Creating Characters: Ann, Mary, and Susan
February 10, 2018
Creating Characters: Ann, Mary, and Susan
Just like in the creation of the characters in Five Alive: Stories of the Funny Sisters, the characters in the Ann, Mary, and Susan Mysteries are based on real-life people.
These stories were originally oral stories told for my little sisters. Thus “Ann” and “Mary” are my baby sisters at the time of the series origin. “Susan” is a compilation of several friends they had visiting our home.
Ann is the serious one. Older than her sister, Mary, and her cousin, Susan, she is often the one who discovers the answer to their mystery.
Mary is the baby of the trio. She is giggly, fun-loving, and mystery-seeking. Anything at all that she can’t instantly see the answer to is “a new mystery!”
Susan loves following Mary around and joining her adventures whenever they are found no matter how small the mystery appears to be.
Developing these characters was another easy task as they are based on actual people. The challenge when a writer has a continuing series yet the people they base their characters on grow faster than the series progresses is to keep the characters in their “time capsule.” Sometimes I have to reread my books to refresh myself and “reenter” my characters.
Thanks for reading!
Type at you next time…
~Nancy Tart
