Kari's Queries, part 3

The kids took pity on me this week. No counting questions!

Would you ever base a book on your life?

Not really. I’m not that interesting.

Ok, no, you need a better answer than that.

There are always bits and pieces of my life that make it into my books. The JJD novels especially, since Jesse’s little family of three highly resembles my own family. But I’m not nearly as cool as Jesse’s wife, and any magical ability I have seems to center around summoning every cold virus in a twenty mile radius. (can you tell I’m sick right now?)

And since the spider bites I keep getting fail to turn into super powers (Not fair!), it’s probably best that I base my books around other folk.

Which kinda leads into the second question!

When you think of characters for your novels, do you base their characteristics off of people in your life, or do you make them up completely?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: I pick and choose. Some characters are based on people I know. Some are entirely out of my head. Most are amalgamations of several people I know. For example, the character of Dr. Bridget Smith in the JJD book is kind of a blending of several doctors that I know.

I take this trait here, and that look there, and smush ‘em all together.

The really amusing thing is that people will see parts of themselves in characters where I never had any intention of there being a similarity. They’re like “That’s totally me, isn’t it!” And I’m afraid if I say yes, they’ll be made, and if I say no, they’ll be disappointed.

If you had to pick a career besides being an author, what would it be and why?

Ok, don’t laugh. I actually have a good answer for this one.

If I wasn’t an author, and I didn’t have to work at the Real Job ™ , I would totally be a doula.

I see by your blank looks that you have no idea what that means.

A doula is a birthing assistant. Not a midwife, per se, but someone who helps the mother through labor and delivery by being there to support her, take care of the little things so she can concentrate on the important stuff (like having the baby) that sort of thing.

I learned about doulas when I was pregnant with my own daughter, and it always seemed like something that I would not only love, but that I would be good at.

~*!*~

And with that, I shall crawl back into my bottle of NyQuil and bid you all good eve.

I have some good news coming up soon, but it's going to have to wait for another night. Nothing life shattering or anything, but I'm pretty stoked about it. Stay tuned!