As I’ve previously mentioned, most of the humorous scenes in my books are based on real-life incidents. My children and grandchildren have provided ample fodder for my stories. My beta readers have had fun guessing which child served as the source of the tale. When my daughter was young, she had beautiful long blond hair. I purchased a book entitled Braids & Bows that contained instructions for a plethora of hairstyles, and we often braided her hair or pulled it back into a topsy turvy ponytail. Her hair was literally her crowning glory.
One afternoon, her older brother was laying on his stomach watching TV. She crawled onto his back with a pair of snub-nosed scissors and straddled him like a horse. Apparently mesmerized by the show, he ignored her. She impulsively snipped a chunk of hair from the back of his head. We have no idea what prompted the impromptu haircut. He felt the tug and rolled over, grabbed the scissors and took a retaliatory snip…cutting off a huge hunk of hair in the front of her face…down to the scalp.
The above incident spawned a humorous scene in my first book, Seashells and Scoundrels. An abbreviated excerpt is below. The names have been changed to protect the not so innocent.
“We walked back to the TV room…and found them exchanging haircuts… Cameron had only a small divot in his closely cropped mane. His hair was short and would grow back quickly, so I wasn’t too worried. On the other hand, Sheree’s tresses hadn’t been cut since birth and were long and luxurious. I stared at a lengthy strand that had been hacked off. She looked so ridiculous that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I involuntarily chose the latter. I wiped away my silent tears as I gave the hank of hair a proper burial and mourned its loss. Then I went online and ordered a large assortment of hair accessories to camouflage the bald patch. Sheree would probably be wearing clips until college.”
