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In one book, CACHALOT, just for my own amusement, every character is based directly on someone I have known.

All characters come from people I know, but after the initial inspiration, I tend to modify the characters so they fit with the story.

I always get inspiration from whatever characters say about my character.

It's a slight stretch of the imagination but most people are alike in most ways so I've never had any trouble identifying with the character that I'm playing.

My characters are all made up of pieces of people I have known, their backstories pieces of mine.

I love to start characters in a place where you think you know them. We can make all kinds of assumptions about them and think they have no redeeming qualities, but like everyone, they're complex.

I do have characters who are more well known than I am, which suits me fine.

All of my characters are a little bit based on people I know in real life. You know when you do that you have to change the character a little bit in case your friend or your relative reads the book, because you don't want them to know you wrote about them... They might get mad.

I really believe in the characters I play.