Carolina Cruel
Page 26
I wish to thank my colleagues, former and present students, friends and family for their continued support. Writing can be at times a bit of lonely business, but these people are my biggest supporters and help me maintain a balanced life, and for that, I am forever grateful.
The fifty-year scope of Carolina Cruel required a large cast of characters to make up the numerous reporters, lawyers, police, FBI, doctors, town folk, victims, and villains. I’m often asked how I come up with character names in my novels. Sometimes I use names of people I know, but for many, I simply pull the names out of thin air. Their physical descriptions might be based on actors or people I have seen in the news. Most are a hodge-podge of various sources. For example, Chan Adams, the main protagonist, is a name combination of a childhood friend, Chandler Deery, and Hemingway’s short story hero, Nick Adams. Chan’s life experiences are based loosely on those of my friend and fellow author, Ken Burger. Reporting partner, Tindal Huddleston, is based on an enthusiastic young reader I met at a book signing in Florence, SC years ago as well as several strong women I have known throughout my life. And three of the characters were named for contest winners. I hope you enjoyed your characters: Jean Reid and Ryan Grubbs. (The third contest winner, my friend, Jimmy Evans, sadly passed away before Carolina Cruel was published.) Of course, all characters are fiction and all ultimately have a life of their own.
And finally, on a much different note, I was midway through the writing of this novel when the terrible news came about Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where nine members of that church were killed in cold blood. Suffice it to say that a fictional novel has no place in comparison to such a tragic event, but at the time, I couldn’t help but feel that the Carolina Cruel of which I wrote is alive and well in certain societal segments, not only in my state but throughout this country and beyond. However, it was the fallout of that horrible crime that spoke to me even more. When the families of the nine showed such grace and forgiveness when confronting the killer of their loved ones, it moved me beyond words. And ultimately that’s what I wish for every person to take away when faced with similar cruelties. Show the faith, courage, and love that the families of the Emanuel Church Nine showed, and we will make this a better world. From tragedy to triumph, that’s the real power of the palmetto state. That’s the South Carolina that I know.
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