We first meet Emily Garland in The Hanged Man’s Noose, the first book in my Glass Dolphin Mystery series, and she returns in book 2, A Hole in One. In both books, Emily shares the stage with Arabella Carpenter, although in Noose, she’s the lead, and in AHIO, she takes second seat to Arabella. But one character really depends on the other to make the story work.
The name Emily Garland comes from two sources: I was named after Judy Garland, and the first book I read as a young girl that made me want to be a writer. That book was Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery, perhaps better known for her Anne of Green Gables series. (You can read my post about that book here.)
In my mind, Emily looks a bit like a young Mary Tyler Moore in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, which is one of the reasons I had her wearing a beret when she first meets Arabella. Here’s a snippet of that meeting, told from Arabella’s point of view:
Arabella arrived at the Glass Dolphin to find a slender woman in a thin coat shivering by the front door. Arabella had made similar wardrobe miscalculations in November, a month where the prevailing Lount’s Landing winds could be as unpredictable as an eBay auction.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, but we’re not open until Saturday,” Arabella said, pointing to a sign in the window. Something was vaguely familiar about the woman, though she couldn’t stick a pin in it. Early thirties. Hazel eyes with a bit of a fleck. Dark brown hair tied into a ponytail, a red knit beret sloped back from her forehead. She wears it well, Arabella thought with a touch of envy. Her own attempts at beret wearing had resulted in the rather unflattering look of a Victorian shower cap crossed with a tea cozy.
So now we know a bit about Emily’s appearance. Let’s take a look at Emily’s first look at Lount’s Landing’s Main Street, and Johnny Porter, the charismatic owner of It’s a Colorful Life:
Lount’s Landing appeared to be a town in transition. Nestled among the Victorian architecture and the freshly painted shops with cutesy names like “Book Worm” and “Second Hand Rose”—the former a bookstore, the latter a consignment clothing shop filled with vintage and designer fashions—there were telltale signs of more radical change, starting with the “For Sale: Development Potential” real estate sign on an old elementary school at the foot of Main Street.
Emily’s first order of business was a meeting with Johnny Porter, owner of It’s a Colorful Life, chairman of the Main Street Merchants’ Association, and her key contact—not that he knew the real reason behind her move to Lount’s Landing. As far as Johnny was concerned, she was simply the new editor of Inside the Landing.
It’s a Colorful Life was a throwback in time, the sort of store you’d expect to find Jimmy Stewart wandering into in Bedford Falls. Plastic paint trays hung from the ceiling like oversized Christmas ornaments. Every wall surface was covered with clusters of paint chips, a kaleidoscope of reds and blues and golds and ochers, of greens and purples and pinks and whites. She wedged her way between aisles of metal bins overflowing with rollers and brushes and sandpaper and masking tape, dodging paint cans piled high into pyramids.
The faint scent of vanilla filled her nostrils. “Pure vanilla extract, the real stuff, not the imitation kind,” a man’s voice called from the back of the store. “Stir one tablespoon into a gallon of paint and you get rid of that new paint smell. I add it to every gallon I sell.” He came out into the open, held out his hand, and smiled. “Emily Garland, I presume.”
The main thing Emily noticed about Johnny Porter, beyond the fact he was roughly her age and drop-dead movie star gorgeous, were his eyes. Eyes so dark brown they looked black. Miner’s eyes, her old pals at boarding school would have called them, the kind of eyes that could dig their way into the depth of your soul. Emily made an effort to collect herself. Acting like an infatuated high school student was not the way to start off her new life in Lount’s Landing.
“And you must be Johnny Porter.” Emily shook his hand, noticing his grip was firm but gentle. Thought his hand lingered a moment longer than necessary. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Johnny said, although Emily got the distinct feeling he was assessing her. She wondered if she made the grade.
Now, I’m sometimes asked who would play so-and-so in a movie, and obviously Mary Tyler Moore is out for Emily. But I do think Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls fame would be a terrific fit. What do you think? Alexis as Emily? 
PS: Today is the last day for the .99 ebook Holiday Sale for The Hanged Man’s Noose (reg. $4.99). Find it on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, GooglePlay and Apple Books! 