Today I’m giving some time on my blog to the awesome A. M. Leibowitz. She is one of the wonderful writers I met while doing WIPpet Wednesdays. I cannot encourage you enough to support her and her book, Lower Education (coming out November 1st). Anyways, I won’t keep you from her post any longer.
~o~ O ~o~
When I was asked to write this guest post, we agreed it would be fun to keep it light, especially since the book has a humorous overtone to it. The question arose, “How would your characters dress for Halloween?”
There are three main point-of-view characters in Lower Education, as well as a number of important side characters. I’ve included a few brief excerpts to give some context for the characters.
First for the three leads:
Phin, my Pied Piper stand-in, is a smooth-talking professional accustomed to reading people and convincing them he’s giving them what they think they want in order to get what he wants. I have a feeling he would choose something villainous—perhaps Dracula.
Alex, the slightly uptight school psychologist, would be more than happy to avoid the whole holiday. I imagine him sitting in his house, keeping the external lights off in order to prevent trick-or-treaters from pestering him.
Phin’s breath caught in his throat, and his pulse sped up again in a way that had nothing to do with fear. He had to tighten his muscles to avoid sucking in his breath, taking in Alex’s wavy, dark hair, his olive skin, and the light stubble on his chin. There was no harm in responding. Leaning closer so that he was in Alex’s personal space, he lowered his voice in both pitch and volume. “Is that so? Are you suggesting that you’re more my type?” He reached out and let his fingers brush against Alex’s arm.
A muscle in Alex’s face twitched, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. He pulled away. “As if.”
Dani, the school secretary and digger-upper of Important Information, doesn’t strike me as the costume type. But I picture her decorating her house, going all out with the spider webs and the skeleton on the porch and the pumpkins carved or painted by her kids. She’ll have the house everyone wants to visit, especially because she doesn’t give out the cheap candy.
Dani tilted her head. “You sound disappointed that he’s actually a responsible adult.”
Alex huffed. “I really don’t think I can do this,” he said. “He’s just so…infuriating.”
Laying a hand on his arm, Dani said, “Yes, you can. I know you. Don’t let him get to you. At least, not until you wheedle some information out of him.” She winked.
As for the rest of the gang, this is what I see:
Vic, Dani’s lover and the owner of the local bed and breakfast, strikes me as the mad scientist sort. He adores Dani’s kids, so my guess is he’s chaperoning their neighborhood trek. I’m willing to lay odds on Phin inviting himself along, though.
“What changed?” Dani asked. “Why did you decide to tell us?”
Phin’s cheeks reddened slightly and he didn’t say anything. Dani watched him, trying to read what he was thinking.
Vic leaned forward and peered at Phin, then burst out laughing. “Oh, man. You have really got it bad. Look at yourself.” He continued to snicker quietly.
Gia, one of the teachers at the school, is young and pretty, but she’s perceived as being a bit flighty. Since she’s actually the opposite, I think she would play on the trope of “sexy nurse,” enhancing the costume with something sinister.
Eunice, another one of the teachers, is in her early fifties. She seems like the type to pretend Halloween isn’t her thing while secretly enjoying every minute. She’ll have a witches hat or a pair of cat ears, and she’ll spend the night with Dani and Gia handing out candy.
Gia continued, “Wait, wasn’t he the copy guy?”
“Gia, didn’t you hear Dani? He’s from State Ed.” Eunice huffed.
“Oh. Well, he’s still cute.” Gia grinned. “It was super nice of him to fix the copier, too.” She frowned. “Too bad he couldn’t have done it before it ruined half my packets this morning. For some reason, it flipped it so the back side of every page was upside down.”
“I think being around kindergartners all day is causing you to lose brain cells,” Eunice suggested. “He wasn’t fixing the damn copier! And who cares what he looks like? I want to know what he’s doing here.” She twisted back and forth on her stool.
As for Dani’s kids—who are the only children featured in the story—her son is a fairly “typical” little boy who is likely to choose as superhero costume. Dani’s daughter will unquestionably be Elsa from Frozen. She’s the only one I’m one hundred percent certain about.
So, how would your characters dress for Halloween success?
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lower-Education-M-Leibowitz-ebook/dp/B00NCA48TE/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/473664
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lower-education-a-m-leibowitz/1120325979?ean=2940046149760
Author bio:
M. Leibowitz is a spouse, parent, feminist, and book-lover falling somewhere on the Geek-Nerd Spectrum. She keeps warm through the long, cold western New York winters by writing romantic plot twists and happy-for-now endings. In between noveling and editing, she blogs coffee-fueled, quirky commentary on faith, culture, writing, and her family.
Find me on the Internet:
Web site: http://amleibowitz.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amymitchell29 (personal profile); https://www.facebook.com/UnchainedFaith (author page)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyunchained (@amyunchained)
Let's Conect! 
Gloria Weber 
Thanks for having me! 🙂
My pleasure! 🙂
“I think being around kindergartners all day is causing you to lose brain cells,” LOL