Special Guest Post by Author Cari Kamm:
The Making of Chloe Kassidy
The Making of Chloe Kassidy
“It was much easier to control the outcome in photography. Heartbreak
couldn’t be retouched.” – Chloe Kassidy
As
someone who has worked in the beauty industry for over a decade, who has
a master’s in clinical nutrition from New York University and currently works
in corporate social media management with clients in the beauty, fashion, and
restaurant industries . . . how the heck did I create a character that’s a
professional photographer? I can say
that I did pull it off considering my editor is a Photonovelist! Heather Hummel
gave me the seal of approval.
Life inspires me to create a character. I don’t necessarily “hear
voices in my head” as someone that would require medical attention. Ha! My
imagination is always alert. It’s on twenty-four hours per day, seven days per
week. Yes, even when I’m sleeping.
In an instant, I can go from sipping my cappuccino, to
walking along a tree-lined street, while sitting in a movie theater, to having
lunch with a friend, if inspired by a sound, a person, a smell, or even a
shadow, my mind will wander off and absorb something specific in a moment. That
moment can lead me into a story idea or a personality for a character.
My protagonist Chloe Kassidy has just been accepted into one
of Manhattan’s most exclusive art exhibits, Love
Through Light. However, with her singular dedication to her career, she
soon realizes that in sacrificing her personal life, she has never been in
love. A hopeless romantic who is terrified of heartbreak, Chloe begins to
enlist the help of her circle of friends to learn about love through their very
different stories and experiences.
So why a photographer? I felt it would be a creative career
that would allow the story to be told through the lens and allow Chloe to
remain safe. To create a photographer, I had to declare myself as a
photographer. For almost six months, I researched online photography and
equipment blogs. I attended gallery openings, watched YouTube videos, and did
several searches on photography terms and definitions. I highlighted words that
could also be applied to love. Finally, I pulled out my Canon (I could finally
use!) and behaved as a photographer. I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, through
Central Park and sat in restaurants to create the voice of Chloe Kassidy. I
took pictures everyday! Throughout my own daily life, a moment may capture me
and I think, “Wow... my character would eat that, do that, say that, adore
that.” All of the scenes in FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY were shot throughout the two
years it took to write it. Lastly, I have family members that love photography
as a hobby and one that is a professional photographer. I asked them personal
questions such as “What do you feel when you’re shooting?” or “How does it feel
when you’re capturing a moment?”
Chloe Kassidy and I shared similar feelings of failing, of
not finishing, or not getting it right. She prepared for her exhibit opening
and I work to complete the novel.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
was inspired by the notion that women grow up with ideas of true love and
destiny, For Internal Use Only approaches those ideas with a decidedly
twenty-first century viewpoint. By incorporating problems inherent with today’s
dating world, this book is meant to enlighten readers to stop chasing fairytales
and start creating their own. My goal was to write a humorous love story with
an edgy and dramatic twist that gives each of us a new fairy tale to look
forward to: our own.
Cari Kamm has worked in the beauty industry for over a
decade, building brands, working behind the scenes, and even selling her own
skin care line. She has a master’s in clinical nutrition from New York
University. Kamm currently works in corporate social media management with
clients in the beauty, fashion, and restaurant industries. Living in New York
City with her mutt Schmutz, Kamm loves finding inspiration in the most
unexpected places, being a novelist, and convincing her fiancé that ordering
takeout and making dinner reservations are equal to cooking. More information
can be found on her website, CariKamm.com.
To check out the book trailer, click here: http://tinyurl.com/bdr7bfn.
