Did You Know?

• The character Ellebasi Nostaw (pronounced "Ella-bay-see") is named after my late great-grandmother, Isabelle Watson. If you notice, "Ellebasi Nostaw" is "Isabelle Watson" spelled backwards. We used to have fun inverting people's names to see how it sounded, and I always thought hers sounded like a perfect movie star or reporter name. I should note that my great-grandmother was otherwise nothing like the nosy, irritating Ellebasi Nostaw!
• Stan Watson, Ellebasi Nostaw's cameraman, was named after my great-grandmother's first husband who died in his 40's of a heart condition. Likewise, Lew Williams, Ellebasi's co-anchor, was named after my great-grandmother's second husband. 
• The parrot's name, Evol (pronounced "Ev-ull"), is "love" spelled backwards.  
• Camden, Maine is actually my favorite town in the entire United States, despite Elliot being so happy to escape it. Every inch is beautiful and the people are very friendly. I loved it so much I recently bought a house there! 
• I invented "Knicklebeans" because I'm a chocoholic and I wish such a cool candy existed!  
• Eliza's ability to remember almost everything she reads or hears is a tribute to my friend, Jacki. Jacki can recite whole movies and TV shows word for word with only one viewing. It's uncanny!
• The 1985 white Chevy Cavalier hatchback that Elliot's mother drives was my very first car. My grandmother taught me to drive in it, and then gave it to me for my 16th birthday. Despite my less than favorable depictions of it in the book, I loved that car!
• Like Elliot's mother, my grandmother used to keep a red plastic mixing spoon above the sun visor in her car in case either my sister or I should act up when we were little.  She never used it on me, but she liked to threaten us with it!    
• Giggleswick is dedicated to "Mom-Lew", who was my great-grandmother and best friend growing up, Isabelle Watson. I lovingly named her "Mom-Lew" when I was a toddler because her second husband's name was "Lew". Perfectly logical, right? I also named her daughter (my grandmother) "Mom-Fred" because she had a cat named "Fred". She still uses the name today!
• The only character based off of someone I know is Shiloh Humphrey. The personalities are quite different, despite both being wonderful people, but he is exactly what I imagined Constable Humphrey to look like.    
• I named Giggleswick's only boat dock "Slip 24" because twenty-four is my favorite number, just like Lefty Scrum!  
• Bert the dog was named after a basset hound that lives across the street from my grandmother, Mom-Fred. When I was looking for a perfect canine companion for Eliza, my grandmother happened to mention how a family with a cute little basset hound named "Bert" had moved into her neighborhood. Instantly, I knew it was the perfect name and breed for the Noodles' dog!    
• Like Elliot, I used to dream of arriving to school in a limo when I was younger. I was unpopular as well, and was crazy enough to think that such theatrics would help. I'd probably seen Richie Rich too many times!  
• Godfrey Gallagher-Garrington de Gadsberry Giggleswick shares his birth and death dates (1675-1750) with the composer J.S. Bach.  
• The character Boots was named after one of my great-grandmother's neighbors.
• Giggleswick's colors, blue and white, were the school colors of both colleges I attended (Lebanon Valley College and Yale University).  
• The math teacher's name "Abacus Arbégla" is a rather blatant ode to math (though I hate math!)  An abacus is of course an old instrument used for calculating, which was replaced by the modern day calculator, and "Arbégla" is "algebra" spelled backwards (my favorite trick).