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Working Biography of Character Dallas Burdette in “Benefits”

Dallas Burdette was a character who originally appeared in my novel “Benediction,” the precursor to “Benefits.”

Photo of a club entrance where the fictional Dallas Burdette met Ben Schmidt in my novel "Benediction." Blog post is working biography of this character.
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.

Image of Cole Street in San Francisco, where the fictional smoothie store "Clean Up" is located in Jim Arnold's novel "Benefits." Blog post is working biography of character Dallas Burdette.
Street image in Cole Valley, San Francisco, where Dallas Burdette’s fictional store Clean Up is located.

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