Take, for example, me and Alison.
Alison is the main character in my latest novel, Local Killer. She’s a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) who witnesses a murder and finds herself on the trail of a killer who no one else suspects or even knows about.
It may seem strange to say that we’ve got a lot in common. To start with the obvious, she’s female and I’m not! Even more profoundly different, she’s blonde, and I’m bald. Well, balding. And back when I had more hair, it was dark.
But, that aside, we do share some significant aspects to our lives.
For one thing, as mentioned, she’s a CSI. And so was I, for fifteen years with a British Police Force. Alison’s Force is fictional - and the name is never mentioned: mine is quite real, though I’m not going to mention that name either! But that background helped a lot in creating Alison. I know things she would know - about crime scenes, especially - and I understand how she looks at things with her professional head on. A CSI approaches crimes with a particular mindset. They think about where a criminal might have been, what they might have touched, what they might have left behind. They know the best places to look for evidence, they know what’s significant and what isn’t.
In one scene of ‘Local Killer’ Alison sees some peculiar marks on a damaged safe. And, because she’s an experienced CSI, she knows at once what story those marks tell: how they were made - and why!
She knows those things because I know those things. She has the same experience as I do - visiting numerous crime scenes, major and minor, and looking at them with CSI vision.
Another thing about Alison is that she’s not good with people. Socially inept, she might describe herself. Never sure what she might do or say that will upset people. Consequently, she avoids social situations. She feels safer with work situations, where she knows exactly what’s expected of her and what to say. ‘Follow court rules’, someone says to her - answer questions honestly and completely, say only what you know. She likes that idea.
I’m not as bad as Alison. Well, I don’t think so - others might have a different opinion. But I know that social awkwardness that she experiences. I know what it’s like to be in a situation where I don’t have anything to talk about. Where I’m wondering where, when and how I should look at people. Where I desperately want to be somewhere else! Alison often gets through difficult situations by making lists - reminding herself of what she has, where she is, who she is, and so giving herself a measure of security in a very insecure world.
I’ve done that.
I understand Alison, because I’ve been there. I’ve turned the insecurity and uncertainty and confusion about people up several notches for her, but I get it.
There’s a lot about Alison that isn’t me, of course. She’s braver, smarter and tougher than I am! But we have a lot in common. Of course, there is also the fact that she’s fictional and I’m real. But to be honest, I’m not sure how important that is. Reality is overrated anyway.
- Top left: Image by Mohamed_hassan on Pixabay
- Top right: Back in my CSI days.
- Bottom left: Image by Anemone123 on Pixabay.
- Bottom right: Who took that? Come on, own up!