It’s Friday and that means it is time to develop another Texan. The story I am writing takes place in Texas and involves a group of jurors. Each week I am trying to bring another one of these people to life. I don’t have a format or anything–I hope that develops along the way. I just want to connect to the character–introduce them to me.
Linda Anderson is a storyteller. At least, that is what she would say if asked. She shares tales of her small corner of Texas and it’s big football culture and, more interestingly, it’s superstitious lore. Linda is an influencer. She creates 45 second videos on her social media platform designed to give viewers a taste of Texas lore. At 19, she’s already been doing it for six years.. and has about twice as many real followers as that. Still, the work is her Gospel of sorts. It started right when she started high school. Young for high school, she found that she wasn’t really the type of girl that people noticed. She wasn’t the type of girl people picked on either. She was just there. Being there she heard all the whispers and rumors and stories about the dark history of her 30 year old school and about her town. She grew more and more interested in such things and in the structure of those things. As she continued to exist on the fringe of the culture she continued to listen and continued to discover her own place in things.
Linda is blonde, with pale skin for a Texan and sharp brown eyes. She keeps her hair long and straight, never one to go for the hairstlye of the moment. She’s thin, lacking the curves the boys want to talk about so much. Though not popular, she isn’t without her friends. She talks to people in all social circles, though not about her secret life as a superstition influencer. It isn’t so much as a secret as it–and she–is overlooked.