Tag Archives: Character Biography

National Boyfriend’s Day – Character Biography of Jake Brosseau from “Benefits”

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 16^th 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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Character Biography: Nancy Argento from “Kept”

Last night I went to see “Kill the Messenger,” a film about an investigative journalist starring Jeremy Renner as a writer vs. the CIA. I enjoyed it, particularly the details about writers and their lives. My current novel project “Kept” also has a (mostly) plucky reporter character, but let’s admit right here that she’s not going to be giving Woodward and Bernstein agita about their day jobs. So, returning to character bios from “Kept” (here is another and another). I give you:

Nancy Argento

Sex: yes, Female, and born that way.

Age: 31, 5-5, thin, blond (born in that direction but enhanced). Blue eyes.

Nancy tans easily.

Overall appearance – she’s good looking but not striking. A nice blond girl from the Midwest.

Someone like this, perhaps.

Physical defects: none apparent on inspection.

Heredity: well, she’s got allergies – which makes spring and fall in the desert challenging for her.

She drives a silver Ford Focus, and it’s a new model! Congrats on the wheels, you reporter you!

Social class: Middle class, college educated, bachelor’s degree.

Occupation: Newspaper reporter. Hungry for recognition and to land the scoop! She’s quite competitive.

Nancy’s home life: she is single, straight, dates guys in PS. She likes golf pros, it seems. Jocks. She’s found one named Ernst, who is German and often traveling. Originally, she’s from Cleveland. Nancy’s parents very straight-laced, Midwestern background, traditional values type people, the backbone of the old Democratic party in big cities. Nancy tries to pass herself off as a California girl with mixed results.

Religion: she’s Catholic, she goes to church on Sundays or Saturday afternoons at Our Lady of Solitude in Palm Springs.

Despite being a newcomer to town, Nancy is respected in the community.

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Politics: of course she doesn’t say, since she’s a reporter. Our hunch is that she’d lean more liberal in her personal views.

Amusements: She’s kind of bored in Palm Springs. Sometimes she golfs with her boyfriend; occasionally she might go to one of the outlying casinos or make the drive to L.A. or San Diego. She’s a voracious reader and spends a lot of time both physically at the library, and on the internet. She’s also a self-published mystery novelist, and had just done a reading when this story unfolds.

Professional ambition: she wants to get scoops so she can move on to a bigger market, the L.A. Times perhaps, she’d like to win awards. At the paper, she’s still referred to as the “new girl.”

Frustration: She hates it when people lie to her, and she doesn’t always know, but she’s getting better. But she still has some naivete, a real liability for a reporter.

Temperament: Nancy’s easygoing, again perhaps too much, it’s like she turned the “guarded” button to off.

She’s kind of an ambivert – she can force being extroverted when her job demands it but — she’s a writer.

Abilities: she’s fluent in Spanish; pretty much a requirement for her job.

Other qualities: She is poised, she has good judgment mostly, also has a vivid imagination about the motives of people and is always open to changing her mind on something, when presented with new evidence. She is very suggestible that way.

IQ: High

Character Biography: George Gomes from “Kept”

Today I’m sharing another small biography of one of the main characters in my in-process novel “Kept.” I refer back to these quite frequently when writing a character; I’ve found that it really helps them come to life for me. Hope you find it helpful/entertaining. Writers, please feel free to use the categories to invent your own characters.

Jorge Gomez: This is his legal name. He’s changed it, anglicized it (effectively, or so he thinks, into George Gomes). (When I think of George physically, I think of the marvelous Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.)

Gael Garcia Bernal

Sex: Male; age 26, height and weight: 5-6, 140.
Coloring: Black hair, brown eyes, light brown skin.
Appearance: he’s got good posture, he’s very attractive when he wants to be, it’s like a transformation from a campesino to a hot latino gay man! He’s lean and muscular. He works at being attractive, which is different from Connor Hurst who just naturally exudes sex.
Heredity: Mexican = mestizo, but looks more European than Indian, a little different from his siblings. They’re from Jalisco state, the Guadalajara area.
Sociological:
Class: from lower working class migrant workers, illegal immigrants.
Occupation: He’s done farm work; when he realized he was gay and good-looking he figured out he could use that to rise above. George is looking for a mentor to help him decide on an “anglo-style” career. His first “gay” job in Palm Springs is as a barback. He works a second job washing old queen’s heads at a hair salon—in addition to the work he does for the Greco & Greco company.
Education: It’s been sporadic. Learning good English is a priority, and he’s pretty good, except for occasional slip-ups. He’s a smart kid. He has a Mexican accent. But, he’s studied a lot of English at night, especially by watching American soap operas. He loves geology, because no matter what happens, the rocks will be here (so he loves the geography in and around Palm Springs.)
Home Life: It was horrible in Mecca, CA! The family lives in a trailer. He’s abandoned them and they are angry, mad as hell. They’ve sent a brother, a cousin, to find him. Both parents are alive, yes! Father (estranged) works in the fields in eastern Coachella and Imperial Valley. Mother sometimes too, but she is sick a lot. Of course, there’s no health insurance. It’s squalor, but better than it was in Mexico. Just barely. Father drinks some, but not ridiculously a lot. He doesn’t live there, which is good, and Alma (mother) is always scheming, trying to escape this life. So far she hasn’t figured out how.

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They are very religious, a very Catholic family, and consult the priest a lot. Jorge was an altar boy and is heavily influenced by the legacy of Catholicism.
Place in Community: He’s an outsider in the gay community. White gays see him as either a low income laborer, or a sex object, or some combination of the two but he’s immediately pigeonholed and finds it VERY frustrating. He’s angry about that. He’s also not an American citizen and constantly afraid of being deported: he’s an illegal.
Political affiliations: He can’t vote. He’d side with Republicans, which puts him at odds with Connor and almost every other gay person in PS. Why? People in his family liked George W. Bush (although that’s hard to fathom) and he’s absorbed that.
Amusements: He likes hiking the mountain (his interest in rocks) also he’s interested in movies. He likes taking care of himself and learning how to be an American, which is his great interest.
Psychological:
Sexuality: he’s gay exclusively. He’s a bottom to Connor’s top. He’s had lots of furtive teen experiences with other Mexican boys but he’s pretty new to the gay community, pretty green and too trusting. He likes to please. He learns fast.
Personal premise, ambition: He’d like the stereotypical American dream of material success. He’s never even been remotely close to that. Beyond that, a lover/partner to look up to.
Frustrations, disappointments: he’s not learning English fast enough or becoming American fast enough. He’s ashamed of his parents and his siblings. He doesn’t mention them if he can avoid it.
Temperament: Mostly even, but he does have a latin temper if provoked. He’s friendly, a little naïve. Somewhat secretive.
Attitude toward life: he’s optimistic about his future. He wants to forget and bury the past.
Complexes: Obsessed somewhat with labels and branding. He’s very materialistic and he and Connor do get along on that point. He’s quite anti-Catholic if pressed. He believes in ghosts and spirits that haunt the mountains around Palm Springs, and he has that in common with the tribe.
Extrovert/introvert: He’s much quieter than Connor. A bit shy. Conniving.
Abilities: He speaks two languages (Spanish and English). He’s good at playing soccer. People feel sorry for him like a puppy and that’s their downfall.
Qualities: Not the best judge of gay men, as he is not practiced. His “picker” is not seasoned. He has very bourgeois taste, which Connor tries to help. He’s got more poise than most Mexicans “just off the ranch,” thus his ability to “pass” in Palm Springs’ white gay community. Plus, he’s cute.
IQ: he’s every bit as smart as Connor, just not as overtly devious—but covert, watch out.