Tag Archives: Jim Arnold books

Working Biography for “Benefits” Character Karen Kling

National Librarians Day is coming up on April 16. This is a perfect time to highlight the working biography I wrote for “Benefits” character Karen Kling (since she is a librarian), who is main character Ben Schmidt’s best friend.

Working Biography Purpose

This is another in the series of working biographies I’ve posted for characters in my novel “Benefits“. She is not an original character for “Benefits”; she had a huge role in the predecessor book “Benediction.”

As with so many of the working biographies for fictional characters, I used this sketch to draw from but did not use all of it. Additionally, I invented other aspects of character not in the working biography at all. So it’s best thought of as resource and starting point.

Karen is very loosely based on someone in my real life, not a librarian but a (now retired) teacher. This is the working bio I concocted for her prior to writing “Benediction”:

Karen Kling Working Biography

Karen (Ben’s producer and confidante):

She wants the movie Hell for the Holidays to be a success, and a springboard for her to go on to other projects, with or without Ben, She wants to assist Ben as he’s going through Cancerworld, She wants to find out if her husband (Dennis) is having an affair, and if so, who with.
She has an off-again, on-again weight problem, yo-yo.
She’s 46, blond, blue eyes. SHE’S 55 IN THE SEQUEL.
She would shop at Macy’s, but not Nordstrom.
Her day job is as a librarian for the SF Main Branch public library.
Her desire is to become a movie producer. She caught the bug going to the Castro Theater for years.
Married to Dennis Carstens, who is chasing the dot-com boom in SF, and has made some good money at it. Karen drives a new Mini-Cooper that was paid for by this.
IN THE SEQUEL, KAREN HAS GOTTEN RID OF THE MINI AND HAS A TOP OF THE LINE PRIUS, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE RICH PEOPLE IN SF DRIVE. SINCE BEN AND JAKE HAVE A BLACK ONE, KAREN’S IS RED.
She suspects that Dennis is having an affair (he is) and she’s really curious about finding out the source of this affair.
Karen’s a San Francisco native, that rare bird. Oddly, she’s not what you would expect, some “granola” girl with extreme leftist tendencies. She’s surprising “normal.”
She loves Ben because he brings things to her life that she would never normally experience.
She’s also extremely nurturing, helping, and can very much be in charge and throw her weight around when she wants to.
She doesn’t talk much about her family of origin, though they are scattered about the Bay Area. Her parents are dead, her mother was sick for a long time and that really affected her having fun as a girl. She has a younger brother, Jim, and a younger sister, Peaches (nickname for Persephone) who has two children. Karen’s somewhat jealous in that she’ll never be a mother, “but that’s the choice Dennis and I made.” That’s a lie, they married too late to have kids.

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Like I’ve done with other working biographies, here’s a few rando photos from the Internet to illustrate what was in my mind when I thought of Karen (but blond):

Anonymous Librarian
Anonymous Librarian
Librarians

“Benefits” Working Biography of Character Danny Fernandez

Here’s another in the series of working biographies I’ve posted for characters in my novel “Benefits“. This working biography is for Ben’s sidekick Danny Fernandez. He is an original character for “Benefits” in that he did not appear in the predecessor book “Benediction.”

We’ve all had coworkers we grew to be fond of and depend on in various jobs we’ve had. I don’t think I drew on specifics of any of those people for this working biography, but the spirit is there.

Danny Fernandez

“He is 29. Has Latino background, dark brown hair and eyes, 5’6”. He’s a cub, enthusiastic baby bear. Danny’s an aficionado of what remains of SOMA’s underground gay sex culture. Fetish, gear, leather etc., and does lighting and other behind-the-scenes stuff on wild porno, think Treasure Island Media. His unstated dream is that he wants to be a conventional filmmaker. He has a steady boyfriend, an older bearish guy. They live together. Ben calls the boyfriend BEAR MOUNTAIN, somewhat condescendingly or at least in a teasing manner. His real name is something innocuous, like John Ralston. Danny is also an acquaintance of Tony Ochoa; occasionally they’ve gone after the same guys.”

The working biography in this case is this short. The relationship that evolved during the course of the writing was that of a zany work duo, and probably owes as much or more to my memories of Lucy and Ethel as it does to anything in the gay world. Sisters, out to solve a harebrained scheme.

Here are a couple of images pulled from the Internet to illustrate how I conceived Danny:

Cub #1
Cub #2
Cub #3

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“Benefits” – Reasons to Write this Sequel/Installment

Benediction

I’m not sure, actually, if it’s a sequel or if a better definition would be the second in a series of books about Ben Schmidt and his life, family and circle of friends.

It doesn’t really matter for this post because I can still tell you why I wrote this book “Benefits:”

wasn’t done with the characters –
wanted to find out what happened to the main character, who had a life-threatening illness at the close of “Benediction”
seems short sighted to abandon characters when so much more could happen to them
The story resonated with a great many people, who saw themselves in the milieu or who identified with the characters
Ben is my alter-ego and it’s very comfortable for me to write in his voice
I had ideas about what happens next to him and other characters
readers would ask me what happened to Ben, since I left it unresolved, and I didn’t have a great answer
there is life and love after prostate cancer, and I wanted to process that through my writing and also deliver that message, in other words, what it’s like to have an active love life as a prostate cancer survivor

<br />

and maybe the best part if you’re just finding this — you don’t have to read the original to understand the sequel – Benefits can stand on its own.

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Talk I gave a few years ago on the original book and the reason behind it – prostate cancer.

KEPT Blog Tour March 21 – 25, Day 2

Kept

Day 2 of the week long KEPT blog tour. Stops today include:

Books Are Love (with review)

The Bookworm Lodge

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Check ’em out.

The Dinosaur Park at Cabazon makes an appearance in KEPT.

Hey Buddy, Wanna Free Book: Goodreads Giveaway for KEPT

GIVEAWAY FINISHED. Never fear, there will likely be a Kindle free day coming up. Stay tuned.

Hey, from today till February 21, you can enter to win one of 10 paperbacks of “Kept” (my novel to be released March 20) on Goodreads. Just click on the enter button! There’s no catch. It’s all free.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Kept

by Jim Arnold

Giveaway ends February 21, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

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Kept Teaser Trailer!

Here’s a little teaser trailer for the book, “Kept,” which is still scheduled to debut March 20. I used some shots of Palm Springs that figure heavily in the narrative — the tram to Mt. San Jacinto, windmill farms, palm trees and washes, etc., along with themes from the book.

Over the top and oh-so-dramatic! That’s the point, right? Hope you enjoy this 45 seconds. You can order/pre-order KEPT here.
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“Kept” reading inspiration: “Where Eagles Dare” Cable Car Fight

Ever since I saw this movie “Where Eagles Dare” (as a tiny child of course, in 1968, starring Richard Burton, among others), I’ve been fascinated with the idea of writing a version of a gondola or cable car fight. When you set a novel in Palm Springs, well, you get your chance.

I’m reading a selection from my novel-in-progress “Kept” on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. May 21, Stories Books and Cafe, 1716 Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park) at Hank Henderson’s homo-centric reading series. So, you can see how I re-imagined this idea for 21st century denizens of the desert. Also reading that night are Albert Serna, Jr. and George Snyder. Hope to see you there!

(for some reason lost the cable car fight scene that was on youtube. Here’s the movie trailer, below)

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Character Biography: Connor Hurst from “Kept”

Desert windmills and a Connor Hurst-esque character

Today I’m sharing my 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.

His name is Connor Hurst. Physical: 32, White Male. 5-10, 170, dark brown hair, blue eyes. He’s quite muscular, yet hungry looking rather than buff. A stunner! Stands up straight, and he has a swagger. Connor’s fastidious about appearance and perhaps a little vain. He has no defects – at least physically.

Heredity: he is from a WASPy stock, let’s say Scotch/Irish, more Irish, but like everyone he’s a mutt. Will have heart disease problems — if he lives that long.

Social:
Class: White Trash!
Occupation: Connor’s a con man. He’s had various “normal jobs” but had to quit them when he realized how “demeaning” they were. Always involved in off the books type of economy – he’s been a gigolo, escort, drug dealer, bookmaker, small-time theft when absolutely necessary.
Education: Connor’s a high school drop out. He thinks that school is for suckers. But he’s very smart, very street-smart and he can and does read.
In school, he had an attitude problem and was so self-centered.
Home Life: his parents are alive but he’s estranged from them. He often lies to new acquaintances about where he’s from. Originally, it was Little Rock, Ark. Of course, parents are also white trash. Father (Gregory Hurst) is alcoholic, mother (Violetta Gamble) is also a small-time crook. Father provided little guidance and little support. Odd jobs always. Mother was a domestic, she worked in hotels. Now she’s a drug dealer. Has one full-blooded brother Locker Hurst, and one half-brother Duane Gamble. Connor got beat up all the time. His father eventually abandoned the family, and is in Texas or Mexico or dead. They don’t really know.
Religion: Protestant. Southern Baptist.
Race: White, Scotch/Irish.
Place in Community: He has none. Connor Hurst is the ultimate outsider and relishes this and hates it at the same time.
Politics: He avoids politics, but would not trust politicians from either party.
Amusements and hobbies: He likes to gamble. When he goes to casino meetings with the tribe in Palm Springs, he always stops at the tables. He reads the newspaper. Knows how to work a computer as a means for his ends. He likes to shoot things—with guns—target practice. He goes out into the high desert to do that.

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Psychology:
Sex life: Connor prefers men but can be convincingly bisexual when it serves his needs, and can get around a woman pretty easily; after all, he has that charisma.
Personal premise, his ambition: is to have lots of money and ultimately control over his life, and have no one ever fuck him over again or outsmart him. He’d like his “own private island” and would like to buy it.
Temperament: He’s a cocky, occasional jokester type. He’s manipulative but his intelligence shines through.
Attitude to life: Connor thinks he will prevail and is very confident. Perhaps too much.
Complexes: He’s afraid of heights. He’s prejudiced against the Indians, has his fair share of usual white trash prejudice and racism—although he is smitten with Jorge (George), at least in a sexual way. He stuttered as a child. Connor’s still embarrassed about it and angry about the tease, or being teased for anything. He’s an extrovert.
Other abilities: He’s very quick, witty. Speaks some Spanish. Can lie very convincingly. Obviously, knows how to operate a gun—any kind of gun. Knows how to fight with his fists or other handy objects. He’s had some martial arts training.
Other qualities: Can easily judge anyone and “read” them. Doesn’t have a lot of imagination beyond the “get me some money” thing – about what his life could be – hasn’t got that far.
IQ: High. He’s highly intelligent, just not traditionally schooled.

Check back for more bios. The book, “Kept,” will be released near the end of the year.

The Forest Dark – Noah Baldock biography

not Noah, but this would be his community

Back to my novel The Forest Dark, and the bios of main characters.

The story is about the long-term friendship of a gay man with a straight woman – the woman, Eden von Eiff, we talked about here.

The man, fictional Noah Baldock, had several influences. I based him mostly on an idea of a beloved old boyfriend of mine who’s been dead for over 20 years. I posed the question: what would Mr. X be like, if instead of dying in his 30s, he’d survived and grew into middle age?

Same personality I remembered, but older. How age changes people: some traits get worse, some better. Some softer, other emotions more pronounced. So, really, it’s not based on a real person, rather what my imagining someone would be like who’s no longer with us.

I suspect there’s a bit of Noah in me, too, but I do feel I’m not as angry as he is.

Here’s some things you should know about Noah Baldock:

He grew up in Middleton, which is a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin.
He’s a ginger – actually, he’s a redhead, they didn’t call them gingers back then. In the second part of the book, he’s got reddish gray hair.
Noah’s got some serious anger issues.
Also he’s got some honesty issues, can you say “unreliable narrator?”
He thinks of himself as Louie’s father, even though he’s not related.
He’s a crackerjack shot.
He was gay bashed, and that forever changed him.
He likes to go to comedy clubs, loves watching standup, though he may not do it in the pages of the book.
He likes to listen to Frank Sinatra, unusual for someone of his generation.
He loves cats, but won’t admit it.
He’s got a major, Big Secret. Want to find out what that is? You will have to read the book!

More Forest Dark bios to come.

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Bios from The Forest Dark: Eden von Eiff

The initial inspiration for the character Eden von Eiff from The Forest Dark:

Julie Nixon Eisenhower

Amy Carter

Patti Davis

Chelsea Clinton

Eleanor Mondale

Political daughters who got famous when they were young, around college age, then their bright stars faded — usually because their parents did not win whatever election it was they got famous for in the first place — think Eleanor Mondale, perhaps, or even Maria Shriver (though she’s not the best example since she has always been in the public eye).

Better examples may be Nixon’s daughters Tricia and Julie, or Susan Ford, or Amy Carter. So you get the idea. I was kind of fascinated to think about what life was like beyond that one shining moment or moments.

Eden has tried to make some hay from her brief brush with fame in the media world, and she’s ended up as kind of a mediocre magazine writer. It helps that she has a famous name, and has an ever-decreasing monthly stipend left over from her mother’s family with some murky connection to the Dodges of Detroit auto fame. But it’s not much. In fact, the truth is, she is just as much a member of the 99% as you or me.

Some things about Eden von Eiff, from the lengthy bio I wrote for her (I do this with all main, and some secondary characters for my novels or scripts):

she’s blond, but as she gets older, the bottle gets lighter and more frequent
she claims she doesn’t like attention, but that’s a lie. She craves it and has a massive insecurity complex.
when she appears strong, she’s mostly acting “as if.”
she has a love/hate relationship with her father, and as much as she’d like to dismiss the relationship she has with her mother, it’s impossible to get away from it.
She’s an atheist, but would never admit it, telling people she’s Catholic.
She’s the same age as Madonna, and also from the Detroit area. Quite a coincidence, though they never knew each other.
von Eiff – German name, someone I went to grade school had it. Seemed to ring for her.
She wants money, likes money, but has no clue how to hold onto any once she does get it.
She’s desperate for love in her life, and wants to right things with her friends in California.
She lies a lot, though would deny it, which in itself is a . . . lie.
She hates the song “Rhapsody in Blue” because that was playing when Louie was conceived.
She thinks she may have a problem with gambling. It’s mostly the horses and the track, though casinos are also like catnip.
She likes comedy. Her favorite comedian is Denis Leary. In fact, she may have a secret thing for Denis.
To relieve some of the stress in her life, she attempted kayaking, but hated it, and almost drowned once. She keeps this to herself.
She has a cat, named Florence, who is staying with a neighbor in New York while she’s in Los Angeles in Part 2 of the book.
When she was a little girl, she dreamed of being . . . the governor of Michigan.

For more, you’ll have to read the book!

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