By Melodie Campbell (Bad Girl)
Several times a year we do these reading and signing events. And people ask you a pile of questions about your books. Most are repeat queries that you’ve heard a
dozen times before. So you get pretty
good at answering them.
Lately, I was asked a question that I didn’t have a pat
answer to. In fact, it really made me
think.
“Do you make up all your characters, or do you put some of
yourself in them?”
I’d like to say that every character I write comes completely
from my imagination. For the most part,
they do. I can honestly say that I have
never seen a real person who matches the physical description of any of my
characters. (Not that I would mind
meeting Pete. But I digress…)
Back to the question:
are there bits of myself in my protagonists?
THE PROOF:
“I am SO not a salad girl.”
Some people say this is one of the funniest lines in my
screwball mob comedy, THE GODDAUGHTER.
It is spoken by Gino Galla, goddaughter to the mob boss in Hamilton, the
industrial city also known as The Hammer.
Gina is a curvy girl. She says
this line to her new guy Pete, as a kind of warning. And then she proceeds to tell him she wants a
steak, medium rare, with a baked potato and a side of mushrooms.
Apparently, that’s me.
So say my kids, brother, and everyone else in the family.
Eat a meal of salad?
Are you kidding me? When there is
pasta, fresh panno and cannoli about? (I’ve
come to the conclusion that women who remain slim past the age of fifty must actually
like salad. Yes, it’s an astonishing
fact. For some people, eating raw green
weeds is not a punishment. )
Not me. I’m Italian,
just like my protagonist. We know our
food. Ever been to an Italian
wedding? First, you load up with
appetizers and wine, or Campari with Orange Juice if you’re lucky. When you are too stuffed to stand up anymore (why did you wear three inch
heals? Honestly you do this every time…) you sit down, kerplunk. Bring on the antipasto. Meat, olives, marinated veggies, breadsticks,
yum. Melon with prosciutto. Bread with olive oil/balsamic vinegar
dip. White wine.
Then comes the pasta al olio. Sublime.
Carbs are important fuel, right?
And I’m gonna need that fuel to get through the main course, because
it’s going to be roast chicken, veal parmesan, osso buco, risotto, polenta, stuffed
artichokes (yum), more bread, red wine.
Ever notice that salad is served after the main course in an
Italian meal? Good reason for that. We aren’t stupid. Hopefully, you will have no room left for it.
So yes, my protagonist Gina shares an important trait with
me. She likes meat, dammit.
So you can be a bunny and eat salad all you like. Bunnies are cute and harmless.
But Gina and I are more like frontier wolves. Try making us live on salad, and see how
harmless we are.
Which is what you might expect from a mob goddaughter from
The Hammer.
Do you find bits of
yourself sneaking into your fiction?
Tell us here, in the comments.
Melodie Campbell writers the award-winning Goddaughter mob comedy series, starting with The Goddaughter. Buy it. It's an offer you can't refuse.