Characters
The Bob-Whites are characters who are very dear to me, and I try to be true
to them. Trixie is not someone who will go out and plot out a bank
robbery, and Brian is not the type to walk away from a patient and not help
them. So, you're probably tapping your foot and asking me, "Then why
do you have Jim beating the absolute tar out of Dan in 'Jim Frayne vs. Dan
Mangan'???"
Well, I've got a good answer for that. Jim has a temper. I won't
deny that. Shoot, I've scared the bejeebies out of myself with the
temper I have. Now mix that temper with raging male hormones. Yes,
Jim Frayne is 20 in this story. 20 year old men aren't much different
from 15 year old boys. They jump to conclusions just as much as the
next teenage boy and when they see their girl with another man's arm around
her, friend or no friend, there is no amount of maturity that will stop them
from reacting. Trixie does get mad. No, she's pissed off. But
the whole point of this story was that she doesn't dump Jim for what he did.
Rather, she lets him know in no uncertain terms that she is mad and
that before she'll speak to him he needs to apologize to Dan. But at
the end, she forgives him.
I pair the couples traditionally, because
it's how I've always thought about them. I've thought about creating
an alternate universe of some kind where they are not all paired traditionally,
but for now I think I'll stick with what I have. But the question every
Fanfic writer faces is: "There are only 7 Bob-Whites. If I pair
them up, there is always going to be one left over. How do I find someone
for that person?"
Well, you can do what the Kathryn Kenny
did who wrote "Uninvited Guest" and create someone. Hallie Belden was
created for the sole purpose of pairing Dan up with someone. Yes, Trixie
had Jim, Honey had Brian, and Diana had Mart. But who did Dan have?
In "Uninvited" he had Hallie. In "Midnight Marauder" he had Ruthie
Kettner. Now, anyone can look at those two and say, "But they were
never officially paired, and therefore, Dan still is unmatched." So,
Fanfic writers have taken to creating someone for Dan. Many have paired
him with Trixie, and created a girl for Jim. I created a girl for Dan.
Her name is Emily. As of today (12-21-02) her story has not been
posted. She is of Indian decent. Eastern, that is. Her
only roles as of yet is someone who is never around since I just haven't
gotten around to posting her story.
A little background on Emily Rajna.
Emily was born in Evansville, Indiana to Vijay and Veda Rajna on December
15, 1950. Her mother was born in the US, and Vijay imigrated from India
when he was 20-years-old. Emily is only 17 when she arrives in Sleepyside
in 1966 while Dan is 21. Dan has just gotten over his breakup with
Hallie so he's not really looking for a relationship, especially not with
a girl who's still in high school. He works long hours at the police
station to keep himself from thinking of Hallie. What Emily does between
1966 and 1969 is unknown to me as of yet because I never included her in
Trixie and Jim's celebration in "Painting Pictures". I guess I'll come
up with something...
Emily Rajna was not raised as a Hindu,
but her parents were. She suffers racial discrimination to the point
where her parents move in order to protect her. They move to Sleepyside...natch!
Her flashbacks stick with her, though, as she tries to make friends
with students at the Jr/Sr High School. Her experiences with policemen
create uneasy feelings about Dan, who is a cop.
Leroy Robinson is six years older than
Dan and used to lead The Cowhands. "The Black Jacket Mystery" shows
us a member of Dan's gang: Luke. Luke always struck me as the
type of guy who wants to lead the gang, but can't. He never got caught
when Dan did, and so he was able to sneak out to Sleepyside and see him.
Dan was too young to lead the gang, so someone had to. Someone
older, wiser, and stronger. This person has already shown up in a fanfic
as well. Sgt. Robinson. That's right, Leroy Robinson, ex-gang
leader is now working with Dan on the Sleepyside police force. Leroy
viewed Dan as someone who had potential, but never got to work with him.
Dan felt at home with Leroy by his side, since Luke was the pushy one.
Luke wanted to jump into a robbery without planning, whereas Leroy
planned these things out. (Of course, none of this has been written
or posted yet, this is all just in my head.)
Inspiration
When
I'm in a good mood, it normally takes me a very long time to write what I
want becuase I get so many ideas. But when I'm in a bad mood,
and I feel like writing, the stories are quick and short. I write it
all out before I get over my bad mood and feel better. The minute I
feel better, the story just isn't the same anymore.
Music is a big inspiration. I
hear a song, and it reminds me of a certain character or BWG. I have
never written a story where it plays out like a "video" because that's just
tacky. But, for example, in "The Movie", I used "You're Going To Lose
That Girl" and it is written in such a way where Trixie, Jim, and Dan are
all listening to the song in three different locations and they all begin
to think of the fight that just happened and what went wrong. Jim begins
to wonder if he really has lost Trixie, Dan starts thinking about heading
over to Crabapple Farm to ask Trixie out, and Trixie starts thinking about
how dumb the whole fight was and how sorry she was.
Another inspiration for me was Kennedy's
Assassination. That event in 1963 can be likened to the terrorist events
of Sept. 11, 2001. So, you can say that both were an inspiration to
write. I haven't gotten to the present day yet. There isn't even
any World Trace Center yet in Manhattan because I'm not there yet! :)
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink
Floyd, and a few other groups have been major influences for me. There
are many times when I'm writing where I think, "Oooh! That song would
fit so nicely right here!" and then I might use it. I also tend to
listen to music of the era that I'm writing in to get the mood of the story.
If I'm writing a story from 1968, I'll listen to stuff from 1968. I
also always try to use music that was released that year or before just because
I'm picky that way.
Other people have been an inspiration
for me as well. I base secondary characters off of former classmates
and possibly people from my past. Places that I remember from when
I was younger have also shown up in fanfic.
Sometimes I'll be just driving or plugging
along at work and an idea will come to me, no inspiration involved. :)
Well, I think that's enough out of
me for right now.