Character Friday: J. R. Lindermuth

Sometimes a secondary character brings some balance to the story, and opens up possibilities.

Today, John Lindermuth will tell us about Flora Vastine, a rookie police officer in his mystery series about retired detective, Daniel "Sticks" Hetrick.

Camille: Why did you create Flora?

John: Flora warranted no more than a few paragraphs in Something In Common, the first of my Sticks Hetrick mysteries. Of course she wasn’t a police officer then and had only a minority role in that novel. In fact, I didn’t even see her as a recurring character at the time. In Cruel Cuts I had need of both another protégé for Hetrick and a love interest for Corporal Harry Minnich. Flora, who had expressed interest in a police career in the first novel, fit the requirements for both needs.

Camille: What makes her so special to you?

John: Flora is young and energetic. She has enthusiasm and genuinely cares about other people. Occasionally she makes mistakes and gets in trouble. All of which make her very human. Even in the darkest of crime novels characters need to have interest in a little more than just catching the villain in order to be fully developed. In the earlier novels Hetrick was still mourning the loss of his wife, Sarah. Flora and Harry were the obvious choices for adding another element to the stories.

Camille: So would you say, then, that the positive element Flora provides allows you to go darker with Hetrick himself?

John: I don't know about darker, but Flora's example might be the impetus for some changes in Hetrick's life. At the end of Being Someone Else he's embarking on a new relationship with Anita Bailey and accepting a job as county detective. We'll have to see where that may lead.

Camille: Do you have more planned for Flora?

John: Since then Flora has become a major player. In fact, she warrants nearly as much space in Corruption’s Child and Being Someone Else as does Hetrick. She’s demanding equal presence in Practice To Deceive (which will be the fifth in the series).

For more on the "Sticks" Hetrick series, check out John Lindermuth's author page at Whiskey Creek Press.

Character Friday: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Today's guest is Elizabeth Craig, writer of several cozy mysteries series put out by Penguin and Midnight Ink. She writes one of my favorite mystery blogs, Mystery Writing is Murder, and is definitely my favorite person on Twitter -- where she tweets lots of links to great posts and articles about writing and mystery she finds on the web.

Elizabeth will tell us about a secondary character in her Memphis Barbeque series: Cherry, a docent at Graceland who is fond of wearing a motorcycle helmet, even when she's not on a bike.

Camille: First, what made you create Cherry?

Elizabeth: I needed someone outrageous, someone that my protagonist could play straight-man to. I lived in Alabama for years and we'd get the most horrible storms there--destructive tornadoes that would frequently strike in the middle of the night. I had neighbors who made me smile with their tornado plan--they'd sit in their basement with their bike helmets on their heads. Somehow, this little strand from my past ended up working its way into my secondary character.

Camille: Sounds like Cherry is partly there to bring out your main character. How does she reflect or contrast with Lulu?

Elizabeth: Cherry is a little flashy, a little outrageous. She says things that Lulu might only think. She offers a completely different perspective on the suspects and the mystery that are useful to Lulu as she tries to solve the case.

Cherry also shares a similar or complementary sense of humor with my protagonist, which leads to fun dialogue exchanges between the two. I think she makes my protagonist funnier than she might ordinarily be. But Cherry is also outrageous and doesn't have much of a filter when she talks--she embarrasses Lulu sometimes and sets up minor conflict.

Camille: What makes her special to you?

Elizabeth: She's eccentric. I think most writers are eccentric, too, and that trait is just really approachable and endearing to me. This is also a character who can help drive the plot, screw up, save the day....she's multi-purpose.

Camille: Do you have more planned for Cherry?

Elizabeth: Cherry was introduced in Delicious and Suspicious, the first book in the Memphis Barbeque series. But she strong-armed me into more of a sidekick role for the Delicious sequel, Finger Lickin’ Dead. Originally, I hadn't planned on including her as much because she's one of those characters that could become a scene-stealing, stage-hog. Keeping that in mind, I was careful to work on the dynamics between Cherry and my protagonist, Lulu, so that Lulu didn't fade away during her stage time with Cherry. Since she behaved herself well in the second book, Cherry also figures fairly prominently in Hickory Smoked Homicide, my upcoming November release.

==
Elizabeth’s latest book, Finger Lickin’ Dead, released June 7th. Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010 and 2011.

She also keeps the Writer's Knowledge Base--the Search Engine for Writers, and you can find her on Twitter: @elizabethscraig

(For those interested in reading more of these secondary character interviews, I used to do them on Wednesdays and didn't always call them "Character Friday" -- so the best way to find them all is to click on the "interview" label in the footer of this post.)

Character Friday: Nancy Lynn Jarvis

On TV, writers like Castle take their best characters from real life. In reality, most writers just take bits of reality and build something new and memorable out of it. But now and then, a real person will inspire you to write about them as is.....

Today, Nancy Lynn Jarvis is going to tell us about Dave Everett, a former cop and good friend to her amateur sleuth main character, and about the inspiration for him.

Camille: What made you create Dave?

Nancy: I write cozy style mysteries with a Realtor protagonist named Regan McHenry. She comes across the occasional body selling houses--she and her husband even bought a house with a partially mummified body in it--and she has friends and clients who sometimes find themselves in a mess. She’s a bit of a meddler, but it’s not reasonable to think she could stroll into the police station, sit down with a cop, and ask to be filled in on what’s happening in a murder investigation she finds interesting. Enter her best friend: Dave Everett.

His official title is Santa Cruz Police and Community Relations Ombudsman. He used to be a cop until he lost an eye in a shootout with a criminal. He was going to be forced into an early retirement but convinced the police department that, since Santa Cruz police and the community at large don’t always see eye to eye, they needed him to handle the media, public relations, overflow paperwork, and anything else that could be done from a desk.

He’s a meddler, too, or rather a slightly bored ex-cop who seems to have his fingers in many law enforcement pies and insinuates himself, at least verbally, into many investigations. Through him, Regan can get information she needs.

Camille: What makes him special to you?

Nancy: When I started writing, all my characters began as people I knew; I began outlining them using their real names. They quickly got renamed as they were developed and took on their own personalities…all except for Dave, my real one eyed former cop friend. He got a new last name and a new job, got blended with my twin cousins who were cops and the local police officer who does media interviews, but Dave is still the one I visualize as I write his character.

Although my real Dave says he doesn’t sound at all like Dave Everett, he does. He and I don’t tease one another the way Dave and Regan do, and I make up what I call his “Daveisms,” but Dave really could say them. Here’s an example: “I think you’re right about him being a bully, and bullies don’t usually make waves once they run into bigger, badder dogs…I wouldn’t lose sleep over tinfoil momma’s baby boy.” (You so could say something like that, Dave.)

I love writing him and coming up with phrases he would use. Dave has evolved; he’s not my friend any longer, but he really has become Regan’s best friend which makes him special to me.

Camille: Do you have more planned for Dave?

Nancy: Dave will always have a prominent place in Reagan McHenry real estate mysteries. In the book I’m just finishing writing, The Widow’s Walk League, I intended for him to have a smaller role, but he wouldn’t stand for it. Sometimes he talks to me as I write and demands more lines. He’s constantly frustrated by Regan’s foibles and it’s worth it to let him have his way because it’s fun for me to watch him get agitated.


The Regan McHenry Mystery Series, which features Dave Everett, has three books, currently available in paperback and Kindle editions: The Death Contingency, Backyard Bones, and Buying Murder.

Character Friday: Chris Truscott

This week, Chris Truscott is going to tell us about Holly, a one-night stand to took a larger role than expected.

Camille: First, tell us a little about Holly.

Chris: In Stumbling Forward, Holly's a 23-year-old recent graduate of the University of Minnesota who's trying to break into liberal-progressive campaign politics. This is much to the chagrin of her wealthy and conservative parents in the suburbs, who would prefer to see her get married and start raising a family--like her two older sisters. A bit of a party girl, certainly, Holly's also intensely loyal to those around her and very good at the jobs she manages to land.

Camille: What made you create her?

Chris: Holly was created as barely a step above an "extra." She made what was supposed to be her first and only appearance in the very first scene of the first chapter in Stumbling Forward. She was simply a one-night stand the main character was trying to get rid of one morning. She didn’t even have a last name until I decided to bring her back toward the middle of the book—crossing paths again with the male lead.

Camille: What makes Holly special to you?

Chris: I like this character a lot because she was an accident—a complete and total fluke. (My female lead was also an accident, meant only to be a secondary character before she stole the show in the first few chapters.) Holly is a free-spirit in a political world that produces a lot of people who stick to convention. She's not afraid to be who she is, to have fun and to say what she thinks.

Camille: Do you have more planned for her?

Chris: Yes. Holly evolved from an “extra” at the beginning of Stumbling Forward to a minor character in the middle and a solid supporting character at the end. In the final four books of the series—including the recently published A Referendum on Conscience—Holly returns as a main character. (And she’s a devoted friend to the man from her initial scene and to his new love interest. She’s a supportive and grounding force in both of their lives.)

You can find Holly in two of Chris Truscott's books:

Stumbling Forward: As Election Day nears, Clarissa Rogers, a young idealist, is hit with the reality that winning may not be the best thing. Along the way, she captivates a womanizing political consultant, draws the attention of people who could change the world, and emerges as the one person who might actually be able to send an egotistical, opportunistic and unqualified candidate to Congress.

A Referendum on Conscience: A terrorist attack. A vote against a popular war. A re-election campaign. Rebecca McElroy is looking forward to retiring as she nears the end of her second term in the U.S. Senate. Then terrorists launch a devastating attack on Washington that drives the country into a bloody war and changes everything for the pacifist senator from Minnesota.

Character Friday: Julia March

Julia March is going to tell us about Amber, a secondary character in "The Net of the Magician."

Camille: What made you create Amber?

Julia: Originally, Amber was meant to be a sort of tertiary villain--someone who was on the side of the bad guys, and a sort of mole within the good guys' territory. But I was having more and more fun with her, making her someone too self-centered to be flat-out on anybody's side but her own.
Camille: What makes her special to you?

Julia: She was fun to write about. Also I got to use her to show qualities of my protagonist. In particular, as Margaret's personality changes in response to her discoveries about magic, she starts to respect (grudgingly, maybe) Amber's strengths.

Camille: Do you have more planned for this character?

Julia: No. No sequels planned for this one. Although if you want to know what she's up to... I think that Amber is probably working in the fashion industry now.


The Net of the Magician is a contemporary fantasy about Margaret, an archivist in a university library who finds she must battle an evil magician to keep her job. Read more about it on Julia March's Blog.

Character Wednesday: John Desjarlais

Today John Desjarlais is going to tell us about Selena De La Cruz, an insurance agent who attempts to help the disabled hero of his thriller BLEEDER.

Camille: What made you create Selena?

John: In BLEEDER, protagonist Reed Stubblefield is wounded in a school shooting and retreats to his bother's hunting cabin in rural Illinois to recover. My fictional small town is dealing with a large influx of Latino immigrants working in agricultural operations such as slaughterhouses and canneries. The locals are uneasy about this poor, uneducated population. To balance this, I wanted a positive portrayal of an educated middle-class Latin character and decided to create a female insurance agent who could handle Stubblefield's disability claims. When Selena De La Cruz walked on stage, as it were, in those cherry red high heels and black jeans, with that attitude, and driving that vintage muscle car, I knew she had a story of her own and that she would have a larger role in the novel than I'd anticipated.

Camille: What makes her special to you?

John: Selena is a second-generation Mexican-American woman, and like most Latinas she struggles with her bi-cultural identity, seeking ways to acculturate to New World realities while balancing Old World expectations and traditions. She's an independent Latina (a contradiction in terms for Latino men), a tomboy one minute and a taffeta-gowned princessa the next, tender and tough. I'm fascinated by her family and her culture.

Camille: Ah, does this mean there is some chemistry between Reed and Selena?

John: There were sparks from the get-go but not the good kind - she really couldn't help him with the disability claims and he was furious with her and the whole insurance business. By the end of the book, however, they are meeting to discuss his financial future, and there is a hint that they may get together. It won't be easy: He's all about safety (drives a Volvo), she's all about risk (races a kick-butt muscle car); he's pro-union Democrat, she's pro-business Republican; he can barely count on his fingers, she's a Loyola Finance major; he's uneasy with guns (he was wounded in a school shooting), she's handy with a P226 SIG Sauer pistol; he's Cubs, she's White Sox.

Camille: Aside from just being interesting, do you feel Selena's increased role added something extra to the novel overall? Did you worry about her overwhelming anything in the story?

John: Readers have told me that Selena, despite her limited role, is the most interesting and layered character in the book. She added another dimension to the "Mexican immigration" issue along with some sexual tension. I didn't worry about her 'running off with the story,' as some minor characters can do. But I knew that in the sequel she would either have to be of equal importance as Reed Stubblefield, or become the protagonist -- with Reed, this time, being a minor character. The premise of the story required the latter.

Camille: Then you have more planned for Selena?

John: Selena insisted. The sequel, VIPER, features her as the protagonist. It's due out this summer. Here's the tease:

On All Souls Day, Selena De La Cruz’s name is entered in her parish church's “Book of the Deceased.” The problem is, she's not dead. And someone thinks she should be. Is it "The Snake," a notorious drug dealer Selena helped to put in prison when she was a Special Agent with the DEA years ago? Or someone far, far more dangerous?

You can buy Bleeder at Amazon.com, in ebook or paperback form. You can read more about John Desjarlais at his website Investigate Higher Mysteries, or his blog, Johnny Dangerous.

Character Wednesday: J. Carson Black

There's nothing like a good antagonist to perk a whole story up. Sometimes it's a villain, sometimes just the opposing force -- but evil or not, the antagonist is the one who raises the challenge for the hero. An intelligent, experienced and even ethical bad guy can raise the standard for the hero's behavior as well.

Today, J. Carson Black, otherwise known as Maggy, is going to tell us about Cyril Landry, a complex and interesting hit man from her crime thriller, The Shop.

Camille: What made you create Landry?

Maggy: Since I started The Shop with a contracted hit on an actress and her entourage in Aspen, Colorado, I needed a professional killer to lead the team -- someone who would give instructions and they would follow them.

I had to plunge right in, and the first person the reader meets is that killer, Cyril Landry. Little did I know that he would be one of the most important characters I’ve ever written, and that he would eventually gain the trust of my main character, sheriff’s detective Jolie Burke.

Camille: That sounds promising. What was it that made him so important to you?

Maggy: First, I sure as heck didn’t know that when Landry killed the actress, Brienne Cross, it would change his life forever. In the moment before he kills her, she awakens, and there is a communion between them that drives him to find out why he had to kill her.

Then his personality took over. For instance, he was an assassin, but he was married and had a daughter. Further, he acquitted himself admirably as a Navy SEAL in Iraq and Afghanistan. He prided himself on clear thinking, on good grammar and good manners. He's a professional and has been taught to kill quickly and mercifully. He did it for his government and now he does it to support his family--it's a job. And, most important to me, Landry shared my love for horse racing. In fact, he grew up in the business---it’s important, even for a bad guy, that he LOVE something, feel a passion for something.

Camille: Do you have more planned for this character?

Maggy: I left it up in the air whether or not he survived in my thriller, The Shop, but I’m pretty sure he did, because I just put him in a short story called "The Bluelight Special." I guess he made my mind up for me.


J. Carson Black writes write crime fiction thrillers, including the Laura Cardinal series. Her new thriller, THE SHOP, spotlights corruption in the highest levels of government, pitting a small-town Florida sheriff’s detective against a cunning, powerful foe. New York Times Bestselling author Gayle Lynds says of THE SHOP is “an exciting, sweeping crime thriller that will linger in your mind for a long time.” And New York Times Bestselling author David Morrell says, “THE SHOP is a thriller to pay attention to.”

THE SHOP is on sale for a limited time for 99 cents.

Character Wednesday: Laura Lond

This is the second of our series of interviews with authors about their favorite secondary characters.

Today, Laura Lond will tell us about Lord Farizel Narr, a court jester who was once a respected nobleman, in The Palace (the second book in her fantasy trilogy The Adventures of Jecosan Tarres, which began with The Journey).

Camille: Laura, why don't you start by telling us a little about Lord Farizel.

Laura: Lord Farizel Narr makes his appearance in The Palace, the second book of my fantasy adventure trilogy. A highly educated nobleman, former personal tutor of the princess, he gets demoted to the position of a court jester “for inappropriate presentation of history,” as he puts it.

Camille: That sounds like a fun attitude (and one likely to get a person into trouble). So what made you create Lord Farizel?

Laura: Whenever I read historical adventure novels, I become fascinated with the themes of honor and disgrace that often run through them. The ideas of keeping, losing, restoring one’s honor are not something most people talk much about today, but I don’t think the concepts are outdated. Through Lord Farizel, I wanted too weave these themes into a story of my own.

Camille: Stories of redemption are always relevant. Does this theme reflect themes in the main story, or are you using it more to add something stronger or of more depth to the main story?

Laura: A little bit of both, I think. It adds more depth, and also echoes the main theme of staying true to your calling and keeping a good heart.

Camille: So, what makes Lord Farizel special to you?

Laura: His courage, intelligence, humor, and manners. He has it all -- and he manages to keep it all after the disgraceful demotion that would have crushed most people’s spirit

Camille: Do you have more planned for him?

Laura: Lord Farizel also appears in the third and final book of the trilogy where his story comes to a satisfactory conclusion. But if I ever decide to write another book set in the same world, he will certainly be there.

--

Laura Lond is an internationally published author of several novels and a collection of short stories. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Having worked for 2 years at a literary museum, Laura entered the world of business, working for large international corporations like Xerox Ltd. and Fluor Daniel. After moving from Europe to the United States, she has been self-employed as a freelancer.

Find all three books in the Adventures of Jecosan Tarres trilogy at Amazon: The Journey, The Palace, and The Battle. (As well as at other online retailers, such as Smashwords.)

Character Wednesday: Ellen O'Connell

I love secondary characters. I admit this freely. When I was a kid, everybody else wanted to play the hero, I wanted to play the sidekick. The hero had to carry the burden of the story. The sidekick (or the villain or the comic relief) could and did do anything: Say outrageous things, be cowardly, be bold, be silly. He or she could be a mentor or a stooge.

Today we start a series of interviews of various authors - which I'll publish each Wednesday - about their favorite secondary characters. And we begin with Ellen O'Connell, writer of mystery and western romances.

ELLEN IS GOING to tell us about Jaime Francisco Rodriguez y Candelaria, a character from her western historical romance, Sing My Name. "Roddy" as he's known to his Anglo companions, is a gunman born in Texas just after it became part of the United States.

Camille: What made you create this character?

Ellen: The hero and heroine in Sing My Name meet and fall in love very young. They are then separated for 8 years before meeting again. I wanted to "peek" into each of their lives a few times during that separation so that the reader would know what they went through and how it affected them. The hero, Matt Slade, falls in with a group of gunman. I needed those gunmen to interact with Matt in ways that showed and developed his character. Roddy became one of the two I primarily used to do this.

Camille: Tell me what makes Roddy special to you?

Ellen: When I first conceive of stories, the main characters quickly become clear in my mind, but the secondary characters often remain enabling shadows until I actually write them. That’s how it was with Matt’s gunmen cohorts in Sing My Name. As soon as I began to write him, Roddy developed from a shadow into a man I sympathized with and liked, maybe because under all Roddy’s prickly pride is a sardonic sense of humor. Roddy starts out as an arrogant, angry young man and develops into one still very proud but showing the beginnings of coming to terms with what has happened in his life and what he may want from the future. I ended up wanting a better life for him and daydreaming a bit about what that might look like.

Camille: You said Roddy helped you show and develop Matt's character. How does he do that?

Ellen: Except that both were orphaned young, Roddy is a total contrast with my hero. Roddy was born to a wealthy, aristocratic Mexican family. Matt is the son of poor Texas settlers. Roddy took to the gun at 16, hunting down men who murdered his family. Matt joined the Confederate Army at 16 hoping for 3 square meals a day and decent clothes (the “biggest mistake I ever made,” he says to the heroine). Matt doesn't decide the only way he can earn a living is with a gun until after he gets out of prison as the result of the events in the first part of Sing My Name.

When we first meet Roddy he looks at Matt with disdain. He is all too aware of his own superior background and education. Although he practices no religion, Roddy considers anything not Spanish and Catholic barbaric and has become hardened close to the point of amorality. In the years they ride together, Matt becomes more self-assured and worldly because of his association with Roddy and Beau Taney (the other gunman whose character becomes important). Yet Roddy and Beau are affected in more basic ways by Matt's unflinching refusal to compromise when he believes he’s right, regardless of the consequences. I used Roddy's POV for several scenes and believe the interactions between Matt, Roddy, and Beau seen through Roddy's eyes show Matt's character in a way I couldn't have achieved staying in Matt's head.

Camille: Do you have more planned for Roddy?

Ellen: Yes. Although I have two more standalone romances outlined already, I plan to at some point write a separate romance for Roddy and another for Beau Taney.

Camille: You write both romance and mystery. Some consider secondary characters to be less important to romance fiction, or even a weakness if there is too much emphasis on them. Can you say a little bit about what you see as the role of secondary characters in romance, and how it differs from mystery?

Ellen: As you know, the trend in romance today is toward series where secondary characters in the first novel are the hero or heroine of the next, and next, and next. However, readers still want the main emphasis in a given romance to be on the hero and heroine and the relationship. The role of secondary characters is mainly to approve/disapprove or help/hurt the developing relationship. If the romance is of the drawing room type, that may be all. If, like mine, the romance is also something of an adventure story, secondary characters may have larger roles as supporters, enemies, or villains. Secondary characters provide an opportunity to develop aspects of the hero or heroine's personality, for instance, a cruel parent or needy younger sibling can explain an action of belief of a main character.

For the type of mystery I write, cozy, secondary characters are, in my opinion, more important than in most romances. They are often quirky and appealing and help develop the atmosphere that cozy fans like me enjoy. In a cozy series, a secondary character often develops almost as much as the main character does as the series progresses. Secondary mystery characters don’t usually get their own books the way romance secondaries do, but it happens. Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole books usually feature his friend and partner, Joe Pike, as a secondary character, but Crais has written a few in the series where Joe is the primary and Elvis the secondary. In the same way as in romance, mystery secondaries are used to highlight elements of the main character by their interactions with her. Secondary characters are also important sources of the clues the amateur sleuth needs to solve the mystery. The murderer is a necessary secondary character.

Ellen O'Connell currently has three novels available as ebooks and paperbacks: Rottweiler Rescue, a mystery for dog lovers; Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold, a western historical romance, and Sing My Name, a western historical romance.