Ho hum. It’s tough being a star.

Friends sometimes ask if anyone they know is in The Crandall Haunting.  The answer is no.  No actual person I know is in the book, and since many of the characters are pretty creepy, that’s probably a good thing.  Of course, innumerable real life observations and experiences have morphed their way between the pages, and some of these may be recognizable to those who have shared history with me.  For instance, my sister might have noticed that I borrowed one of her memories and gave it to a character; it was that day she happily skipped around my grandfather’s flagpole and quite accidentally and obliviously crushed his newly planted pansies.   And my brother is good-naturedly insulted by a line I wrote that apparently disparages banjo music.  Of course, there are good reasons I’m not a fan of amateur banjo playing, but in order to keep the family peace, I won’t be specific on that point.

A pudgy race horse, but it’s a real race.

Probably the one character in the book that actually closely resembles someone I really know is the horse, Bugle.  His distinctive mostly-white-with-some-black-spots coat is an homage to my horse, Hudson.  That is pretty much where the resemblance ends, since Bugle is a skinny, old gelding and Hudson is a fat, middle-aged mare; however, the affection my character, Clara, shows for Bugle mirrors my appreciation for Hudson.  And there are a couple times in the book when Bugle goes from being solid and dependable to a raging maniac, and Hudson certainly has both those personalities in her tool bag.  In addition to lending her color to a character, Hudson also patiently co-starred in one of my book promo videos.  She stood quietly and allowed my husband to put a saddle pad on her back about 100 times for the shoot, even though she knows very well he has never actually saddled a horse.

At the fair horse show

So, no. No humans I actually know have served as models for The Crandall Haunting characters, but my equine buddy of 13 years has trotted a little bit of herself onto those pages.

Hudson at six months.

Promo video shoot for The Crandall Haunting