A few years back, I was brainstorming ideas for a private detective story. I wanted him to be different than the stereotypical PI. Having been born in Northwest Florida, I decided to place my detective in an area I was intimately familiar with and not generally well known to the readership of detective novels. I chose the rural community of Santa Rosa County, a county just east of the city of Pensacola. The county runs from the sugar white sands of the Gulf of Mexico to the pine covered border with Alabama.
As for the cast of characters, I’ve been a fan of the quirky and sometimes outrageous inhabitants of the works of Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and Elmore Leonard. I wanted my stories to tackle serious topics while maintaining an atmosphere where some crazy stuff could happen at any moment. I also believe there needs to be a little humor to temper the edge of serious crimes. I knew all sorts of real whacky people in Northwest Florida. Hell, how many news stories have you seen that start with the tag line, “A man in Florida…”?
When it came to my detective, he had to be unique. I wanted readers to see him, and like his adversaries, underestimate him by his appearance. Having read Game of Thrones and saw the TV series, I knew the character of Tyrion, played wonderfully by Peter Dinklage, was my model. So, he’s 4’4” and has achondroplasia dwarfism.
My initial step was to research the condition of achondroplasia and how a person with the condition would adapt the world around them to suit their needs. My first outreach was to the former President of the Little Persons of New Zealand, Angela Muir Van Etten. Her books were invaluable in learning about the lives of people with dwarfism. Additionally, she put me in touch with members of the LP community who became my beta and sensitivity readers. I started following blogs, podcasts, and social media accounts of people with dwarfism. Their words and experience opened my world to this wonderful community. I was determined to make my detective someone they could be proud of and a positive representation.
Armed with loads of research, I was ready to bring Fix Larson alive. In my next post, I’ll introduce you to Fix as well as his family and the cast of characters that inhabit his world.