Dallas Burdette was a character who originally appeared in my novel “Benediction,” the precursor to “Benefits.”
No soul, No civility: No Service. The type of establishment where Ben met Dallas in “Benediction.”
Working Biography of Dallas
The working biography of Dallas was not an extensive bio. In fact, it’s just a couple of paragraphs:
Dirty Pink Panty Girl – (Carrie) high class sex worker at the Slog – Carrie’s short, like 5-5, long brown hair, almond-shaped brown eyes – she’s pretty, but she’s nothing to write home about. She has some freckles on her arms and her upper chest that are usually visible. She uses make-up most of the time to hide any that are on her face. Carrie has nice breasts. How old? Carrie’s late twenties. But worldly. Thinking Mary Louise Parker when I write her.
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Margaret’s work – Cole Valley. A vitamin and supplement store where they also make juices. Her job is as a salesgirl and a juice maker. The owner of the store is DALLAS. It’s bankrolled by her rich Pacific Heights boyfriend. Dallas needs a last name – even though she only goes by Dallas, everyone knows her that way. BURDETTE. Dallas Burdette is her name. Store needs a name: Clean Up
When looking up the original working biography for this character, I discovered that I’d named her “Carrie.”
A Character Evolves
Obviously, I changed the name to Dallas. I don’t really remember why, but I suspect it was because there’s a main character named “Karen” in “Benediction” (as well as “Benefits”). The soundalike confusion would have been too much.
“Dallas” was a case of an afterthought becoming more important the more I wrote about her. Originally, she was a girl who tempted sober Ben with drinks and drugs (and succeeded). Then, she became a sort-of confidante. Later, she became an actress in one of his movies. In “Benefits,” with her rich boyfriend’s assistance, she became an entrepreneur. She hired Ben’s mom. At some point will obviously tempt Mom with something yet to be imagined. Hence, she needed more of a working biography, which continues in process.
Street image in Cole Valley, San Francisco, where Dallas Burdette’s fictional store Clean Up is located.
As a self-published author, it’s not only the story inside the book that comes from me. It’s literally everything about the product. Thus, a number of variables had to be considered when choosing a book cover for “Benefits.”
One consideration is color. Not only the color itself, but choice between color or a black & white image. While red remains the best color to catch the eye (hello, stop signs) this cover’s closest approximation would be variations on that, heading into orange territory.
Content of Cover Image
The actual content of the image also plays a significant factor in choosing a book cover. This image is a sidewalk scene on Cole Street in San Francisco. The fictional story in the book takes place in San Francisco, and there are a few scenes in this particular neighborhood, Cole Valley. I felt it was accurate in that sense. Also, it shows some iconic San Francisco-style architecture (bay windows and early 20th century detail), so that it’s fairly obvious what city we’re in. That’s intentional.
Sales Venue for “Benefits”
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Another consideration in choosing a book cover in this digital era is the sales venue. For most self-published books, the online market is really where it’s happening, not in brick and mortar bookstores (unfortunate, but that’s the way it is). So, whatever image you choose must draw the eye on a computer or phone screen, sometimes in a field of many other similar-sized book covers. That’s where a striking image or a color that pops (again, red!) really helps you.
I think the cover I chose for “Benefits” is mid-range in that regard. The image is interesting, but it’s not a hot naked body (it’s true, sex really sells). The awning color attracts the eye, yet it’s not a fire engine.
Cost of “Benefits” Book Cover
For self-publishers, cost is a huge factor. The cost of everything, from having your manuscript professionally edited (typically my highest cost over the course of the four books I’ve published so far) to buying photography or rights to an image for the cover must be considered. So, I took the picture myself and cropped it so that there’s no identifiable faces in the image.
So, basically, the cost of the cover for “Benefits” were my travel costs for a couple of days in San Francisco (I live in Los Angeles). One way was award jet travel, and I had a free place to stay (thank you, cousin Mary). Plus, I not only shot the cover image. I shot video for the “Benefits” book trailer and probably 100 other images to use for publicity purposes.
When you self publish, every day and every dollar counts. I’ve learned this the hard way!
Remember the Great Recession? It was hard to miss and for some of us, it’s never really ended. My mom used to say that when life deals you a lemon, make lemonade. So I used the Great Recession to inspire ideas for my novel “Benefits.”
I’ve never worked full time since that last layoff, which was right at the end of 2009. I was the Director of Communications at the local branch of a national non-profit. The powers that be axed of the entire statewide Comms staff all at once (there were only four of us). In retrospect, I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did — the non-profit had been hemorrhaging jobs since early 2008.
My Recession Jobs
Conveniently, in 2010, Census jobs were available (I really can’t believe that’s upon us once again — it seems like yesterday, truly), so I walked the hot pavement of Palm Springs as an enumerator for awhile, as well as got some freelance writing gigs, as well as some background acting work — but the job from the Great Recession that inspired my novel “Benefits” the most was working at an antique store (which I still do, part-time as of this post).
Antique Store Becomes Office Furniture Outlet
The antique store inspired Refuge, the made-up office furniture store in Benefits. Plot details at the store are, of course, fictional. The very idea of a former Comms exec (Ben Schmidt) working in retail, however, comes from real life. As a writer, I’ve learned that personal circumstances of many kinds can go a long way in filling up that crucial well of ideas every writer needs to draw on.
This is just one small example — obviously there’s more to the plot than just the store. There’s polyamory, white collar crime, children and family issues — but that’s how this part of the Great Recession inspired “Benefits.”
Scene in antique shop
Author and a tempting serpent
Every day was hat day.
Bend over.
Every day was hat day.
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This book is tremendous and timely. A perfect digital-age follow-up to Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed – on (Not) Getting By in America.” Through her jobs at Amazon, Convergys (a call center for client ATT) and McDonald’s, Guendelsberger’s story rips the bandage off of any illusion we might have that these “new” jobs created since the Great Recession (although of course, McDonald’s has been around since the ’50s) are anything like fulfilling or even capable of providing anything remotely resembling a middle class income.
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Guendelsberger says at one point that if you are not part of the working class in American you will never truly see what these jobs are like – and I’m grateful I never had to, though some of my earlier jobs as restaurant dishwasher or apartment building doorman were quite soul-sucking in their own regard. A theme throughout is her internal knowledge that “I get to leave” – a realization familiar to me as well, because I always knew those uber-shitty jobs of youth were temporary. For so many people, that’s no longer the case in post-Great Recession America. Highly recommend this book.
Neither did I, until very recently. But it got me thinking about the household in my new novel “Benefits,” which normally consists of partners Ben and Jake. During the course of the book’s storyline, Ben’s natural son Logan moves in for awhile, as does Ben’s mother Margaret. Oh, and there’s always a few ghosts roaming around, including a ghost dog named Connie.
It struck me that every day is Men Make Dinner Day at the Brosseau-Schmidts, with the possible exception of when Margaret barges in and takes over.
Still, Ben’s not particularly epicurean. For a gay man, he’s not any stereotypical whiz in the kitchen, and struggles mightily with macaroni and cheese, even – which as we all know, comes in a box.
Also, there’s a reliance on chocolate chip cookies (not home-made either, store-bought) to placate the child Logan. At least Ben and Jake seem to be aware of the drug possibilities involving sugar.
Origins of National Men Make Dinner Day
It appears to have originated in Canada. There are “rules” – including a 4-ingredient minimum, no TV while making dinner, no secretly feeding the dog parts of said dinner, and also set up and doing the dishes after the meal are part of this.
It all seems to be a vestige from another era, doesn’t it? I guess I just know so many male (as well as mixed) households where every night is Men Make Dinner Day.
Ben Making Dinner in “Benefits”
Here’s a little snippet from the novel “Benefits” of Ben trying to figure out the macaroni method the day the child Logan comes to live at their house:
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Don’t
speculate. Like worrying, a useless activity. A better project would be to
start dinner, to pull out that box of mac ’n’ cheese and figure it out. Did we
have butter and milk? Checkmark on the milk; I had just enough left over and no
“calf” need be the wiser. I opened the refrigerator door to look for some
butter when I caught Logan in my periphery, in the doorway.
“You
had a little nap,” I said. “You doing OK?”
He
blinked at me. Not fully awake, probably confused, strange house and all, and now
it was dark.
“Is
your little dog in here?” he asked. “It ran out of the room when I looked at
it.”
Butter,
butter, yes, there it was; back of the fridge behind the hummus. Grabbed that
and the milk. An uneasiness in my guts and the familiar spark up my back.
“We
don’t have a dog. You must have had a late afternoon dream. They can be quite
realistic, you know.”
“No, Uncle Benny! It was a little brown wiener dog; it wagged its tail at me.”
To find out what happens next, you’ll have to read the book!
In “Benefits,” main character Ben’s partner Jake is caught fooling around with Tony Ochoa, who Ben recognizes as someone he’s seen in his work neighborhood! A younger man – thus, I had to concoct a working biography for Tony Ochoa.
What You Use a Character Biography For
A novel working biography is used as a resource for character development. The process I’ve used over and over again is to answer a series of questions about the character. Include as many facets of the fictitious person that you can – physical, emotional, psychological, practical and so on. Figure out their tastes, hobbies, loves and hates. The novelist won’t use all of a working biography – but it’s there to draw from down the line. It can help provide an answer to the question “What would Mr. X do in this situation?” Invaluable, because that question keeps popping up throughout a story.
SWEATER BOY, aka ANTONIO (TONY) OCHOA. Tony Ochoa. So, he’s Latino.
Sex: Male Age: 28 Height and Weight: 5-10. 175 or so.
Skin: light brown. Hair – black. Eyes: brown
Posture: lanky, slim. Body hair? Yes, some, very dark.
Appearance: He’s actually kind of slender. He looks young,
maybe even younger than 28.
Defects: No defects, but I’m thinking that he has tattoos
that he might regret, that might have been done in college under the influence.
He wouldn’t regret them, tho. He has a rose on his ass.
Heredity: His father is from Mexico. His mother is from Puerto Rico. He was born in the U.S., in the Bay Area – say east bay, city of Alameda.
Class: He’s middle class now, he has a tech job.
More details . . .
Occupation: He has a tech job at a startup in SF that makes
apps for financial concerns.
Education: BS, San Francisco State University
Home Life: starts out by living with some roommates in the Mission. It’s a bunch of people since the rent is so high. It’s a 3 bedroom type railroad flat, 15th and Capp in the Mission. He has 1 male and 1 Female roommate.
Race/Nationality: Latino, Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage.
Place in Community: He’s not involved politically yet, too
young. He wonders what all that is about, though. There may be some nascent
leanings.
Politics: votes Democratic. (because that’s what everybody
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Amusements, hobbies: He does play some video games. He likes
older guys! So he looks for them where they hang out.
Some hobbies – he likes going out to Ocean Beach. Plays an
instrument – the guitar. But not well. He tries to play Spanish guitar. (like
flamenco?) He has taken lessons, maybe he still does.
And the personal, very personal . . .
Sex Life, Moral Standards: he’s gay, has been around quite a
bit. First experience was with an older guy and he’s just stayed there. With
that group. He’s versatile, but likes to top more. Unlike Ben or Jake, he did
start out living a “straight” life.
His personal premise: He wanted to find a husband, so he was
surprised when he found 2. He’s probably more conventional than either Ben or
Jake in that he wants a solid home life.
Frustration,
disappointments:
Temperament: Somewhere between Jake (who’s very chill) and
Ben (who is very dramatic) – so generally easygoing, but he’s deep and you
can’t always read him.
Attitude toward life: an optimist, rather than a pessimist,
and this is one of the main things that attracts Ben and Jake to him. He’s fun. Definitely has quirks of youth and
his specific generation that Ben and Jake don’t/or no longer possess.
Complexes: He doesn’t like cats. Some minor symptoms of OCD
– like closing open drawers and cabinets, other “checking” type stuff. Afraid
of fire, always checks stove before leaving and unplugs appliances, the small
ones.
Abilities: there’s
the guitar. He might be handy – that is something Jake in particular would feel
comfortable with. Can fix minor things. Would make him handy around the house.
Qualities: kind to kids – Logan in particular will love him.
He might giggle. LOGAN might like him more than he likes either Jake or Ben.
IQ: high.
Photo Inspiration for Tony Ochoa
Here’s a few random images of guys (stolen from you, the Internet!) that I think of when I dreamt of Tony Ochoa. Plus, it’s fun to look at pictures of cute Latino-looking guys and beardos, is it not?
One of the subplots in Benefits concerns (the main character) Ben’s worry that there’s a “ghost employee” at his place of employment. “Refuge” is an outpost of an imaginary boutique office furniture chain. I named the ghost employee Mehrdad, after a sexy Persian guy I knew back in the 1980s. He wasn’t a criminal of any kind, I just liked the name and somewhat exotic background.
Workplace crime ghost employees are fictitious person(s) put on the company’s books and the official payroll. Their compensation checks are diverted an account controlled by the person behind the scam, whether it’s the suspect branch manager (as in this case) or another executive.
Famous “Ghost Employee” Examples
In this way, it’s a variation on the classic scam of using a false identity as a way to steal. It can be actual cash, as here, or an identity, as in concocting a fake ID for someone who died as an infant. Sometimes it involves using real individuals’ names and identities to mask an enormous land scam (as in the movie “Chinatown.)” In that film, elderly residents of a 30s nursing home were used as pawns in such a venture.
Here’s a definition from the Internet:
Fraud Magazine Article which goes into more detail about how workplace crime ghost employees are set up and used. It also lists the four essential factors bad actors must have to perpetrate a successful ghost employee scam. One often reads about these scams in the back pages of newspapers. They’re quite common – but at least anecdotally, they don’t seem to last very long!
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National Boyfriends Day is October 3, 2019, so it’s a perfect time to clue readers in on the working character biography I wrote and used when constructing Ben Schmidt’s sexy boyfriend/spouse Jake Brosseau.
This morphed over time as I wrote the first book where he appeared as a sexy neighbor (Benediction) and then, they became a couple and time passed and as it is in real life, the fictional character changed a bit and grew. There is no real-life Jake in my life, though there was a sexy person in San Francisco that provided an initial “spark.”
Here’s what I used for Jake Brosseau:
Jake Brosseau Character Biography
Jake (Ben’s boyfriend) Sketch character biography:
He wants to keep Ben as his life partner
He wants to sell some of his paintings, gain
some notoriety as an SF artist.
Jake is
39, a few years younger than Ben. Afraid
of turning 40. He’s HIV positive, and has been for 10 years or more. He’s about 5-10, reddish brown hair, green
eyes, tan, hairy body, naturally muscular, very, very attractive. Family
was French Canadian who came to California for Gold Rush, so he grew up in the
foothill area, a very redneck area where his family still lives. He did not fit
in. LAST NAME IS BROSSEAU.
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His job is as a display and window dresser
for a Wilkes Bashford type place (I call it Sloane & Bradford), the tony
men’s store in Union Square. He’s also a freelance
interior designer, and he hopes someday to have his own business doing that and
stop the store work. He’s got a very interesting style, it’s unusual so he
gets unusual clients.
Jake is quite artistic and has a really
good sense of himself, which is what attracted Ben to him overall. He’s like a rock. Although at times, he
too can be temperamental and just blow up, which always comes as a surprise.
He’s afraid of the HIV and that he may
someday get really sick although the meds have worked so far. Sometimes he has
reactions to his meds. Perhaps initial SIDE EFFECTS of protease inhibitors. (i.e.,
choose from lipodystrophy, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, neuropathy, high levels of
cholesterol and triglycerides)
His mother is dead. His father lives on a
small farm and is an alcoholic. He doesn’t grow anything, he collects social
security. He has two sisters, one lives in Santa Cruz, the other lives in the Philadelphia
area. He talks to them on the phone a lot, he’s quite close to them. He’s the
youngest.
Jake, being so attractive, has had many
men in his life. He moved to the Castro when he was still a teenager and has
really grown up there, through the AIDS crisis of the 80s and is a survivor
(perhaps he heard the siren song of Harvey Milk, who famously said, that if you
live in a homophobic area, you can “always move to San Francisco”). He also
projects that survivor’s strength and wisdom through his quiet demeanor which
attracts people to him.
On
the street, he knows everybody. That both fascinates Ben and makes him jealous.
10 years later, for “Benefits” – Jake finally does have his own gallery. It’s called Jake Brosseau, just his name, because, you know, he does know everybody. It should be in SOMA, somewhere trendy. Let’s put it on Utah Street, near where Dolby was, near 16th and Utah. Where there are bow & truss buildings that house art galleries. He has a car now. It’s a black Prius.
So that’s what I worked from – obviously it’s a sketch, and didn’t use all of it but it’s there to mine if necessary. There’s a lot more to Jake, I hope to let that get out in another “Ben” book.
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The text to the Instagram post reads: Ben Schmidt often walks through the pleasant Duboce Triangle in his way to the Haight in my novel “Benefits.” (I also loved that are when I lived in #SF) Link in bio. #novel #lgbtq #gayhumor #gayfamily
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