How did I come up with this radio personality idea?

For decades, people have called radio shows and wrote letters to newspaper advice columnists, asking for advice on how to fix their problems. I know Ann Landers had a degree in psychology, but I’m not sure about Abigail Van Buren. 

A long time ago I saw a movie called Straight Talk, staring Dolly Parton. She played a woman who accidentally got thrust into a job giving on-the-air advice in a big city. She went through quite a few snafus, because the people who put her on the air thought she was someone else. She had to keep up a charade during the movie, even though it played havoc with her brain and her heart. 

That movie was the catalyst for creating my character, Ashley Compton. Ashley doesn’t have any formal credentials, just a lot of lessons learned from her own mistakes in her 30+ years of life. She feels compelled to make sure people didn’t fall into the same traps she did. She wants to save other people, in a non-superhero sort of way. 

She talks to her callers like she’s their best friend, which her producer thinks is a bad idea. Instant conflict. She pulls no punches and doesn’t go delicately into the situation; she charges like a bull with her advice. Because a true best friend will sometimes dole out harsh advice, whether it’s liked it or not. That can create a heap of trouble, including losing the best friend or giving bad advice that makes a bigger mess than before.