When folks read my book, Gallery of Lies, I often get asked the question “What or who inspired your main characters?” or more often “Is your main character Mona, based on you?”
Let’s clear this up; Mona is not me. My life isn’t filled with that much drama. Let me add to that, though a character may seem similar to someone you know; it isn’t them. I made sure of that. I’m not trying to end up with no “Best Man” type episode.
At first, Mona was a straight-up bitch. She was a character that it would be hard for anyone to find sympathetic. That was my initial idea, though. I didn’t want to go with the overworked cliché of the man cheating on his wife. I wanted to give the men a break for a change. I wanted Mona to be the scandalous one.
Neither did I want her to be a stereotypical African American woman portrayed in the media. I wanted Mona to be an educated, financially successful, married woman. She would be the type of woman, that on the surface, everyone would say she has it all. She has a big beautiful home, a handsome hubby, and a bomb best friend and yet she isn’t happy. She represents a modern woman that, on paper, should be living her best life. But she puts it all, including her life, in jeopardy.
My inspiration for Mona was both women and men out there trying to live productive lives. People that sometimes take the good things in their lives for granted. She’s an average person that slips up and listens to the devil on the left shoulder that yells a whole lot louder than that angel on the right. We’re human, and we fuck up, but do we learn from those mistakes?
Does it take something tragic like what happened to Mona to learn lessons about love, acceptance, and choosing to be happy? What lessons have your mistakes taught you?
