A Thief in the Night (and Day)

By Deborah Sharp

I have no qualms about stealing. Before you call the morals police, let me clarify. I'm talking quirks, tics, snippets of speech -- the kinds of things I observe in strangers and friends, and then turn into personal traits for my characters. All authors do it. It's the reason that websites can sell t-shirts to writers that say: Careful, or I'll Put You in My Book!

A former reporter, I've long been skilled in eavesdropping. Just because I changed careers doesn't mean I stopped doing it. When my husband and I are out to dinner, he can always tell when I start: Head cocked, distant look in my eyes, finger-shushing him. Yep, I'm mining the conversation two tables away for a valuable nugget.

Hard work, right? Well, somebody has to do it.

Sometimes, though, I don't even have to work that hard to steal. Sometimes, I'm given a gift. Like the note from a stranger that came across the e-transom the other day. ''I'm a 67-year-old who says whatever needs sayin,' and people can like it or not,'' wrote Carol, a feisty reader from Florida. ''A lot of people want me to be nicer sometimes, but people in Hell want ice-water, too . . . ''

I knew two things immediately when I read that sentence. One, I LOVED Carol. Two, Sure as shootin,' her words would be coming out of my ''Mama'' character's mouth just as soon as I could work them into the plot of my work-in-progress. (I know you're not asking, but that one's No. 5, and it's called MAMA GETS TRASHED.)

I e-mailed back to Carol, confessing my thieving tendencies. I told her I planned to steal her saying, and give it to Mama. She was so happy about that, she offered to send me some more.

I'm not always that upfront about it. And, people aren't always pleased to have their personalities purloined. To research the setting of my second book, I rode the Florida Cracker Trail cross-state horseback ride. After MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN came out, several of the female riders asked me, accusingly, if I'd based this description on them: ''... a middle-aged cowgirl whose bottom was too broad for her jeans.''

I denied it. In that case, I was actually describing me.

People always assume the Mama character is based on my own mother. They're right, of course, and they're wrong, too. Unlike the books' Mama, my mother is not a Southern belle. She's . . . gasp! . . . a Yankee. On the other hand, my mama has had multiple marriages. She drinks cheap pink wine. She's gambled a bit with the Seminoles. Just like the ''fictional'' Mama.

Even so, it's never bothered my mother that I borrowed some of her traits for the books. The one thing that does bother her?

"I don't like that title,'' she told me, as No. 1 was hitting bookstores.

"Well, it's too late now,'' I said. "But, why not?''

She pointed at each word on the cover: ''Mama Does Time? People are going to think I'm in prison!''

So, allow me to set the record straight here. My mama, at 96, is not in prison. At least not currently.

How about you, writers? Do you steal for your characters? Readers, have you ever recognized yourself in someone else's book?