Princess Rosy

Where does inspiration come from?

One of the main characters in Ten Fingers Touching is Princess Rosy.  She is a charming but headstrong child.

The Princess is described as having a round face and a head full of curly, chestnut-brown hair with long locks that cascade down her back.  She doesn’t enjoy her school lessons but rather prefers music, theatrics and exploring the world on her own terms.  While lovable, the Princess’ independent spirit and impetuous nature often get her into trouble.

Charlotte, who passed away 7 years ago at the age of 81

Illustrator, John Blumen, created the image of the Princess that appears on the top left.  When I first saw the picture, I was shocked at how much the illustration of Rosy, age 7,  resembled the portrait of my mother, Charlotte, at age 11!  It also struck me that Rosy embodied not only my mother’s beauty but her forceful personality as well!

Sometimes inspiration is obvious, sometimes it’s not.  It seems clear to me in retrospect that the Princess was subconsciously based on my mother’s appearance and attributes even though at the time I was not aware of the connection!