Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

What A Morning!!

I’m sure you’ve all had mornings where you shake your head and wonder just what you’ve gotten yourself into. That’s how my mornings have played out for the last few days. Most of you know when I’m not writing I run a motel. Let me tell you, being in the hospitality industry is not all beer and skittles. Sometimes it’s a pain in the butt, dealing with all the differing characters who come through this place.

We’ve had a tour group in this past week. A seniors’ group. There are some fantastic people in the group, and then there are the ones who, no matter what you do, you’ll never satisfy. The one who complains because they want an upstairs room, but they’re too frail to handle the stairs. The one who wants you to shift her furniture around so it resembles her living room at home. Or the three—not one, but three this time—who have problems with incontinence and don’t let us know until it’s too late. groan
The list goes on and on. And don’t even get me started on the attitude of some of them when it comes to breakfast. Nothing is satisfactory. “I want a plate with just an egg on it, but I want a sausage too. Just don’t put them on the same plate because I don’t want egg juice on my sausage.” I laugh about it, but at times, it is frustrating.

I was thinking about all this when I was doing the food preparation today for their last breakfast. Yes, I can moan and groan about them, but if I take the time to put aside my own grumbles, what a wealth of characters. A veritable breeding ground for all the different characteristics that make up the human nature. The caring nature of the old woman who is the first to help others in the group get their breakfast, and she’s barely able to get around without a walking stick. The aged man who compliments every woman in the group just to make them smile because it makes him feel good. The one who nervously twists her hands constantly as if under great stress. So many different human characteristics, and yes, even “the grump” plays his part. What a smorgasbord for a writer. I never need to look for inspiration to build my fictional characters. It’s right here in front of me. I don’t use any one guest as the basis for my characters. Rather, I take from the bevy of human characteristics laid out before me. What a treasure trove.

So where do you get your inspiration? How do you craft your characters?