Meet Harriet. But don’t be surprised if she isn’t interested in meeting you. Harriet has life all figured out, and she doesn’t hesitate to inform others of their shortcomings. Though her attempts to become president of the homeowner’s association failed, that doesn’t stop her from berating “off-leash-dog-man” or reporting the neighbor who had the audacity to leave their Easter decorations up an entire week past the holiday. The problem is, unbeknownst to her, Harriet’s rigid rules and judgmental opinions are not her own.
Her ordered life plunges into chaos when a twelve-year-old neighbor knocks on Harriet's door seeking help because the girl’s father is physically abusing her mother. Reluctantly, Harriet comes to her neighbor’s aid and, in the process, recognizes her own insidious abuse which has unwittingly shaped her isolated, rigid existence. To escape her crushing loneliness, she must learn to break free from the patterns of control and isolation that have defined her life and learn to connect with people she previously viewed as heathens.
Purchase a copy of Harriet
Hates Lemonade on Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
and Bookshop.org. Be sure to also add
it to your GoodReads reading list.
Tips on Developing Characters That Feel
Real in Your Fiction
We’ve
all heard the advice to "write what you know.” To me, that old saying is
really about pulling from the people and the real-life experiences I've
encountered, so I can fully inhabit a character. It’s about taking those
authentic bits of humanity and using them to make a fictional person feel like
someone you could meet in real life.
When
I’m sitting at my desk, and a character hits a fork in the road, I literally
stop and ask myself, "What would my friend do here?" or "What
would my dad say to that?" This is how I make sure the dialogue doesn't
sound like a canned script. Real people don't always say the perfect thing.
They say things that are colored by their own history, their quirks, and their
specific way of looking at the world. By channeling the voices of people I
know, I can bridge the gap between a name on a page and a person who feels
three-dimensional.
In
my first book, What
Happens in Montana,
I modeled the friendships in the book after my girlfriends from when I lived in
Las Vegas. When we met, our kids were just babies. Now, those
"babies" are twenty-four years old. The inside jokes, the way you can
tell exactly what a close friend is thinking just by a look, those things are
difficult to invent from imagination alone. I needed those two decades of real
friendship to write about that kind of bond convincingly.
With
my second book, Harriet
Hates Lemonade,
the characters were more of an amalgamation of people I know. I drew a lot of
Harriet’s world from a neighborhood I lived in here in Bozeman. On the outside,
it looked like "Mayberry” with perfect lawns and friendly waves. But
underneath, it was incredibly uptight. I’ll never forget getting a formal
letter from the HOA because our trash can was visible from the street – not out
on the street, just on the side of our house - one day early. Or the time a
neighbor seriously suggested we use DNA testing on dog poop to catch owners who
weren’t picking up after their dogs.
At
the time, it was just annoying, but as a writer, it was gold. Harriet became
the face of that need for total control. She’s a woman who uses rules like a
shield because the rest of her life feels so out of her hands. By using those
real-life frustrations, I was able to give Harriet an authentic persona that feels
real to anyone who has ever dealt with a picky neighbor.
Whether
it’s a lifelong friendship or a ridiculously uptight neighbor, I’ve found that
the best characters are usually just a mix of the people right in front of me.
My best advice for other writers is to stop overthinking your characterizations
and start listening to the voices in your own life. The world is full of
amazing characters. You just have to be willing to ask what they would do and
watch where they take you and your story.
About the Author
Kim McCollum graduated from Barnard College with a major in Japanese and was soon navigating the hustle and bustle of Wall Street. When her first child was born, she stayed home to raise her children. Once they headed off to school, Kim finally found time to pursue her passion for writing. Her award-winning debut novel, WHAT HAPPENS IN MONTANA, was published in January 2024, and her short stories have appeared in several publications. She lived in Bozeman, Montana, with her supportive husband, Brian, and their blended menagerie of five kids and three spoiled pets.
You can find her
online at:
Her website: https://kim-mccollum.com/
Twitter: https://x.com/KFMcCollum
