When I begin writing on a new project, my favorite part is creating the characters. I get to spend hours on Pinterest finding visual inspiration which tends to be the starting place for writing a story. For this novel, MF sent me a list of twelve characters with names, ages, and careers. I then took those characters and created their relationships, personalities, and the entire story around them.
THE SHADOW OF MUDFLAP is a story with a HUGE cast of characters and I thought it might be fun to introduce you to a few of them today. I’ve posted the inspiration photos of Mudflap and Shanae here, but you can see the rest of the inspiration photos for THE SHADOW OF MUDFLAP on my Pinterest board for the book.
Shanae:
(Kate Beckinsale...inspiration)
Raised by her single father who was a racecar driver. She grew up in a man’s world, surrounded by speed and adrenaline. It rubbed off a bit on her. She was recruited into the Department of Homeland Security in college by a childhood friend, Zach, who she knew from the tracks. He was also a race kid who went into the FBI.
Her cover is that she is a medical trauma nurse on a medevac chopper team. When the call comes for the Foxtrot team, it’s code for the spy team to move into action via the chopper. Most times those “medical emergencies” go to a specialized hospital which is actually a front for a DHS compound, so no one knows that they aren’t actually picking up patients, but instead going on missions. She does serve on the trauma team for the hospital for real too. So double the jobs, double the pressure….and they are both high-pressure jobs.
As Shanae, she’s sweet and quiet and unassuming, although when she gets riled up Shadowfox tends to come out. Shanae is daisies and cowboy boots.
As Shadowfox, she’s kick-ass, aggressive, and extremely sensual. She always gets her man and it’s usually by his balls. Shadowfox is blood red roses and stiletto boots with knives tucked into the top of them.
Mudflap:
(Justice Joslin...inspiration)
His parents had TC (7 yrs older), then twins Mia/Sarah (5 yrs older). TC went on to be an NFL pro, the twins went to med and law school. They were ALL perfect at the point where MF needed to make some life decisions. He was clueless and had no idea what he wanted to do.
Mudflap was an accident. Daddy got turned on by a Mudflap girl (never made any sense since a mudflap girl is a silhouette, but mom’s version of the story, and she was pregnant and hormonal so no one questioned it to her face) and had unprotected sex with mom...then to top it off, dad was out hunting when mom went into labor. She wasn't a happy camper about any of it, so she named their boy Mudflap. (It's okay, she's since forgiven him for being born.)
But due to his inauspicious beginnings and perfect siblings, he's felt that he's never lived up....so hasn't even tried. He graduated from high school and, without his parents’ knowledge, joined the Army (that's what screwups do, right?) Regardless of how he sees himself, he's anything but a screwup. In the Army he quickly rose up the Spec Op ranks and became an elite sniper. But after 8 years in the military he came back to Lubbock and joined the fire department.
He's been in Lubbock 4 years and has a nice life with a great group of friends who he plays poker with every week.
Here are some of the other main characters you will find in the Pinterest files:
*Seth Mills/ 28yrs / CIA – Shanae’s ex
*Stetson Higgins/ 35yrs / Firefighter close friend – lives in apartment complex next door to Brooklynn. A confirmed bachelor.
*Brooklynn Tyler/ 20yrs / Secretary – lives next door to Stetson
*TC Davidson / 37yrs / Football Coach – Mudflap’s older brother.
*Andrew Ward/ 40yrs / Doctor/Assassin - Crush on Shanae and is part of the Foxtrot Team
*Benny Holman / 20yrs / Quarterback on Football Team –Like most guys his age, he’s all about sex and girls.
*Misty Davis/ 22yrs / Stalker of MF – visits fire station constantly bringing food and stuff;
*Riley Banks/ 33yrs– lawyer; poker buddy; A&M grad
*Lisa Hicks/ 30yrs – golf pro
*Derek / 25yrs– roommate and unrepentant flirt. Derek tends to be the voice of reason. He sees a lot more than most give him credit for. He’s a marketing executive.
*Shanae’s Foxtrot Team –
- Jeremy Compton – Foxtail; (pilot),
- Cord Ellison – Sunfox (flight paramedic), California surfer dude.
- Andrew Ward – Foxglove (doctor), Second in command at LiFT
- Michael Turner – Firefox (back-up pilot and paramedic); large, muscular; into sports and poker; used to run wildland crews in Colorado
- Quirk Mitchell– Quirk; computer/technology guru
- Daniel Stanton – Foxhunter; head honcho at LiFT
- SAM- computer at LiFT- Australian male or British female depending on who it’s talking to
