Although Finding Atticus is a work of fiction and was totally conjured up in my mind, there are portions of me and my life embedded in the plot.  Here are a few of them. 

** The Finger Lakes region in western New York is real, and that's where I grew up.  (Visit my contact and links page to get more information about this area.)  Yates County is also real.

** My husband, Jim, and I had a beautiful golden retriever for 15 1/2 years.  Brandy was our first family dog. She was exactly the same color as Atticus. This is us celebrating Brandy's 4th birthday.

** Although there is a real Mr. Hubbard (my husband's uncle) who almost always wears a red Boston Red Sox baseball cap and uses a black rolling walker with a seat, he is not the same Mr. Hubbard as in the book. The real Mr. Hubbard (see picture below) never lived in NY, never owned a farm or a dog named Roxy. Here the "real" Mr. Hubbard is wearing his WWII veteran's hat because he was going to march in the Veterans' Day Parade in Hartford. He is just as sweet and kind as the Mr. Hubbard in Finding Atticus.

** When I was growing up, my younger brother and I built a small cabin/shack in the woods similar to the one in Finding Atticus. The immediate area, as described in the book, is just like the real location.

** Although Keuka Shores is not a real place, Keuka Lake is, and they have wonderful volunteer fire departments and ambulance corps.

** The inspiration for the fire department scenes and characters in my book came from my husband, Jim.  He has been a very dedicated volunteer firefighter since 1977.  He joined the day before he turned 16 and has been very active ever since.  Early on he became an Emergency Medical Technician. Over the years, he served in many officer positions, reaching the rank of Chief in 2001.  In 2002, he and two fellow firefighters rescued an elderly woman from her burning home.  His fire department has named some of their apparatus after long-time members, which is where that idea came from for Finding Atticus.  He also attended many "wet downs" as described in the novel. Ironically, his inspiration for pursuing firefighting came from his uncle, Bud Hubbard, who served in both career and volunteer fire departments in his younger years. (Yes, the same Mr. Hubbard as pictured above.)

** When I pictured Jamie's classroom in my mind, I pictured a combination of my 6th grade classroom when I went to school in Prattsburgh (which didn't have an "h" at the end of the name at that time) and my very first classroom that I taught in.  The park in Prattsburgh was in my mind, but the firehouse is not visible from the school.

** There isn't a real Red Hen Diner (that I know of), but my cousin owns a restaurant in Prattsburgh called Robbins' Nest which is what I pictured when writing about Mr. Hubbard and the restaurant.

** I grew up on a dairy farm, so it was very easy for me to write about the fields, the buildings and Jamie's lovely grandparents.  Also, my paternal grandparents lived just down the dirt road from us, as Jamie's do, and my maternal grandparents lived three miles away.  My grandparents and extended family were very influential during my childhood and young adult years. Now, my parents are adored by their thirteen grandchildren and one great grandchild.

** The quotes Jamie's grandfather has shared with Jamie were not his original quotes, but they had an impact on how Jamie viewed things in her life.  He used them to teach her a lesson. My grandmothers, in particular, often shared little bits of wisdom that I still think about to this day.

** I have always loved and had animals.  Over the years, I've owned dogs, cats, horses, ponies, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, cows and calves (the cows and calves actually belonged to my father but I considered them family property) birds, chickens, mice and who knows what else.  My animals always live long, healthy lives.  My horse was 38 years old when she died and Brandy was almost 16.  A few years back I inherited a 6 year old dwarf rabbit when friends moved to Vermont.  That rabbit lived to be 11 years old, too.  (Supposedly they have a life span of about 5 or 6 years.)  I guess if you're an animal, you want to be owned by me.