the story behind the story.

It goes without saying that I like stories. I live, breathe, eat, and dream them as do most writers. So of course I am monstrously curious to hear what inspired a certain tale or scene or character. The story behind the story if you will. The frustrating thing is, most people seem to be tight as oysters over the telling of those stories. I don't know why. Or else they say they can't remember. So to satisfy any of your back-story fans, I will attempt to give you a tale on what inspired certain things. If you have any questions about people, characters, stories, etc. that I have not touched on but you've been wondering about, just leave a comment and I'll see if I can't tell you about them as well.

A Mother for the Seasonings-- The plot popped into my head as I washed dishes one afternoon. Agatha Christie said it first and ever since I've held true: dishes are conducive to inspiration. My mind was taking its usual twining path through thought-land thinking of Nothing. Then somehow I started to laugh to myself over a queer idea. "Wouldn't it be quaint if someone named all their children after herbs?" And from there things started to spring up: the children sounded British but they weren't proper and they didn't live in England. Where then? India. And on and on it went till I found myself with a book that makes me smile still.

Cottleston Pie-- Of course we all know where the name came from, but the main character, Simpian Grenadine popped out of absolutely nowhere. The cousins were over and playing volleyball in the back yard. I sat on the porch steps not feeling like playing when some of the younger ones came over. We began chatting about some silliness and suddenly I was sending them off on an adventure to find Simpian Grenadine who could only be killed with the sword: Ruby Elixir. Then Ruby Elixir became Simpian's sword, and he--in turn--became the boy-who-was-Allister, and then we happened to fix on Cottleston Pie as the perfect name for his hideaway, and voila.

Calida Harper--the name "Calida" means "warmth" and it had very inauspicious beginnings. Because Fly Away Home is based off of the short-story "How About Coffee," I knew the main character must be named Harper. Then I started to search for a name that would prove a paradox to her character. I was flipping through my baby-names book (I'm fond of the 'C' section for some reason) and out tumbled Calida Harper. That's all there was to it!

Imperia Murdoch-- Imperia was another character who needed a name. Because of the time-period (early-mid 1700's) I wanted something old-world without being Puritanical. I am dead-tired of names like Mercy, Patience, Prudence, and all the rest of them. Then I found the name Imperia and knew it fit her. Sweet, regal, vunerable...Imperia is the center of Nick's world.

Scuppernong Days-- This was a book that gave me a title before a plot. I was peering out the window at something or other in the middle of cleaning up for the evening and my brain raised a word I'd not thought of in years: scuppernong which--immediately being followed by 'days'--demanded a story. Then Scuppernong started to sound like a sailing ship but had enough whimsy about it that it had to belong to a child's story, and then I found myself with a plot of treachery and high-seas teetering on the waves of mental capacity. I have not delved into this as far as I ought to, but I plan on taking it up immediately after Fly Away Home is finished.

The Scarlet-Gypsy Song-- As you can see, most of my work just tumbles onto me. I seldom have to go after it with a club....at first. {successful plot-spinning must be chased down after the 20k mark} The Scarlet-Gypsy Song had the queerest start you could ever think of, considering what a convoluted tale it turned into. Again, I was just going about minding my own business (I believe I was upstairs putting a book away at that moment) when a single line popped into my head: "There was Nannykins to begin with..." which was quickly followed by "..but she had a bad knee and left for the North." and then I felt a sudden and desperate urge to know whom Nannykins was and who came after her and why they came and then I had Cecily Woodruff and after her a world-swap and...well...you may read the rest in the oracles of the Gildnoirelly.

Mr. Wade Barnett-- "Sit by my side and let the world slip. We shall ne'er be younger.' Of course I saved the best for last--what do you take me for? Of course his character was shadily outlined in "How About Coffee" but his character--or at least appearance--got a huge boost and bolt by watching Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck. I fell in love with this man with the deep brown eyes and the slow, throaty voice. I had to know more about him, and he presented himself at a time when I had {and have} no tangible man to love. Therefore I was able to pour all my affection into making him a hero worthy of my deepest regard. I think the biggest inspiration for me when I write him is envisioning his eyes. Even Callie admits that she's hardly considered his person...she never looks past his eyes because his gaze holds you there and questions you, turning you softly hither and thither... yes. I like him very much.

In defense of Callie Harper

After last post I realized I had made quite a mistake in not explaining Callie Harper to you better. In wanting you to love Jerry, I ended up making quite a pool of loyal Callie-despisers. That was not the intention of the post and now I find myself saddled with the enormous job of reclaiming her sullied reputation. Let me see how I do.

First of all, Callie is not a mean girl. She is only insecure in every way imaginable. Witness her mind in  action. :)

    All at once I realized the cabbie wasn’t taking me down Fifth Avenue. We had turned off Columbus Avenue where my apartment was, and were now meandering toward Broadway. I reached through the little pane of glass separating me from mine worthy host and rapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me. It is quite illegal for you to take me a different route from the one agreed upon. I have a constitutional right to go where I wish, as long as I pay.” 

    The cabbie shrugged and kept his eyes on the road, but through the rear-view mirror I could see he looked a bit unnerved. “What are you? A lawyer or sumpin?” 

    “I’m a newspaper reporter, actually, and if you don’t want to see your seedy cab-business written up on the front page of the St. Evan’s Post, you’d better take me where I want to go.” 

    My words sounded braver than I felt—I hated getting stuck in this sort of cab—having to use that constitution spiel. Now I wasn’t even certain I wanted to go down Fifth Avenue. I hadn’t any real business there—just wanted to scout out which penthouse I’d rent once I made it big.  Should I tell the cabbie to proceed on the course he’d chosen? But no—a woman had to stick to her word in NYC or the men would take shameless advantage over her.

Truth is, Calida Harper is a fish out of water. She doesn't know it, and even if she did, she wouldn't acknowledge it. But her father deserted the family when she was two years old. Her brother died in WWII. The men in her life have not stuck around and gradually Callie has grown a bit cynical. Still, she's not all bad. There remains in her a humorous, gentle, sweet streak that consistently appears for her cat, Nickleby, and at random moments for other people.
She wills desperately to be successful, glamorous, and famous. Her measure of her worth is in what other people think of her--therefore she gets complexes rather often, and wavers between self-satisfaction and self-doubt. Her issue is not her self-image. She knows she's pretty and can carry off pretty nearly whatever she puts her mind to, but rather she's wrapped up in the measure of professional success.
When Callie first meets Mr. Wade Barnett, she gets a jolt. He's like no one she's ever met, and truth be told, he annoys her. You see, she's rather jealous of Mr. Barnett. He's a man who cares not a jot for the world's opinion, nor tried to work his way up, and yet he's reached dizzying heights of success. Callie, on the other hand, lives for being a big-time reporter and it irks her to see him making so little of her favorite dream.
I think what makes Callie and Mr. Barnett tick as a pair is the fact that he consistently brings out her fun, easy-going, genuine side and gives her a new idea of what a successful woman might be after all. Callie's double-duty personality can be seen briefly here:

     Growling to myself over the unfairness of it all, I fled the office and stopped at the edge of the street. There—just across the constant stream of yellow traffic—was my destiny. “Wish me luck, Nickleby,” I muttered. I took a large breath, drew myself to my stylish height of five-foot-eight, and dashed across the street in a brief lull between cars. Shores never told me which building I belonged in—but I never bothered about such things, just followed my intuition. I walked with a firm step up the sidewalk, enjoying the clandestine sensation of treading on the golden side and belonging there. I grinned like a loony at everyone that passed by before realizing that sort of a loose, girlish expression in no way fit the image I’d built of the famous Callie Harper. I pooched my lips, dropped into a lazy saunter, and ambled up the sidewalk, searching for the place I belonged. 

“Miss Harper? Are you well? You look a bit faint.”To my extreme horror, Mr. Barnett was at my elbow; brown eyes bent on me with concern. “I was just looking out for you." 

That's what I got for elegance. I pulled my arm away from his touch and summoned all the hauteur I could manage. “I am exceptionally well, Mr. Barnett. And you?”

You can see how hard Callie tries to look and act and be perfect. Poor girl. Gradually as Callie works alongside Mr. Barnett on their Ladybird Snippets project her views are constantly opposed and challenged on every point. Will their individual differences get in the way of business? Will Mr. Barnett turn out to be just like every other man in her life so far? You will have to wait to find out. :) But I do hope I've given you a bit of a better picture of Calida Harper. I don't condone her behavior toward Jerry, and sometimes she's downright horrid. But don't hate her, for my sake. :)

I popped a chocolate caramel into my mouth and grabbed Pickwick off the table, opening to the silk ribbon that marked my place.  “Observe, Nicks,” I said. And even around the lump of chocolate my voice had a determined edge to it. “I take notes from the best masters.” I nodded out the dim window in the directions of Shores’ office and sucked my chocolate. “Let that be a lesson to you, Mr. High-and-Mighty. I won’t be easily squashed.”

A man of deepest gloom...

In the plotting/beginnings of writing Keeping Tryst, I have a clear idea of what I want my villain to be like, only I'm starting to see that Lord Peregrine Rouncewell and I will be going hammer-and-tongs to cooperate with one another. You see, he's rather a complicated beast.

In the land of Coombelynn there are two major ruling families: The House of Keeptryst and the House of Rouncewell. I'm still exploring back-story, but here's the main history of the whys and wherefores. The Keeptrysts and Rouncewells were once feuding families, but in an era of peace a new pattern of rule was set up: every three generations the ruling of the Coombelynn is transferred from one House to the other.
For the past two generations the ruling has been in the Keeptryst Seat. Lord Bretton Keeptryst is the First Lord of the House of Keeptryst and is currently the ruler of Coombelynn. As is tradition in this House, his reign and his fathers' has been one of merrymaking, pleasure, revelry, and ease. The land prospers under this gracious family, glad for a respite from the harsher, pious and legalistic rule of the Rouncewells.
But Lord Peregrine Rouncewell sees the country turning from the fearful, cowering holiness of his family's reign. He fears they are losing all touch with piety and holiness and the pursuit of such things. In addition, Lord Peregrine is in love with Bretton Keeptryst's pledged bride, the Lady Merewald. He is tempted to kill Bretton himself to keep the land from falling to further ruin and to make reparation for all the revelry and loosening in the land with a strict regime of militarily enforced piety:

Were Bretton Keeptryst not the First Lord of the Coombelynn, Lord Peregrine himself might have taken his chance with the pricking of him. He’d like to see a bit of that proud red blood flowing outside of that proud red body. “You may keep the Lady Merewald,” Lord Peregrine said, bending low over his mount’s neck so Bretton mightn’t see his scowl. “She will prove witching enough, I have no doubt, to ruin the whole of the Coombelynn.”

-Keeping Tryst

So when a certain catastrophic something happens to Bretton while on a hunt, Lord Rouncewell sees it as fair judgement from the Lord on Bretton's pleasure-filled existence. He does nothing to save this young man and instead returns to the house, feeling avenged. He demands the Lady Merewald do her duty by her countrymen and marry him, that they might repair the country.

There is more. Much more. But I have fallen into a quandary that I'm sure will prove quite interesting in the formation of the plot.

Y'see, Lord Peregrine is not intentionally a villain. He is bound up in generations of tradition, legalism, fear, and desperation. He sees the Keeptryst family as a genuine threat to the inhabitants of Coombelynn--the people he desires to protect and lead. So in leaving Bretton to die in the forest Lord Peregrine truly believes he has done the right, just thing in ridding his land of the House of Keeptryst. After all, there are no male heirs since Bretton had not wed Lady Merewald yet, and now the House of Rouncewell can tighten the reigns again and return Coombelynn to the sorrowing, straining land it was two generations back.

There are two sides to Lord Peregrine that--I believe--make him quite an interesting villain. He murders a man (for all intents and purposes, that's what he does) while believing he is behaving righteously. He forces a land into misery, poverty, fear and trembling--and believes he acts aright. He forces a woman who does not love him to marry him, believing he has rescued her from a life as the wife of a reveler and a fool. And yet for all these things, Lord Peregrine is becoming the villain of this book.

...rather sad and interesting, I think. I've always liked a villain I can sympathize with! :P