For the past few weeks I’ve been raiding my old Pinterest account for photos of people that I think resemble my characters and posting them on my Facebook page. It’s been fun to get other people’s reactions of how they imagined the characters. Sometimes someone will say, “Well, that’s just how I imagined him/her,” but I think it’s because I saw that photo then started describing the person that way.
I made that Pinterest page years ago. The photos haven’t changed, but obviously the characters have. They’re aging in real time, as are we all. When I started writing the Jamie Brodie mysteries, Jamie was 32. Now he’s almost 44. Pete was 37; now he’s pushing 50. In my mind they all look the same as they always have, even though I know they don’t. I guess it’s kind of like the surprise that I get every time I see a photo of myself taken recently and realize that old woman is me. Ha!
One of the things I have to keep in mind, as a writer and as the guardian of all my characters, is that they are getting older. They’re having to work harder to stay in shape. They have to be more careful about what they eat. Kevin’s probably going to need arthroscopic surgery on that other knee before long. They should probably start thinking about bucket lists. (That gives me an idea…)
Are my characters aging in your mind? Or do you still think of them as the thirtysomethings that you originally met?
(P.S. I’ve never found a photo that, to me, accurately depicts Jamie. I’d know him if he walked in the room, but no one else looks much like him that I’ve found IRL. I think I need a police sketch artist to draw him. 😀 )
Meg Perry Books 