Breaking news! The winner of Leslie Karst's MOLTON DEATH is Joan Emerson. Joan please email Leslie, LJKarst at gmail dot com to claim your prize!
LUCY BURDETTE: as I mentioned Monday, Lottie and I go out for a coffee from the nearby Cuban coffee queen every morning. We walk in and get in line , and while we’re waiting, I am watching the other customers and the baristas. Lottie is watching the door to the back kitchen area in case someone should emerge with a paper plate full of turkey. (This happens sometimes so she is ever hopeful.) But on this particular day, I was in line behind a Key West police officer.
When there is a cruise ship at Mallory Square, they send a few officers to guard the entrance to the on-ramp. He was ordering breakfast sandwiches and coffee for several. All I could notice is how tall he was. I didn’t ask him, of course, but I’m sure he was over 6 feet, and that got me wondering about life as me, a short person, versus life as him, a very tall person. How differently would you see the world?
In my Monroe County Sheriffs Police Academy last year, one of the officers was about my height. I asked her, whether her size affected her job. She thought it helped because she was not instantly intimidating to citizens and could talk to them more easily. Interesting, right? I don’t think I’ve ever written a tall main character, and I’m not sure I’d have the perspective to do that. (Which is kind of silly because I write all kinds of characters with all kinds of backgrounds, so why would height make any difference?) But tell me it wouldn't make a difference if you were a SWAT team officer this size, versus me?
If you write, how tall are your characters? As a reader, do you notice these things?
