Tag Archives: Kept the novel

“Kept” Character Biography: Vi Gamble

Here’s another in the process of the writer’s preparation of character biography – here, Violet Gamble (Vi) of “Kept,” one of the more fun characters to play with.

Out of all the characters in the book, this one morphed probably more than the rest. I had originally envisioned her as a small-time meth dealer, but as I wrote the screenplay of KEPT (which preceded the novel) the phenomenon of “Breaking Bad” happened, and I didn’t want to have similarities to the TV show’s story, so I made her an unsuccessful dealer of pills ‘n pot.

Who was inspiration? Originally, it was characters like a rough Linda Hamilton, as well as the actress who played Danielle Rousseau in “Lost” (Mira Furlan) and Katharine Ross (at least her look) in any recent movie or TV appearance (so I guess sexy, long haired, truthfully-aged beautiful actresses not afraid to show who they are).

Linda Hamilton

Mira Fulman

Katharine Ross

Violet Gamble – Drug dealer. Incestuous. Who do I see as inspiration: Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), from LOST. Katherine Ross. Linda Hamilton. She drives a pickup truck. Old, dinged. An F150. 1995.

Sex, Age, Ht/Weight: Female, 50, 5-6, 125

Hair: RED, dyed redder than it would ever be.. Blue eyes. Nice skin, very tan, a little leathery — she lives in the desert.

Posture: good, not fantastic

Appearance: she looks like she’s been in the sun too long. She is very tan, very red but does not look like she belongs shopping on El Paseo.
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Defects: She’s had a bad nose job. She has psoriasis. She’s malnourished, cause of the meth and other drugs, so she has a few bad teeth and she has bad breath. But ironically, she still can get guys.

Heredity: nothing comes to mind – the worse thing is her name, Okie background in the 1930s.

Sociological:

“White trash with illusions” background.

She’s a drug dealer and a meth lab operator. She’s worked in the underground cash economy basically forever, from prostituting to being a con-woman to dealing drugs, that is the only thing she understands. The rest of the world’s conventions are unknown. She keeps cash in places like shoeboxes, safety deposit boxes, etc.

Education: she got a high school diploma. Lot of good that did! She’s a veteran of the military, was there for a couple of years so she knows her way around the soldiers a bit, (helpful near 29 Palms!) speaks their language. She’s retired from the Navy.

Home Life: her parents are dead. They died young, they had such hard lives. But they weren’t crooks. They were also divorced. She’s got a few brothers and sisters in different places, mostly Arizona, Vegas, some New Mexico and Texas. All of them like drugs. Violet has been married and divorced twice. Once she was widowed. Her husband died under mysterious circumstances and Violet might have been the one who murdered him. (Three boys have two different fathers) Her divorced husbands are still around, still alive somewhere. One’s in Reno.

Religion: She’s an atheist

Race, Nationality: Background is Anglo-Saxon

Place in community: an outcast. They live on land out in the middle of fuckin nowhere. They are shunned by their neighbors. The only exception is a few of the men, who Violet fools around with. She’s still kind of hot.

Politics: She does not vote.

Amusements, Hobbies: Young Service men. She has odd dreams of learning how to ski. She looks up at the mountains sometimes and wonders what if…. But not for long.

Psychological:

Sex life, moral standards: she’s a whore by most standards. She has fucked her own son, for Chrissakes! She likes sex, likes younger men. She is straight.

Personal premise, ambition. Like everyone else, wants to be rich. Wants to be INDEPENDENT. Does not really trust men, just likes them for sex.

Frustrations, disappointments: She’s remarkably ok with her lot in life. She knows she’s been dealt a bad hand but does her best to deal with it and is proud in her own way of what she’s accomplished. She has a very different yardstick.

Temperament: volatile, has an explosive temper.

Attitude: Wakes up cheerful and it goes downhill from there. She’s been around long enough to know that things change a lot and what is true today won’t necessarily be true tomorrow.

Complexes: Obsessed with her nails and hair. Likes fashion magazines. Is a smoker, has to have her cigs, lighter, etc always close by. She’s a real addict that way.

Extrovert: Yes, she’s outgoing

Abilities: Has a way with men. Actually knows some Spanish. Has some aptitude with things like car engines, she has been so self-reliant for a really long time. She can fix the plumbing, etc.

Qualities: She has western tastes. Pretty much simple things, tied to where they are. She’s really not grandiose. She does the drug stuff because she’s a user herself, but also because it was the most lucrative thing available

IQ: surprisingly high.

Kept Character Biography: Pilar Galindez Greco

Another in the series, to add to last week’s Sy Greco, and others are here (George), here (Connor) andhere (Nancy Argento).

Villainess and matron, real estate agent, errant daughter (Scottsdale royalty), and adulterous wife (to go with the adulterous husband). Pilar Greco.

Who did I see here for inspiration when I was considering Pilar? Eva Langoria, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Eva Langoria

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Sex: Female, Age: 47 Height and Weight: 5-6, 125.

Skin: light skinned Latina. Brown eyes, black hair. She dyes it to keep it really dark.

Posture: She’s very fit and regal-looking, impeccable presentation. She’s rich and has always had some money.

She’s a headturner, always smiling, at least in public. She has had breast augmentation. Dresses expensively and knows how to wear clothing. She’s a thin, southern California desert rich woman.

Defects: None apparent, physically. She’s had problems with depression in the past and takes Lexapro or some kind of anti-depressant.

Heredity: she’s also part Native American but it’s not noticeable and she doesn’t talk about it. She’s from a more patrician latin family that’s been in the US, the southwest for many years, perhaps from the time it was still Mexico. She’s more an Arizona/New Mexico person than a Californian. Her rich and influential father’s name is Rodrigo Galindez.

Sexual activities should cialis tabs be avoided strictly at the time urinary tract treatment and yeast disorders, diabetes victims are at high risk of acquiring these disorders. Acidity destroys the pancreas and tadalafil pharmacy online the entire body. This physical issue of men also affects them mentally and emotionally. viagra stores The actions of viagra 20mg cipla are quite simple but have miraculous effects in enhancing sexual performance. viagra increases the body’s ability to achieve and maintain an erection during sexual activity, others completely fail to get an erection for around 18 hours in a day- from what discount viagra. Class: She grew up upper middle class. Now she’s upper middle to upper, because of husband’s income and their nefarious activities.

Occupation: real estate sales. Very successful. She’s bubbly! Clients love her. She makes on her own at least 250K a year.

Education: didn’t finish college. She was studying to be a veterinarian but lost interest. She loves their dog, Candy. She studied French too, and occasionally uses French phrases. Her weapon of choice is a Glock 26, this is a 9mm pistol, very, very common, it’s the most common for concealed carry. Fits nicely in her purse.

Home Life: Parents still live in Scottsdale. She has siblings – 2 older brothers. She was the spoiled little sister. Parents are retired. Her mother never worked. To this day, she treats them really well. Her parents are quiet, church-goers. They have never ever really trusted Sy, though her father admires him for his money-making skills.

Race/Nationality: mostly Latin. Her ancestry is a combination of Mexican and Spanish and Native American ancestry. She tells everyone she’s European (Spanish).

Place in Community: She’s a member of a bunch of organizations. From the museum board to the AIDS Project, to the local real estate organization and she holds office. Past president, current treasurer. She’s good with money, She likes it, like to touch it, likes to count it.

Politics: She’s a Republican, but doesn’t like to flaunt it in increasingly liberal Palm Springs.

Amusements, hobbies: She’s really into girly things like waxing, nail care, etc. She’s flawless. She gardens. Flowering desert plants are her specialty, She really does have a green thumb. Takes after her father that way. She reads Vanity Fair.

Sex Life, Moral Standards: loves sex with Sy, but has also fooled around on him a few times. Mostly with younger men, it was like she was trying to get her son back, in a way. Always, they were mixed race types, white with a little latin thrown in. Often, teenagers having a first sexual experience with a hot older woman. Connor is a departure from this type.

Her personal premise: she’s happy with winning awards for selling real estate. Also working on her house, keeping Sy relatively happy and she has this other thing, this recognition that something’s not there, that things aren’t right. Something’s missing. Which is:

Frustration, disappointments: has never gotten over the death of her boy. His name was Angel. Looks at her parents’ lives and thinks, is that all there is? Angel died in a skateboarding accident. He was hit by a car, no fault of the driver. At the intersection of Rose Avenue and Vadera in Las Palmas.

Temperament: she has a typical latin temper if crossed. She can be very, very focused and has been a good partner to Sy because of this. She’s an optimist, cautiously.

Attitude toward life: militant. She believes she has the power to change things.

Complexes: She’s got that depression. Sometimes thinks (and rightly so) that Sy is putting things over on her. But she’s not really paranoid. She’s afraid of the dark.

Extroverted – yes.

Abilities: bilingual, Spanish English. Good public speaker.

Qualities: She has great taste and poise. She’s surprised that she’s also able to get down and dirty to hold onto what she has.

IQ: very high. She’s smart as all get out.

“Kept” Self-Publishing Update #5

Here’s some new info on the book, on the process —

I actually bought and paid for the CreateSpace process. For me, this time, it includes a cover design, cover images, and an interior layout. I also bought the conversion to e-book package, as that is needed.

Many self-pub authors are now eschewing paper books entirely; it’s true that most of the sales of my other two books (Benediction and The Forest Dark) have been e-books. Call me old fashioned. Call me a guy who wants to enter the occasional writing contest (which usually require actual paper books). Call me someone who wants to present one of these books on occasion to others — and there’s nothing like a book with your name on it.

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The prostate helps men experience viagra free more satisfying sexual climax. In doing so, as part of the nichestlouis.com order viagra subscription or service that you signed up for, you may have inadvertently or unknowingly agreed to receive offers via email from that company in the future. This output has acquired its own worthy place in market and in the life of impotency victims for its beneficial qualities like less reactive tendency, well tolerated chemical buy cheap levitra structure and long hours of relief from impotency issue but in the proper supervisions and guidance of the physician. His other characters include Any Given Sunday, and The Waterboy, Shaft. #10 Bubba Smith – Bubba Smith was a fantastic defensive lineman for the Colts, Raiders, and viagra sale online Oilers. This process could go as fast as one month, or even less I suppose, though that’s not an issue with me and “Kept.” Because – I’ve settled on a launch date, which is (drumroll) March 20, 2016.

Why that date? I need about 4 months to put marketing to good use, and that date just happens to be my birthday, so I figured, why not choose that day? Worse things could happen.

So in buying these services I did finalize the book’s copy and sent it off. I also gave my thoughts on the cover design to one of their designers; hoping they come back with something that I love that can also sell books.

The final piece of the plan for this week is putting together the actual detailed marketing calendar, so that all tasks are done well in advance of the launch in March. That’s an unwieldy mess at the moment – the marketing, that is – so I’m looking for ways to make it easier on myself. Our digital world is great, but I find I like things like wall calendars and bulletin boards where I can really visualize a process – so “Kept” marketing might well become a design feature in my Valley Village living room.

Oh and one other thing — trying to figure out when to write Book #4, which is a sequel to Benediction. I think I need a nap before Thanksgiving!

Self-Publishing Update #3 KEPT

OK, so that’s the computer in my office, where I write. And up on the screen is the newly copyedited version of my novel (soon to be published!) Kept.

The copyeditor uses the “track changes” function in Word to suggest corrections or changes to me which I then have to either accept or deny. She’s a marvelous editor; I usually end up accepting all her suggestions because, quite frankly, she makes me a much better writer.

So that is the process for this week (and likely next): Get a new draft incorporating changes. Will that be ready to be published? Probably not quite, but closer.
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Tasks for this week include re-calculating the budget for this project, and thinking about cover concepts. Provocative, that’s my guide word.

In the meantime I’m also working on the marketing plan for this book, trying to time the launch (several months it looks like), while also working on plot details for the sequel to Benediction, which is my next project after Kept.

Self-publishing Update #1 – “Kept”

“Kept,” my upcoming novel, has a first draft in the bag. Or, should I say, in the binder — which is where I put it after I had it printed out.

The very first thing I do with drafts of completed works is read through them (making minimal marks on the manuscript, hard for someone who’s been an editor) to see if the work makes sense. As in, is it coherent? Does it have a beginning, a middle, a climax and a denouement? Because what would be more ghastly, really, that not making sense? Not much I can think of, at least in this realm.

So for you, dear person interested in the steps to self-publishing, this it the first step in editing. The read through. By the way, here is the logline I came up with for “Kept,” which I originally wrote as a spec screenplay:

“Kept” is a desert neo-noir about Jorge, a young illegal immigrant who becomes a target in a deadly real estate scam and must learn to survive a twisted world of double crosses and deception.

which, I’ll admit, only hints at the story but does give you the name of the major character, tells you where it’s set and that it involves crime and real estate. The point of that exercise is for interested parties (producers, actors, etc.) to say “tell me more” or “not for me.” For the novel, a small synopsis paragraph will be better, though I’m not quite at the marketing materials stage yet.

My next task in self-editing is to go through the manuscript editing for plot. Like I said, the read-though indicated coherence, but there are tweaks necessary and desirable. I’ll give you an update once I’m there and let you know what the next step will be.

Do you like this cover concept? (The image of the guy near the windmills?) I wish I owned it, but I may re-create it.

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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