A Peek Inside the Novel

So since I'm blogging every day this week - which has been so fun, and shout out to my friend Kelcey who said she's enjoyed it! - yet can hardly think of anything except my kids, which I write about all the time, and my novel - I thought I'd give you a few little peeks into that little effort.

Here are some people who make an appearance, though disguised, in my novel (at least the draft thus far): (I was going to use direct quotes from the book, but I'm pretty sure that's a no-no if you ever hope to get it published. So we'll have to settle for descriptives.)

My mom - My main character's mother, Lindsey Winter, is my own mother. She totally and actually believes my MC can be anything she dreams. ANYTHING. And she also has an immovable belief in the perfect timing of God.

My Grandma Nickerson - the MC's grandma has beautiful white hair like my Grandma Nickerson, and her house smells like fresh cut celery and the pages of a National Geographic magazine. It also tick-tocks with the sound of several clocks.

Michael - My main character's crush is mostly my husband - all cute and confident and able to settle things in one poignant sentence and a very confident grin.

Christie, my college roommate and best friend - One character has curly hair like Christie but is mostly just her because she's a late in life best friend that my MC isn't sure how she ever lived without.

My brother - I really miss my brother right now. Or at least, when I think of him I get all busting-at-the-seams with pride and happiness and stuff. He's a police officer in Wyoming.

I totally fail Joseph in my memoir because he doesn't have a chapter to himself. When it's published he'll get a whopping line in the dedication. Because he's a seriously cool sort of brother. I know I mentioned that before, but it's coming on Christmas, and he's been in Wyoming for almost a year now, a state I never used to even remember existed, and he's a public servant, and he never said bad things about me even when he was twelve and Felic and I called him annoying.

He plays the brother in my book. The brother who grows up only with sisters, so he knows how to give a girl a compliment without the need to punch her in the arm. The brother in my book is also quiet (okay, that's not Joe, unless you were a female during his teens) and handsome and confident about what he wants in life, which is my bro to a tee. I love you, Joe, and Wyoming is lucky.

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I once told Dad I didn't know how to write a book that wasn't basically my life. And now I know I never will write one that doesn't have my life at least sprinkled through it in pieces.