Enjoy these answers from a host of authors in multiple genres, from YA to mystery to romance — then enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a $100 Amazon or BN GC and more!
Tasarla Romaney My muse… she hangs out with me every day. We create worlds of magic, elves, and dwarfs. We take adventures. And we fight about things should go in a book.
As a child I also had an imaginary friend… I’m not sure but I think it was my muse then too. She was just waiting for me to realize I should be writing. I named her River and would talk to about everything I wanted to be when I grew up….She held my dreams safe.
Ash Krafton Yes…and they are all in my books. :)
Linda Palmer My characters are my imaginary friends. They live and breathe inside my head. I would also count as a friend every character I’ve ever loved in a movie, which could explain why I tend to watch some movies over and over. I want to be with my friends.
Kaylie Newell Yes I had a horse named Tango when I was in elementary school. He ran alongside the car during road trips. As you can imagine, he was exceptionally fast.
Judy Alter I think the characters in my books are my imaginary friends. I have conversations with them. My seven-year-old grandson has an imaginary friend who lives on a farm and does the most amazing things.
Linda Rettstatt Not that I recall, although some of my characters have kept me company from time to time. My favorite character to spend time with was Rylee Morgan from Shooting Into the Sun. Maybe we’re a bit alike?
Maeve Greyson I still have an imaginary friend. She and I have long talks about stories, life, and how one can never have too many pairs of shoes.
Laura Strickland I have many imaginary friends. They populate my novels, hold conversations in my head, interrupt my sleep and make my life a joy.
Niecey Roy Nope. Unless you count all my fictional friends in the books I read
Tess Morrison Betty walked me to school every day. She listened and counseled and never failed to tell me how smart, funny and pretty I was. But where was she when Peter Scott chased me with snowballs and tried to run me down with his bike? Bitch!
Jana Richards You mean other than my characters’ voices in my head? Well actually, when I was a little girl, my brother, who is seven years older than me, wasn’t really interested in playing house with me, so I pretended I had a sister. She was wonderful. Did everything I told her to do.
Tina Pollick Sure. I’m a writer. I have lots of them, or at least that’s what I tell myself.
I don’t know, I must have as a kid, I’ve always been way to creative or ‘different’. I probably talked to them in grocery stores and people probably looked at me like I was weird. Or was that last week at the grocery store? *shrugs*
Debra Doggett Not really. I had (and still have) voices in my head but they didn’t get any further than that. Mostly I just remade the people around me into who I wanted them to be. Or I gave them great backstory.
Nia Simone Not exactly but I used to sneak out of the house at night and run with my dog. We’d always pick up a pack of dogs as people let their dogs run free where I grew up. I used to pretend I was a dog. There’s a scene about this in my work in progress.
Virginia Crane No, but I lost a very dear friend last year and I talk to her almost every day. I keep asking questions since she said she would look out for me from the other side. I do not get verbal answers but a lot of really nice things have happened to me since she crossed over so I have to give the credit to Gwyn.
Graeme Brown I did! When I was 2. Her name was Wanita, according to my mom, and she lived in the metal clothing cabinet.
Nancy Fraser Not that I know of or remember. I do talk to myself a lot. However, at least that way I’m sure of getting an intelligent answer that I’ll like … usually.
Jeanette Baker No, but I do have conversations with myself when no one else is around. I always have. Sometimes I stand in front of the bathroom mirror and converse with my image, other times I talk when something loud is going on in the background, like the vacuum cleaner.
Kim Hornsby When my sister told me she had a leprechaun friend who was invisible called Leppy (we’d never heard of leprosy), I wanted a friend too. So I asked the universe to send me a really cool friend like Leppy. That is when I first heard about UFO’s and was convinced that somehow I’d called aliens to earth with my plea for an otherworldy friend. I was horrified and retracted my order, hoping the UFO’s would just go away. I prayed daily to keep the world safe and lived with the guilt that I’d started this.
Juliet Waldron I never had one of these, because I think I’ve always had a pretty good grip on the difference between fantasy and reality, even when I was small. I did, however, construct entire fantasy worlds complete with maps of their continents and long, detailed family histories of kings and queens. When I was very young, the august rulers of these kingdoms were dogs, but somewhere around ten I transited to people–and I never looked back.
Willa Blair Sure – the characters in the thousands of books I’ve read. And still read. I enjoy visiting with them, some once, some many times.
Lynda J Cox I’m a fiction writer! Of course I have imaginary friends. I’ve had them all my life. I even talk to them.
Lynda Coker I’ve had many imaginary friends, and still do. But none that appeared on their own. My bevy of friends are those I create in my writing. We’re loyal to each other and visit often no matter how long its been since I created their story. Sometimes we just hang out, and sometimes they yell at me for all the trouble I put them through. They’re each unique and I’m privileged to know them.
Susan Fox Hundreds of them! Well, okay, I never had an imaginary friend in the sense you’re talking about. I was an only child whose parents expected me to be quite self-sufficient. Fortunately, they considered reading to be a good use of time, so I always had books on hand. For a lonely kid, the characters in books were a life-saver. They provided companionship and fueled my imagination. No wonder I turned into a reading addict. And now, as an author as well, my characters inhabit my mind and I know them as well, perhaps even better, than my real-life friends.
Shannyn Schroeder I had an imaginary friend that I named Bonnie when I was a kid, around the age of 6 or so. I carried on very in depth conversations with Bonnie, but the conversations only took place in the bathroom. I have no idea why that was, but she only popped up in that one room. When I sat on the toilet or took a bath, Bonnie was my companion.
Carol Henry Although I have always imagined how I help someone with a handicap, I don’t recall having an imaginary friend. However, my daughter, when she was young, had a girlfriend named Lisa (her older cousin’s name was Lisa). In any case, I had to be careful never to push, shove, or step on Lisa’s toes. It wasn’t surprising when several of my granddaughter’s also had an imaginary friends and one who talks to someone I can’t see all the time—she’s nine. All of the ladies are very creative in their own way. I like to think they got it from me.
Robin Renee Ray Cracking UP!!! We have to tell? YES, I did and yes I still do. I’m reclusive I have to have someone/thing to chat with..LOL
Joya Fields Oh yeah! Martha was my imaginary friend. When I would get in fights with my sisters, I’d say “come on, Martha, we’re out of here.” Thing is…my sisters started “borrowing” Martha. LOL!
Patty Campbell What? Imaginary friend? I had 4 younger sisters. Who had time for imaginary friends?
Genie Gabriel Are you trying to tell me the characters in my books aren’t real?
Elysa Hendricks Imaginary? You mean my alien friends, unicorns, and flying horses aren’t real?
Liana Laverentz In first grade. I’d sit on one half of my seat at my desk to make room for my imaginary friend to sit beside me.
Ryshia Kennie I’ve never had an imaginary friend. But I do remember imagining ghosts and goblins in the dark corners of the basement. When I was a kid I thought a witch lived in the back room that was used as a cold storage area for vegetables and other canned goods. When I was told to go down there to get anything, I’d go at normal speed, grab what was needed, and now that I’d aroused the witch, slam the door, to slow her down. Because, you know, she was right behind me. And then I’d bolt up the stairs two at a time.
Troy Lambert I imagine so. I think his name was Al. That’s what he said from the radio. You can call me Al. He needed a photo opportunity, he needed a shot at Redemption, He said if I’d be his bodyguard, he’d be my long lost pal.
Jane Toombs No. I’ve always had cats and these were the friends I told all my secrets to.
Jaleta Clegg I live with a whole head full of imaginary friends. They talk to me. All the time. The only way to get them to shut up is to write stories about them.
Beth Trissel Hasn’t everyone? Yes, her name was Lucy and we hung out in grade school. I also had a host of imaginary monsters, loyal to me, whom I could summon to my aid at any time. I chuckled to myself that my 5th grade teacher couldn’t see the classroom crowded with my ‘friends.’
Gail Pallotta I had an imaginary dog when I was about three. He was a furry, little creature that lived under the sink in my aunt and uncle’s house. My dad was in World War II, and my mom and I were staying with my aunt and uncle until my dad came home. Every night I’d call the dog, “Here Butchy, Butchy, Butchy.” Then, I’d tell him good-night.
My uncle put a real dog under the sink one night, and I opened the door and screamed, “Buuutchy.”
Helena Fairfax I didn’t have an imaginary friend as a child, but I did have a blanket that I couldn’t be parted with. I wouldn’t let my mum take it away to wash, and it was covered in food and bits of jam. In the end, my mum had to cut it in half, so she could wash one half and let me have the other.
Kelly Whitley Nope. Sorry.
I knew a kid who did have one, and it just seemed creepy. Kind of like “I see dead people” before the movie ever came out. To date, I’ve never written an imaginary friend.
Paty Jager They only imaginary friends I’ve had are the characters in my stories.
Linda McMaken HA! Funny you should ask. I actually had three of them, and they all looked exactly like me! I wanted to be one of a set of quadruplets, because, hey the world needed carbon copies of me! (See the answer to phobias for reference here).
All I could think of, was how much trouble we could get into, and no one could ever prove which one of us it was. I also think it had something to do with paybacks to my older sister. Can you imagine???? Having four identical kid sisters? That is the stuff of nightmares.
Penny Estelle Never ever!
Isabo Kelly Yes! Apparently when I was really young I had an imaginary friend named Stanley. I don’t remember him, but my grandma used to love telling stories about me playing with Stanley in our backyard. She was convinced he was a guardian angel. I don’t know about that, but I like the idea I had Stanley for a friend.
Pamela Turner What? You mean they’re not real? I thought all authors had imaginary friends. Okay, yes, I did when I was younger. I didn’t have any friends, so I made up my own. At least they didn’t tell me to kill anyone. Nice thing about imaginary friends is you can create them the way you want. And if they become characters in your books, so much the better. Until they start becoming demanding. Sort of like that Stephen King story, “Secret Window.”
Shirley Martin No, but it sounds like fun. I’d like to have an imaginary friend I could tell my troubles and triumphs to.
Amy Corwin: Do stuffed animals count? I’ve got all the stuffed animals I’ve ever received because getting rid of them, even when the stuffing is coming out, feels like a total betrayal. They watched out for me in the dark when I was a kid. I watch out for them now.
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