Like a Rhinestone Cowgirl (Or How Glen Campbell Inspired a Demon-Hunting Stripper)

You might not think Glen Campbell and strippers have a lot to do with each other, but exotic dancer, ghost-hunter, demon-butt-kicker Chloe Everson, the star of my paranormal/horror series The Chloe Files, could tell you different.

Chloe might not have existed if not for Glen.

I don’t know Glen Campbell. He doesn’t know me. Chances are he’ll never read one of my books, though I certainly grew up hearing a lot of his music. I was a big fan of some of his incredible guitar work; namely; his version of The William Tell Overture (better know as The Lone Ranger theme to us Western hero fans) and even his work on the bagpipes in Bonaparte’s Retreat. (Hmmm, maybe Chloe should take up the bagpipes? Nah.) I like Wichita Lineman a lot, too.

And then, of course, there was the big comeback hit in the ‘70s, Rhinestone Cowboy. I was an adolescent when that came out. Every AM station played it to death. As I got older I forgot about it, but something about the tune remained buried in my head, only to resurface years later in a peculiar way.

Flash ahead 20 odd years. I was just starting my horror novel GRIMM. I was discussing the character with a writer friend and what we had was a retired detective who had lost a son through supernatural shenanigans—oh, yes, I said shenanigans!—and official police cover-up. Arlo Grimm’s mission was to track down his son’s killers and be plunged into a career battling the supernatural Big Bad.

But Arlo, I figured, couldn’t do this alone. He was also pretty rough around the edges and needed a softer side, since his wife had been murdered years previously.

That’s when Rhinestone Cowboy started playing in my head.

Seriously.

I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps a strange new type of stroke. But as far as I knew no one had ever perished of Glen Campbell Syndrome before.

A day or two went by. The song refused to leave my head. Holy star-spangled rodeos!

Wait. Star spangled. Cowboy hats. Hmmm. Star-spangled shorts? CowGIRL hats? Blaring country music?

What the hell?

I WAS having a weird-assed stroke. A star-spangled stroke.

Ho, boy.

Well, if it was a stroke I figured I’d best put it to some use because the song wasn’t going away.

Like a Rhinestone…um, cowgirl…Arlo…cowgirl…

Ah-ha!

A dancer. A burlesque type dancer who designs her own costumes and routines. A girl unafraid of her sexuality but still soft and innocent in her own way, though maybe one who underwent loss and tragedy in her life and was forced to do what she had to do to survive. One who’d been, to paraphrase, “walkin’ those streets so long, singin’ the same old song.”

A girl who gets into plenty of paranormal trouble, like Arlo, but who softens his edges, perhaps becomes a victim and feeds his mission…

A girl who danced ot Rhinestone Cowboy!

Chloe Everson was born.

Only she didn’t become a victim. She became an equal, a strong-willed, independent woman who fights all manner of demons, ghosts, zombies and bogeymen. A force unto herself. Using any and all feminine tools at her disposal. As Chloe says, “I’m not afraid of my boobs—men are!”

She bumped and grinded her way into her own series and it’s all because of Glen Campbell.

Like I said, I don’t know Glen. But maybe I owe him a big thanks for his inspiration in creating my character because one of his songs didn’t rest gentle on my mind…

The Chloe Files #1: Ashes to Ashes
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLCRYK
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chloe-Files-1/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012513571

Grimm
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051BUXFU
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Grimm/Howard-Hopkins/e/2940012502018