Making Friends Character Spotlight
"The only same named teachers who regularly wear matching outfits in the nine state area."
It’s Tuesday, which means we’re seven weeks from the launch of my funniest book to date and first cozy mystery, Making Friends Can Be Murder!
In the next few weeks, I’m rolling out some sneak-peek character previews to convey the vibe in this new book.
Intrepid Substack readers might remember the “Which Sarah Are You?” Quiz from a few weeks back. If on question 2, “What do you do for fun?”, you chose the answer D.: “Wear matching outfits with your BFF and take a daily selfie,” you might have found that you are most like the dynamic duo of Sarahs 39 and 44, today’s spotlight gals.
The deal is, in Making Friends Can Be Murder, there are six members of The Sarah Jones Project (TSJP), all named Sarah Jones. They identify themselves by their ages to avoid confusion. TSJP starts as a high-schooler’s project to bring together an intergenerational group of women for camaraderie and whimsy (and to expunge her unfortunate disciplinary record). To make this work, the Sarahs had to be people who’d credibly decide to join a random group like this one.
Who would go? This was what we all—my agent, my editor, and I—wondered.
Here’s what I came up with: someone new to town and in need of friends (Sarah 30) would go, as would a retiree with a Murder, She Wrote blog to promote (Sarah 69), said troubled teen with the bad record (17), a con artist with a mark in the group (27), and also “the only same named teachers who regularly wear matching outfits in the nine-state area,” Sarahs 39 and 44, who occupy adjoining classrooms and have an up-and-coming Instagram platform under the username TwinTeachersInThirdland.
They’re funny and not that motivated to solve the crime, but 39 and 44 are definitely influenced by my own personal dual loves of teaching and wearing matching outfits. Here’s a mood board highlighting several times I forced someone I work with to wear matching outfits with me:
The top left is just yesterday at my school’s faculty BADMINTON TOURNAMENT. Christina and I were coaches with matching outfits, including sweatbands ordered expressly for the bit. (Just in case you’re wondering, I did not, in fact, desire to participate in any way in the badminton extravaganza. Don’t put me down for “fun.”) I do like being right, though, and you can get that Jessica Fletcher magnet on Teepublic here.
Here are some other facts about Sarahs 39 and 44:
Only once does one appear in the book without the other.
They take sketchnotes at TSJP meetings and post them online. Sketchnotes are a little homage to my friend, Lee, as is the “Thirdland” part of their Instagram handle. That’s what Lee calls her third-grade classroom.
They work at Liston Heights Elementary. Liston Heights is the fake suburb of Minneapolis that appears in all of my books so far.
They wear a t-shirt with that Jessica Fletcher quote on it early in the book. It’s merch from Sarah 69’s blog.
AND, I MADE A MISTAKE WITH THEM!
There are mistakes in all the books. No matter how many times we read them, no matter how many times our editors and agents and copy editors and proofreaders read them, sometimes there’s a mistake. And I found one. Here it is:
On page 6, 39 says her “first graders” will love the yarn-bombing project the Sarahs are working on. Friends, 39 does not teach first grade. It’s third. THIRDLAND.
Damn.
Anyway. Probably no one will notice.
Do you like the character preview?? Are you excited for the next one?? And, thank you to my friends who indulge me with matching outfits. It makes me very, very happy, and I don’t quite know why.