Tag Archives: Jim Arnold novels

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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National Peculiar People Day — Breezeann Jasczek

It’s National Peculiar People Day!

January 10 is, apparently, National Peculiar People Day. My novel “Benefits” is full of interesting characters, but one in particular stands out as peculiar. (At least in my humble opinion.)

This peculiar person who deserves her very own day is Breezeann Jasczek. She works as housekeeper/cleaning lady for Ben and Jake at their Noe Valley house in San Francisco.

Street Scene in San Francisco, California, to illustrate Jim Arnold's novel "Benefits" for National Peculiar People Day. — San Francisco: A city full of Peculiar People?

Breezeann is an aging hippie who never got the memo that the ’60s ended, and that’s a good thing. At least to her it is. She can’t resist offering her often-wry opinion on just about anything. Or, she might bake some THC infusion into your muffins — without mentioning it. The rumor is she’s a former rock groupie. No one really knows and she ain’t telling.

Peculiar Person Breezeann Jasczek Working Bio for “Benefits”

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This is what I wrote for the character description in “Benefits,” short and sweet: BEN AND JAKE’s housekeeper, BREEZEANN. Jasczek. She is mid-60s, natural long gray hair in braid, often. She’s white, pale, blue eyes, 5-6, thin. She alternates jeans with long dresses. She is a contrarian.

That’s much shorter than my usual bios for main or secondary characters. Breezeann is a relief character, on the sidelines, but I think it’s fun whenever she shows up. Of course, there’s the umbrella fight she has with Ben’s mom Margaret. Wait what? You’ll have to read the book.

I found this definition of Peculiar People Day on the web: Peculiar People Day is celebrated on January 10 of every year. Peculiar People Day is a day to celebrate the leaders of the unusual and strange, the peoples (sic) who refuse to succumb the world idea’s which is sane and reasonable. They challenge the status quo and rebuke the concept utterly which is out of the ordinary is wrong (sic). It may be in their style, they simply dress or having ideas of which is right and reasonable (sic). So Peculiar People is a day for Peculiar peoples to shine.

Shine on, Peculiar People!

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.

Choosing a Book Cover for “Benefits”

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!

Benediction: Buena Vista Park

San Francisco’s Buena Vista Park — beautiful, notorious, historical and, well, mountainous — is a key location in my novel Benediction.

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I was reminded of its beauty. I miss hiking up there. Pretty, yes?
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Steps in Buena Vista Park

Self-Publishing Update #2: Kept

there’s a pool like this in my book. Or several!

It took longer than I anticipated to finish the book, and to do the edits I wanted, all the passes — one for plot, another for comments I’d made in the margins, yet another for character, yet one more for dialogue.

I will finish my latest pass through “Kept” in the next few days and get it off to the copyeditor — very much in demand, so I know she won’t get to it till September. So that and my own delay in finishing means that the book won’t come out for several months.

Which is OK. Because I want the best book possible. Also, the holidays are not the optimum time for book publicity, which is what I’ll now pivot to — that and the marketing/launch plan for “Kept.”

Because when you self-publish, you are as much of a marketer as you are an author. If someone asked me what I thought was the one thing potential self-publishers needed to think about seriously before going down that path, that’s what I’d say. Consider the marketing, consider if you’re up to it. It is essential, and you will either have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you — which most individual self-publishers can’t possibly afford.

Stay tuned for Update #3!

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Draft of “Kept” Almost Finished

Hard to believe it, but a good first draft of my next novel “Kept” is just a few choice scenes away. I do find that since I started outlining chapters awhile back that they’re a) easier to write and b) require less editing (hopefully it’s because I got the idea down right the first time).

So when will this steaming slice of crime and sex in the hot desert nights of Palm Springs be published? Well, I’m hoping for a summer 2015 book.

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If everything goes well and according to plan, you’ll be able to bring “Kept” along to the beach or the coffeehouse or library or wherever it is you read.

Kept: Top Ten Locations in Upcoming Novel

Top Ten locations in my upcoming novel “Kept.” With photos! You Betcha! One of the things I liked most about writing my other two books, Benediction and The Forest Dark, was that they (at least I think this) are inseparable from their locations, San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively.

The project I’m working on now is set in the Palm Springs, California area. Some of these locations are real and some are just made up but set in the desert city. In those cases I looked for a photo which I feel captures the spirit of the story.

Palm Springs Tramway – ever see Where Eagles Dare?

images

Greco & Greco — successful Palm Springs Real Estate Office, like the one I found here on North Palm Canyon Drive.

Desert Sun offices — This is the Palm Springs newspaper.

imgres

Spa Resort Casino — Native American casino in downtown Palm Springs.

Deepwell Home of the Grecos — Sy and Pilar Greco live in a house like this in the Deepwell neighborhood.

Trailer out in Mecca — Jorge Gomez, aka George Gomes, is from a poor trailer park like this in the east valley.

Empty house where George lives, in Southridge — once George hooks up with Connor Hurst, he starts living in an empty house like this, while it’s being remodeled.

the Res — part of the Agua Caliente reservation in Palm Springs, where Jacy Martin and Kaya Bellardo tryst.

the Dinosaurs — in Cabazon, just off the Interstate 10. These are really there.

O’Donnell Country Club — a real golf course and country club, where there’s a pivotal fundraising event.

More to come!

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