You’ve met Alice. You’ve met Stanley. Now, meet the team. 🙂
Along with my main characters, I like to cast prominent secondary characters. This helps me keep a specific image of them straight in my head as I write. I thought I’d take a minute to introduce you to some of those characters.
In this case, Alice has two that appear in the story (the rest of her ‘people’ are back in California, so they don’t really appear on the page aside from in photos and texts). The first friend Alice makes in Chicago is Kya, a woman she meets on the train – Alice happens to be reading from her favorite book. The two bond quickly, and Kya becomes a support for her. (I cast Michaela Conlin from Bones as Kya; she’s the Cheshire Cat character – she’s got a bit of a crooked smile and loves asking philosophical questions).
The other secondary character that takes up page space is Lucas, an artist and teacher at a local art gallery. He becomes both her friend and her teacher as she takes up painting again. While he does teach his students the basics of skill, he supports his students taking chances and finding their own voices. (I cast Paul Rudd in this role – that boyish charm is exactly what I wanted for him. He is loosely based on the Dodo, which is not in any way an insult. In the original story, the dodo proposes a Caucus race where participants can run patterns in any shape – starting and leaving wherever they felt like – in other words, everyone wins. This feels very Lucas. In addition, at the end of the race, Alice empties her pockets to award prizes to all the contestants, leaving none for herself. The dodo requests she check again, and she comes up with a thimble. He asks for it, then presents it as an award for Alice. Also very Lucas.)
Stanley has three people who take up space in his life. The first is Cat, his best friend from law school, who joins him in Chicago shortly after he moves. She’s Italian and a bit sassy; she doesn’t have time for nonsense, and her honesty can sometimes feel cruel. (I cast Cote de Pablo; Cat is the caterpillar – she smokes too much and is quick with a ‘who are you’ – usually with a bit of a bite to it). Next is Tarrant Hightopp, another friend from law school and Stanley’s boss when we meet him. (I cast Chiwetel Ejiofor; he’s the mad hatter – while he’s got his act together, he still maintains an aura of chaos about him), and Carol Lewis Hightopp, Tarrant’s wife and Stanley’s friend – of more note, she’s the most sought after caterer in the city (I cast Jurnee Smollett; an equal mix of motherly love and supportive friend, she’s not afraid to put people in their place but always gives them a gentle/soft place to land; named for Lewis Carroll, of course)
Casting aside, I love these characters and do sometimes wish they were real live people walking amongst us.
Ami Maxine 