The Three Amigos

I have a handful of best friends. How about you? I think most of us feel close to a few people, not hoards.

Today I want to talk about two of my sister-friends, Myra and Marka. We call ourselves the Three Amigos. We’ve known each other for thirty years and joke that we have to stay friends because we know too much. We don’t want anyone telling our deepest, darkest secrets.

When I first met Myra, we went to lunch one day at a Mexican restaurant. A roach crawled up the wall beside us in the middle of her telling a story. Without breaking stride, she took off her shoe, killed the pest, and went on with her story. I knew she was my kind of woman.

Myra introduced me to Marka, who is ten years younger than the other two of us. Beautiful, stylish, Southern as all get-out, and smart as a whip, I fell in love with her, too, as soon as I met her.

We’re all married, so the husband stories have abounded, as you can well imagine. We love our families but treasure our time together. We meet informally for lunch throughout the year, but it’s tradition to meet before Christmas for a long lunch to exchange small gifts, and then wander through an antique store or two. 

It’s this friendship I used as a model for my latest novel, Secrets of the Island. A romantic suspense story, the “Three Musketeers” band together to solve a family mystery. When they solve one, another crops up, so they keep going. It takes place during World War II, so wartime issues intertwine with their lives. 

As I wrote, I would think of Myra’s effervescent take on life and Marka’s way of turning a phrase. My characters took on their personalities, with someone a lot like me in the middle orchestrating the solving of the mystery. 

I think this is what we as writers do. We don’t disclose our friends’ secrets, but we automatically use who and what we know to write. As I wrote about the Three Musketeers, I fell in love with those characters. Do you as a writer fall in love with some of your characters? I hope so. That’s what will make your readers fall in love with them, too.

This writing also made me fall in love with the Three Amigos all over again. Here’s to sister-friends everywhere. May you stay friends forever, holding those secret stories locked away in your heart.

2 Comments

  • My sweet talented Linda…
    My Facebook post today.
    Women need each other, yet experience will tell you that often cultivating and keeping a friend in today’s world can be difficult and fleeting. With no siblings, a mother who, God love her, who just never could let a parent-child relationship turn into a friendship with mutual respect and a husbands family that never warmed up to me friendships are my lifeline to sanity. Twenty- eight years ago quite by accident I met what would become my sister’s of the heart. Because I decided one evening, as a young mother of a 3 month old, to drive 1.5 hours to a social gathering at the encouragement of my precious husband my life was to be enriched beyond my dreams. I had every reason to stay home, a baby who never slept, which meant I didn’t sleep and a lack of funds that would have made saying no even easier. Instead I said yes to the invitation to attend this social event and I met what would become one of two amazing women whose love and friendship has enriched my life substantially. Myra Myra Lewis Williams, amazing Realtor, author, ex-celebrity Rock n Roll wife, wife of a man who has been my go to big brother for 25+ years and my friend. Myra introduced me to Linda Hughes who by all accounts can make me happy by just saying hello, author of multiple books, world wide speaker, teacher, wife to cutie pie Joe and my friend. We call our selves the 3 amigos. I discovered this blog on Linda’s website, she has written yet another book and I saw myself in the pages. Thank you Linda Hughes for loving me, letting my crazy inspire and for taking time to be my friend. I hope you will read her books, I know I am partial but these latest just are fabulous reads. And the next time you have the opportunity to meet a new friend or cultivate a friendship that’s new or breath life back into one that obligations had kept you from Do It. When you are in a gathering don’t just talk to the same faces that are comfortable, God can amaze you when you crawl out of that comfort zone.
    Keep writing Linda, we need you out here ?‍♀️

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *