“Hanged Man” is a work of fiction, and as such the usual disclaimer text that ‘any resemblance between the characters herein and real persons living or otherwise is purely coincidental’ applies.
Allow me to stress that this applies especially to the character of the wife, who bears no resemblance whatsoever to any wife I have ever known, especially my own. While my own wife is as dedicated and loving as Mrs. Ron, the wife in Hanged Man, this resemblance is purely coincidental and she most definitely lacks both Mrs. Ron’s murderously vengeful streak and her inability to listen to reason.
Likewise, the primary male character, Mr. Ron, has nothing in common with anyone I know, including me. He is a perfect example of the Nice Guy, whereas I am more the weasely, sneaky type. His kidneys fail, mine are, so far, just fine. We both do happen to be exhausted and in great need of naps during the day (much to Ron’s eventual chagrin) but, as with my own wife and Mrs. Ron, this is purely coincidental.
Like all the characters in this story, or in any other story of mine, these characters are complete and utter inventions, fictional constructs. Even in the rare instances where I do violate this principle and use details I have gleaned from observing persons with whom I have come into contact, such details are invariably taken out of context and combined with other details, real or imagined, such that my characters cannot, absolutely cannot, be said to bear any resemblance to any real persons, much less be based on them.
It might help illustrate the extreme degree to which every single detail in this work is invented to insert a word about from where, when inventing said details, I get my inspiration: the characters were developed largely in the same way I develop all my characters, in this story and anything else I write: they popped into my head pre-formed while I was taking a shower one morning. Showering is, for me, creative activity number one.
If this fails, I do sometimes shuffle through a deck of tarot cards (which is how I arrived at the title of this piece) or look through a random selection of color chips in search of chance inspiration. For example, it was precisely by means of this latter technique that I arrived at the character of the hit-man Mussini, the ultra Marine. Along similar lines, details such as the Native American motel cashier White Glove, and even minor descriptive details of setting such as the