As has been mentioned in another blog, Garison Fitch's first appearance in my writings was in the third (or fourth [see other blogs]) book about Bat Garrett. But that wasn't necessarily the genesis of the character that you read about in "First Time", "Saving Time" and "Lost Time".
The character who appears in "Up to Bat" was originally conceived as a one-shot. I thought he might show up somewhere later just because Heather went to work with him and I thought Heather might show up again in another Bat story (so far, she hasn't).
Way back in college, though, I cooked up this idea of a theoretical lawyer. He lived in a small town, was very unconventional in his practice of law, and he was a confirmed bachelor. He was also tall and rather thin. And one day, the name "Garison Fitch" just came to me.
What never came to me was something to do with the character. Like a lot of my ideas (like the comic book character "Dumas Duck" ... ask me sometime!), he was a good concept, but concepts only go so far.
So, flash forward a couple years when I'm re-writing the Bat Garrett stories for the umpteenth time and I need a name for a JP/lawyer. I was convinced by then that I would never come up with a good story for Garison Fitch but I still liked the name, so I gave it to the throwaway character in "Up to Bat".
It was shortly after that that the story for "First Time" popped into my mind and I knew, from the moment it occurred to me, that the character in "Up to Bat" was perfectly suited for the lead.
One thing did change, though. In "Up to Bat" Garison is fairly gregarious. For "First Time" I decided I liked the character better if I had this guy who has every talent in the world--in addition to good looks--but is really kind of anti-social owing to his rapid rise through school and the loss of his parents. I think it makes for a much more interesting character than the one who first appears with Bat.
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