How Characters Find a Place to Call Home
Many authors invent heroines who return home to family and childhood friends. Other novels center on characters who yearn to create new homes as far away as possible from where they grew up. These characters are usually escaping bad memories.
Gillian, the heroine in Dark Energy, opted to leave her small-town childhood home of Sugar Creek, Missouri behind. She secured a scholarship to Harvard, graduated early, and headed to Dallas for warmer weather and a fresh start. As a mama’s girl, her world crashed when her mom lost her battle with breast cancer, which threw her dad into the bottle. Luckily the bar was only a block from their house, so he could stumble home safely. Gillian could mix the best martini of any 12-year-old.
While creating Gillian’s character, I researched middle-America towns near metropolitan areas that fit Gillian’s roots and found Sugar Creek. Visual mapping and websites helped me locate her schools, part-time job, the newspaper where her father was the editor, home, and the bar in the next block.
I also visited Sugar Creek to make sure this town works, and the charming town does. Sugar Creek has a Moose Lodge, town gazebo, and shady streets lined with pre-WWII homes. Best of all is the Kross Lounge & Restaurant. It’s exactly the place I picture as the local bar where Gillian’s dad was a regular. It’s a place where everyone truly knows your name, which is why I got strange looks from everyone there. I ate lunch at the bar and chatted with the bartender who had worked there for 19 years. When I told her why I was visiting, she nodded and agreed she would likely be the one who made sure Gillian’s dad made it home.
Blending fiction with real settings and situations helps create relatable characters. Most people who’ve worked hard to start over in a fresh place will understand why Gillian might call her new Dallas neighborhood home.
Blurb:
Cybercrime doesn’t talk. It creeps in and destroys lives right under Gillian’s nose when a cryptojacking scheme lands her boss, Pinkie, in jail. Gillian had just started over with a new career, boyfriend, and confidence after escaping a vicious murder investigation that shattered her ability to trust. Then Pinkie’s arrest leaves her struggling to run his two bars while also unraveling the conspiracy.
Gillian will not let her mentor and friend go down for something he didn’t do. Neither will Jon, the most talented musician on the bar’s stage and the perfect boyfriend…until his good fortune sends her reeling. Gillian forces herself to trust the cops, people who hurt her, and known criminals. Will it be enough to free Pinkie and save her life?
Links:
Read more about Addison Brae on her website, Tirgearr Publishing, Amazon, and BookBub.
You can find Dark Energy (Return to Becker Circle) on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Smashwords, Apple Books, Kobo, and B&N Nook. A portion of the author proceeds will go to Staff Meal to help provide meals and other aid to restaurant workers in need during the pandemic.
Excerpt:
I rest my forehead on the window and breathe to gather what little nerve remains. People stroll the sidewalk like tonight’s a regular Saturday night. Cars drive past like nothing has changed. The neon that traces the perimeter of the high rise across the street cycles through a rainbow of colors. Inside, the crowd hum creeps back. A shaker and clanking bottles sound from the bar.
I’m sure this is a little misunderstanding. Pinkie will be back tomorrow. Thoughts race through my head. They’re only words, not answers. Certainly, they’ve made a mistake and arrested the wrong person. What do I do right now? Face this head on?
Ignore it? Tell patrons, “thanks for being part of the Pinkie’s Too grand opening. The band starts shortly, so order another round and enjoy!”
What’s Pinkie’s Too without Pinkie? The answer is entirely up to me to figure out.
First, get through tonight. Start the band. Keep food and drinks flowing, so customers stay happy and don’t ask questions. Talk to each crewmember individually and make them feel secure. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. Then hope Pinkie is back here tomorrow, laughing about how the feds are so useless they couldn’t play dead in a cowboy movie.
Before I talk myself out of it, I turn and face the music. Teran is the first person I encounter.
“Man, what a shocker.” He shakes his head. “Not what I’d expect from Pinkie. I can open and close, you know, help you manage, handle the books, whatever you need to cover until he’s back.”
“Uhm, thanks, Teran. I’ll let you know.” I can’t even process what he’s saying, so I keep walking.
“Ma’am,” a patron says as I pass their table. “Is everything okay?”
No, everything’s not okay. The cops just yanked my friend, my mentor, my boss out of the bar on opening weekend. “I’m sure it is. Thank you for asking. How’s everything?”
“Good so far,” the customer rattles back. “Hope whatever that thing was works out.” I slip into automatic mode. Greet table after table. Tuck away the terror, mistrust, and unanswered questions in a safe place where no one knows they’re there.
This is exactly how I survived the five years at home before Harvard after Mom died, and Dad drowned deeper into the bottle. My teachers, Mom’s friends, and people around town asked the same question.
“Is everything okay?” Considering I was twelve when it started, and Dad was the only one I had to take care of me, my answer was always yes. I carefully compartmentalized my sadness and fear of the future so everyone would believe Dad and I were the perfect little family.
Bio
Addison Brae lives in Dallas, Texas on the edge of downtown. She has been writing since childhood and continues today with articles, video scripts and other content as an independent marketing consultant. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary young adult fiction. When she’s not writing, Addison spends her time traveling the world, collecting interesting cocktail recipes and hosting parties. She’s still addicted to reading and enjoys jogging in her neighborhood park, sipping red wine, binge-watching TV series, vintage clothing and hanging out with her artistic other half and their neurotic cat Lucy.
Connect with Addison Brae on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Thanks so much for letting me stop by and share on your Nomad Authors blog, Dee. As I’ve learned with Dark Energy and Becker Circle, sometimes fiction brushes way too close to reality. Both place in the bar scene. When I was writing these books, I had no idea restaurant and bar employees and owners would be struggling so much now. If you’re missing your favorite restaurant or bar hangout, these books pay tribute to both and are a nice virtual outing for readers. Please support your local restaurants and bars as much as you can. They need you! Happy reading!
We have all through the “pandemic times.” (Who thought we’d ever be saying THAT??) You’re welcome any time, Addison!