Words to live by.

 

The Dream Factory: Alice Kennedy

I realized that I told you all about Katrina, but I had never talked about the lady who kicked off The Dream Factory series, Alice Kennedy!

Many (many) years ago, as a teenager, my family frequented a local costume shop, as one does. I thought it was the most magical place I had ever been and I yearned to run a shop like that, full of fabric, color, makeup, and other creative tools.  The smell of clothing and high quality, theatrical makeup were balms to my young soul. These were the days before those cheap, nasty costumes in plastic bags, so everything looked gorgeous.

I had put that dream aside, but every so often, I would start a story about something amazing in a costume shop. It wasn't until I approached the magical Shea MacLeod to co-write it that I was able to find the real story.

Meet Alice Kennedy. My gorgeous young woman who needed to a chance to escape her family and discover what her real talents were. Last time, I talked about the keywords we use to get a feel for the theme and character of a new novel. Here are Alice's:

lavish, lush, color, adornment, whimsy. Beauty brings peace of mind, fashion makes a difference, fertility, creativity, conservation, fear, lush, fantasy, inner selves vs outer personas, dry, drought, depression, hard-time, care-worn, dusty, dry, clean, sparkling, rules, rebellion.

Her Motto: We need bread and roses.

Alice came into the sad town of Gold Coast, Illinois, and brought it to life. She is living her dream, and in many ways, she is living my dream, too. How wonderful is *that*?