Commitments, Customers, and Characters

by Paula Matter


Now that I'm an official Working Stiff and will be posting every other Thursday, I've begun thinking: How in the world will I come up with something to write twice a month? Something worth reading anyway.

I now have a deadline and have committed myself to doing this. And since, quite frankly, I'm frightened of Annette and Joyce, I'd better come up with something. (They both know I kid).


Working Stiffs?


Okay. I work. In the mornings I'm stiff. Who the hell (am I allowed to swear here?) am I kidding? I get stiff a lot faster and more often nowadays. I have a job where I'm allowed frequent breaks due to a physical condition. I don't because I'm more stiff upon standing. It's easier to just get through the day and pay for it later.


So that covers the Stiff part. What about the Working part?


I work in the catering department of a local college. Y'know those waiters and waitresses dressed up like penguins in their black and white outfits at banquets? That's what I do.


I've been in the food and beverage industry (that sounds much better than I've been a waitress slash bartender) for over thirty years. I've come in contact with a lot of people (customers, cooks, managers, chefs, hostesses) during this time. Most of been great.


The others wind up in my stories. Not always as victims. Sometimes they're the villains. After a bad night, they might be both.


How about you? Where do your characters come from? Has a reader ever thought s/he was in your story or novel?