Meet Cassidy Dane

Cassidy Dane, the shopaholic best friend of a woman who loves to take notes, has been swirling around my head again lately, looking for another project. She first appeared in a short story I wrote last year. You can follow the link here:

HOW CASSIE AND I SAVED THE WORLD (OR A FEW MARRIAGES, AT LEAST)  

This crazy story of friendship and marriage was actually the byproduct of some research for my novel-in-progress. I was trying to come up with creative business ideas that made sense for the book, and this was one of the many schemes that didn’t make the cut.

Even though this story was written in first person, it was meant to be completely fictional. Here is where that squiggly line between fiction and reality got blurred:

1)  Okay, I admit it-I love to make lists. I have a different note pad near each of my phones, another on my desk, and a small one by the home computer. So I guess I’m kinda like the narrator.

2)  Cassidy Dane is based on a real friend of mine. Kinda. Okay, she’s me too! I love to shop for gifts for my friends and I always come home with a little something for myself. Or two somethings.

3)  I worked at the Nordstrom jewelry counter for several years, helping many confused husbands find just the right gift. 

4)  I did not get a vacuum for my birthday. It was a food dehydrator.

This story sounded so much like me, in fact, that after it was published in January I got congratulations emails from several friends who wanted to wish me luck in my new business. I’m picturing Cassidy on a new adventure soon. Stay tuned for details!

Please Knock

A writer can find inspiration in the most unlikely of places, including her twelve year old daughter’s bedroom door. This notice appeared in my hallway yesterday:

PLEASE KNOCK. Especially if you are opportunity. Because if you were opportunity and you didn’t knock, well, we wouldn’t say, “opportunity knocks” anymore. We would say, “opportunity barges in, thus ticking me off.” So please, knock.

She’s a sassy one, that tween of mine (don’t know where she gets it). Although my daughter’s physical appearance influenced the looks of the daughter from my novel-in-progress, that character wasn’t confident enough to pull off the same dry sense of humor. I’ll have to save this treasure for another project. I’m not sure yet how my daughter’s words will find their way into one of my stories, but I guarantee you’ll be reading them again!

The Cactus Kooks

The bakery case here at The Backstory Cafe is full this Monday morning, bursting with new treats that beg me to try them. I should have had the strength to resist, as Monday is the beginning of the week and the day I make all those promises to myself about good health and other boring things, but I saw the most amazing confection and succumbed easily:  sitting perfectly centered on a white china plate was A HOSTESS TWINKIE DRIZZLED IN CHOCOLATE! I had no idea someone could improve on a Twinkie, but I’m glad they did. 

So, I’ve introduced Florence, the overbearing antagonist from my novel-in-progress. Now I’ll introduce you to her pet project, Cactus Ladies:

(Excerpt from Finding Sunshine)

              Florence hosted a party at the end of every August as a fundraising event for Cactus Ladies, the saguaro cactus preservation charity she directs. The saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona, and the saguaro cactus is loosely considered an endangered species. Harming one of those prickly tall-armed trees is illegal in Arizona by state law. You even have to get a permit to move or destroy one.

            Cactus Ladies work to find relocations for saguaros in newly zoned desert areas. It isn’t the most glamorous charity to be president of, but Florence (who never can seem to get on the board of any of the big ones no matter how hard she tries) holds this post as an honor. Just ask her, she could go on for days.

 

Cactus Ladies do not really go around relocating cacti in Scottsdale–there is no such charity group, but I invented this one to give Florence an almost rediculous cause to fight for in this novel. I was researching a different project when I came across the information I needed to create an nearly believable “ladies who lunch” type of charity group.

 

I had a scene in mind where a woman was run off the road and her car slammed into a tall saguaro, knocking it over. I’d heard that these cacti were environmentally protected, but I wanted to know if my character would get into any trouble (I needed her to be in trouble with the law in a minor way so I was hoping this could actually bring a cop to the scene).

 

I couldn’t find any information on the internet or from gossipy neighbors. The library was no help either. No one had ever heard of any felonious activity involving a cactus. Darn.

 

I was ready to give up and rewrite the scene when I found myself seated next to a police officer at a writing seminar. He writes short stories on the side and offered his email to the group in case they ever wanted to check police procedure facts for their stories (he hates it when writers embellish these, he said).

 

Not deterred by his distain of criminal exaggeration, I asked him to tell me about saguaros and the law. Luckily, he was well versed and kinda interested in the plight of the cacti. It turns out that it is an actual crime to mess with a cactus in Arizona. Although, he assured me, you wouldn’t get into any trouble if you hit one with your car. Double darn.