TRUE or FALSE:
In Seven for a Secret, Kate's boyfriend Dexter is based on the author's ex-boyfriend who worked at the Adler Planetarium.
Think it over...
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Answer: FALSE!
I got asked this question a lot by friends who know my dating history, so allow me to set the record straight that Dex is in no way inspired by my ex who worked at the Adler Planetarium.
To start, that guy worked in Adler's IT department, not the Education one, like Kate and Dex do. The real reason I employed my characters there is because I volunteered at the Adler on weekends. Wearing my red volunteer polo and my trusty lanyard, I worked closely with the Education department in creating what they called "make-and-takes" with the kids who visited the museum. They were little activities that usually involved coloring, cutting out, and assembling a basic astronomical tool, like a sundial or star-finder, or making bracelets out of plastic UV beads and then holding them up to the sun to watch how they changed color. I also participated in special events, like the museum overnights and Celestial Ball mentioned in Chapter 6. There, I'd get to present little demos on air pressure and hydroponics or whatnot, help with telescopes, pose with aliens for photos...you know, the usual. ;) One year at the Celestial Ball, actually, I sold a raffle ticket to an older gentleman, and it wasn't until he'd walked away that I actually read his name on our sign-up sheet: Jim Lovell. Yes, as in Apollo 13.
Who says astronomy's not cool now! Face!
In any case, I loved my experiences at the Adler. The volunteer coordinator was nothing like Vicki, she actually did her job and did it well, but I was like Kate in favoring the antique sundial by the medieval classroom; I would sit in that window seat to reflect during a quiet time. And somehow I was partial to the Atwood Sphere, too; we're jaded now by the technology of modern sky theatres, but you've gotta appreciate the Sphere's history, and it provided such a perfect link between Kate's and Lon's stories.
And yes, I have more than a passing interest in astronomy, but my time at the planetarium was meaningful in another way that I suspect was fated from the moment I found an Adler pamphlet in the women's restroom at Joe's on Weed St. I was working in finance at the time and generally feeling a void in my career, so just seeing this brochure inspired me to contact the museum about volunteering. And so I did, and in becoming a volunteer, I found such joy in teaching and interacting with the public, that I was in turn inspired to leave the business world and become an educator instead. And so I did, and in becoming a high school English teacher, I cultivated the passion and skills that now feed my work as a writer and editor.
So, between the Adler's influence on me when I was about Kate's age and its rich history as an iconic Chicago landmark, I absolutely had to include it in the story. Let's just say it was written in the stars...
So was Dex based on anyone in real life? Methinks I'll leave that to another Friday. ;)
