Behind the Story by Sloan Parker

Character Inspiration & Details

Kyle and Evan have been best friends for years. Now they are finally taking a chance on more. Below are some of the behind-the-story details about these two men.

Please note: These details could be considered minor spoilers for the character backstories in Take Me Home.

EVAN WALKER

Age: 29
Occupation: Waiter; Aspiring Writer for TV
Residence: Currently staying with his best friend, Kyle Bennett.
Originally from Liberty Falls, Ohio
Never had many friends in his hometown.
Still sees himself as the geeky boy everyone knew was gay before he did.
Loves the Christmas holiday.
Has a shot at his dream job writing for a popular network drama.
Fell in love with his best friend in high school but knew it could never be more than friendship.
His partner of 10 years just dumped him.

KYLE BENNETT

Age: 29
Occupation: Mystery Novelist
Residence: Apartment in West Hollywood, California
Originally from Liberty Falls, Ohio
His best-selling mystery series features an amateur gay sleuth named Mac.
Popular in high school.
Has never had a serious relationship. Has never wanted one.
At-ease with who he is.
Admires the hell out of his best friend.
Is seriously considering moving home to Ohio to get over his writer's block but doesn't want to leave if Evan needs him.

Scene Board

Take Me Home’s scene board (cleverly covered by my editing check marks to avoid spoilers). Each scene actually has 8 or more check mark post-its. I kept track of my read-throughs on a scene-by-scene basis.

In-Process Manuscript

Just for fun I took a picture of the manuscript while I was in the process of revising (from the back so you can’t get a glimpse of all my red pen scribbles). If you look closely you can see my cat’s whiskers on the right. He kept an eye on me, making sure I stayed on task.

Playlist for Kyle and Evan

Sometimes When We Touch, Dan Hill

Let's stay Together, Al Green

Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol

Have a Little Faith In Me, John Hiatt

First Time, Lifehouse

Maybe I'm Amazed, Paul McCartney

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Roberta Flack

Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers

You Are So Beautiful, Joe Cocker

Built to Last, Melee

A Preview in Pictures

During my research phase of writing Take Me Home, I saved links and images and descriptions for inspiration as I wrote. The following is a preview of Take Me Home using only a sampling of the pictures from my research notes. Under each photo is a link where I found the photo and the credit if it’s available.

AmtrakRoute
Image Credit: Amtrak website

Photo Credit: Wigwam Jones

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: Amtrak

Image Credit: Amtrak

Photo Credit: no body atoll

Photo Credit: pferriola

Photo Credit: Virtual Farm Boy

Photo Credit: The West End

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Minerva Bloom

Photo Credit: oakmechinsl

Photo Credit: Decarli

Photo Credit: Loco ( Inactive ) Steve

Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Doug Wornom collection

This one's a video, you can watch here if it's not embedded below.

Photo Credit

Graphical Preview

A word cloud view of an excerpt

click image for larger view

Research Links

Here's a sampling of the sites I came across during the research phase of writing this book (which may or may not have ended up being related to what I was actually looking for):

Please note: The following links and their titles include spoilers for the book TAKE ME HOME.

How much is a million dollars?

A Million Dollars - Currency Photos

Crossing the United States by train, from just $212

15 of the Biggest Bank Heists Ever

Preston State Bank Dallas Texas Money Bag circa 1960

The Case of the Stranded Streamliner

Through the Pass in Winter

Sierra Nevada Mountains Foothills