Am I in this book?

I have a friend who is pretty sure he’s one of the people who works on the campus of Emerick College and lives in Oakes Quarry, the fictionalized home town of my Pastor and Professor Quaker Mystery series. Another reader asked me, “Is the Somali refugee who is forced out of hiding in the basement of Pennington Place by the fire a real person?” The short answer to both of these folks is kinda/sorta. But, the longer answer is: every character in these tales is a conglomeration of someone I know/knew/imagined or dreamed of and is then brought to life as a amalgam of my imagination liberally sprinkled with bits and pieces of personalities I have met along the way.
Okay, they both said, so where do the names come from? Answer: that’s a story for another post.