Maggie: Getting Along with the Neighbors

In my work-in-progress MAGGIE RISING, I not only have a main character I'm really enjoying, but some fun secondary characters have been introducing themselves along the way.

Here is how Maggie begins her conversation with her neighbor:

I was opening my front door to go back inside when I spotted Mr. Haskins, the man who owns the bakery next door. Since I moved in here last summer, Mr. Haskins has been less than thrilled about having a psychic reader for a neighbor. Although he has said little to me, he has talked a lot about me and much of it has come back through the grapevine.

Haskins has the perfect look for a baker, like a nice round loaf of fluffy white bread, but the triumph on his face as he barreled his way across our shared parking lot told me had come up with a new way to get rid of me and he felt fairly confident about his plan’s success.

I put on my best neighborly smile. “Hi, Mr. Haskins. Gorgeous day, isn’t it?” In fact, it was a gorgeous day. Chico has lots of gorgeous days in October, but this was one was perfect; the sort our Chamber of Commerce would love to bottle and sell – temperature about seventy degrees, light breeze just whispering past our skin, cloudless skies the color of cornflowers, roses still blooming everywhere – yes, perfect!

Mr. Haskins was having none of it. “I did my research!” he announced as he came puffing to a stop a few feet away, his fleshy face a rich shade of burgundy. He waved a stack of newspapers at me. “You didn’t file a D.B.A. You never published an F.B.N.!”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself that crazy people always think they’re making sense. “Is this an alphabet game?” I asked pleasantly. “I could answer you A.S.A.P. or even P.D.Q. if I had any idea what you’re talking about.”

Mr. Haskins wasn't in my original plan, but he is becoming a more important character all the time, and I'm really learning to like him. I hope you will, too.