When I started writing Persona Non Grata, I was eager to complete it in six months, fearful that the timeliness of the underlying theme — guns and gun control — would no longer be in the headlines and the topic would be yesterday’s news. I was certain that readers only wanted to consume hot topics and if it took me any longer than half a year to get it out and another six months to edit and find a publisher, no one would be interested in what I had to say. You know how short most people’s attentions spans are these days! Everything has a to be titillating, timely and brief. News in sound bites.
How silly of me! Two-plus years later, guns are more topical than ever!
Because I honed my journalistic skills at a daily newspaper, I learned early on the meaning of the word urgency. As such, I view nearly everything I do in life with a sense of urgency, as if I have only a limited time left on this earth to accomplish everything I need to do. Well, of course I have only so much time, and while that kind of thinking can be counterproductive, it has served me well. Just look at the characters I create.
The First Protagonist
As I was feeling my way through the first draft of Persona Non Grata — which amounted to only five pages — I created a much different protagonist in the form of a mousy, yet driven female court reporter who’d become acutely distressed from listening to all the hideous testimonies of murder trials she’d been assigned to. Believing she can track down a serial killer on the loose in Northern San Diego County by herself — one that has eluded capture for years — she decides to retrace his footsteps along Highway 76, which bisects Riverside County to the south and San Diego County to the north.
On her way one morning to Pala Casino — situated on Highway 76 on the Pala Indian Reservation, and on whose property one of the serial killer’s victim’s bodies was recently found — her plans are interrupted when a co-worker from her agency doesn’t report for work and her boss assigns her to the case. Could her co-worker be another innocent victim of the elusive serial killer?
Sounded alright, but it just wasn’t grabbing me; I had no idea where I was going with it, so I scrapped it. I needed a better protagonist, one that was more hip, slick and cool. One that would have a solid reason for doing the things she eventually does (track down and murder sexual sadists/serial killers). A woman who’d survived sexual abuse at the hands of a family member, who is driven to seek justice for herself as well as for countless other victims. A woman, who in seeing the failures of the so-called justice system, is compelled to attain a career in law enforcement so that she can mete out justice on her terms for the sake of a civil society.
Lisa
And this is how and why I created Lisa Benton. A no-nonsense parole officer able to instill respect from the worst of the worst male offenders while being adept at handling a firearm like a pro. She’s tall, good looking, dresses sharply and carries a .45 under her arm. (I can only dream of carrying such a big gun!) And like me, she also likes her gin and tonic with three limes! She’s got no time for dating, and even less time for close friends. Her focus is clear: to not only eradicate the bad guys still out in society before they have a chance to murder again, but to also eliminate newly released sexual predators, who will no doubt go back to their evil ways, even with ankle monitors.
Lisa allowed me to live out a fantasy of retribution where none seemed to exist for many victims of abuse and murder. Every time I’d read or hear about yet another sexual sadist having his way with innocents (especially children), I’d wonder what would happen if that creep were met with the same type of violent death he was perpetrating on others? While Lisa is certainly not without her faults and shortcomings (who isn’t?), she was a fun character to create and watch from afar as she forged her way across page after page of adventures. She guided me into situations I never knew I had in my consciousness — much less write about — while allowing me to delve deeper into her psyche.
She’s a keeper!
Rochelle Kaplan of San Clemente, Calif., is the author of three novels, with Persona Non Grata being her third. Focused and motivated, she writes consistently every day, and has just completed her fourth novel and sequel to Persona Non Grata, titled Day of Reckoning, which will be published this year. Follow Rochelle Kaplan’s writing on the Persona Non Grata Facebook page or email her directly at personanongratathebook@gmail.com