Ask any children’s book author where they get ideas for characters, and you’ll get some similar answers: watching my kids, watching other people’s kids, remembering what it was like when I was a kid – you get the idea. But, what if your character isn’t human?
It turns out, it’s not all that different.
The inspiration for my character, Dante, came from two ferrets I had years ago. Dante’s personality is a combination of Jester and Puck.
Jester, as you might have guessed from his name, was playful. He liked shiny things, especially my keys. Once, I spent hours searching for my apartment keys. Finally, I gave up, called my landlord, and had the locks changed. Months later, I was cleaning a closet. On the floor, near the back, I found my keys!
Puck never stole my keys, but he liked to play hide and seek. Mostly, he liked to hide. He’d find a nice warm spot behind the cabinets and fall asleep. He also loved exploring outside. There were several feral cats in my neighborhood. Every time he’d sneak out, I’d worry that the cats might hurt him. They left him alone. He always returned unharmed. I’d take him for walks on a leash. It was during one of these walks that I realized that Puck knew where our house was. He’d smell the doors. If it wasn’t ours, he’d keep walking. He always found our door.
Dante has Jester’s playfulness and Puck’s need to explore. He’s curious like Puck and is fearless like Jester. What makes Dante memorable? Children can see themselves in him. He’s a relatable character who happens to be a ferret.
I have a habit of creating dialogue for the animals in my life, so it’s no surprise that this habit finally led to writing children’s stories with animals as the central characters. There are two more Dante books waiting in the wings. And, a cross-over book titled, The Coyote Wars: Radalov’s Vengeance. There’s also Splash! The main character is a calf named Millie.
What about you? How do you come up with your characters?
Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
KDM