous blog that characters can come from literally anywhere in a writer’s life.  I rambled for paragraphs that for me, they are a cacophony of people I’ve met, people I haven’t met (total strangers I’ve shamelessly observed), literary and film characters…along with some who are complete figments of one’s imagination.  The single source I omitted, however, was the author herself or himself, as an important source for character development. 

                When Mary Waddell, my best friend and first editor of The Unlikely Savior read the first (and very rough draft) of the novel, her comment to me was, “Johnnie is you!”  She, of course, referred strictly to personality traits, not any divine or mysterious qualities on my part (although my ability to make people vanish in a Karaoke bar is indeed, legendary).  Recently, while having lunch with another old friend, Jeff Allred, he asked me, point blank, “are you Johnnie?”  He was making a broader, more philosophical reference to my many years as a military first sergeant and senior enlisted leader – both jobs involve a significant amount intervention with people during life’s toughest times.

        In both conversations I immediately set about denying the many traits of Johnnie Carter that I do not share…most are qualities I wish I possessed.  Interestingly, while my friends saw things I had not, in the novel’s infancy I did discover quite by accident that in many ways, the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree as I’d developed the character of Johnnie Carter. 

       About this time last year, I interviewed Dr. Rick Boyes, a counselor and therapeutic hypnotist on the elusive subject of hypnotherapy and a number of other mind and spiritually related subjects as research for the book.  We had a wonderful and educational conversation, during which I told him about the general plot of the novel and, more specifically, qualities of the main character.  He also asked me about myself and my background in the process.  It was during this conversation that I realized some of the similarities were a little embarrassing.  Not that either Johnnie (if she were real) or I had anything to be embarrassed about…but until then I hadn’t noticed just how much of my personal experience I’d adopted in the process of bringing her to life.

       While I do not possess her utter ability to not worry about what anyone thinks about her (I’m much better in that department now than I was at her age, but still a little too self-aware), her complete refusal to take credit for things she may have done right, even if her acts were unintentional (again, I am now better than I was…but at her age? – I was a serious score keeper and was probably less subtle than I realized about ensuring I got credit when I thought credit was due).  I have been accused of over-tact, being too quick to negotiate, and have been given the ultimate insult over the years with the statement, “you should have been a politician” (forgive me for gagging as I come clean with that one).  But Johnnie?  I don’t think she was born with the tact gene and does not have a political bone in her word-built body.

       But, alas, the things we have in common are not well disguised.  The Air Force connection is the in-your-face most obvious comparison.  Like my heroine and her brother James, my siblings and I had an erratic and mobile upbringing.  Like them, we moved a lot and not under the best circumstances.  I certainly wasn’t performing miracles, causing my family to bolt from town to town (as cool as that would have been), but our dad was shifty – more crazy than a crook, but had a little, well, OK, sometimes a lot of both qualities.  I can’t speak for my three siblings, but I am absolutely certain that the lifestyle affected my ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships, which is an important factor in Johnnie’s life as well.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not singing the blues at all; I wouldn’t change a thing…but the fact is, as I launched into life, I had no idea how to be a true friend or to maintain lasting relationships as I focused mostly on moving on.  Like Johnnie, I didn’t necessarily feel lonely, I just didn’t realize what I’d been missing until it became part of my life.  My friends have taught me the art and blessing of friendship and I guess I fused that into to the story line of The Unlikely Savior as well.

                I can tell you for certain, I did not grow the main character in the next novel, Billet Doux from a Dead Prisoner, from my own rib…it would be a little weird and more than self-indulgent to continue to spawn word-people from myself.  But I guess novel writing isn’t too far from many other life exploits…we have a comfort zone and we start with what we know.  Thank you, Johnnie, for meeting me half way.