Thursday, June 12, 2014

Secondary Characters--Whether They're Pets Or People! by Karen Rose Smith

I've always written secondary characters into my plot lines and fortunately my editors have never dissuaded me from using them. My romances and mysteries stretch beyond the main character or characters to their friends, families and other important people in their lives. Although in romances, I deal with a bit of fantasy, and in mysteries a puzzle that needs to be solved, I attempt to keep my characters real. Real people have backgrounds that have formed who they are. Usually those backgrounds arise from the family they were born into...or the lack of family they experienced growing up.

If I can cut a secondary character from my story, that character doesn't serve a purpose and possibly doesn't belong. I ask myself several questions. How does this character advance my plot? What qualities does this character contrast with or mirror in my hero or heroine or my sleuth? Does this character create conflict or add to resolution? Will my readers understand my main character's motivation or flaws because of their interaction with this character? In mysteries, this goes for witnesses who don't have a large part to play but could still be considered suspects.

I enjoy writing about children, teenagers and pets, and they're never just window dressing. Children bring out character traits in adults that the protagonist might never see without their presence--compassion, protectiveness, unselfishness. They can also release laughter that the hero, heroine or sleuth has held inside too long. Teenagers can cause a main character to reveal wayward tendencies, rebelliousness and stubbornness he or she has managed to corral over the years, yet peeks through when the hero or heroine or sleuth is stressed or pushed to the wall. As an animal lover, I give pets in my books personalities and consider them secondary characters, too! If a woman or man is caring with a pet, chances are he or she will have empathy with others. And as my sleuth, Caprice De Luca says often, pets are such a good judge of character!

In DEADLY DECOR (Book 2 Caprice De Luca home staging series from Kensington Books), Caprice's pets play a huge part.  The pregnant Cocker Spaniel that she takes in causes a deep bond to form with Caprice and one of her romantic interests.  When they deliver a litter together, they can no longer deny the zing of attraction between them.  Pets as secondary characters in each of my mysteries are essential to developing characters and their inner motivations.

If a writer can intertwine secondary characters with the main characters, as well as weave their stories in and out of the plot line, they will be essential, multi-dimensional and worthy of the title secondary characters whether they are pets...or people!
After writing over eighty romance novels in the past twenty years, I'm enjoying branching out into mystery where I can delve into everyone's relationships as well as create an intriguing puzzle.  My third Caprice De Luca home-staging mystery revolves around Valentine's Day.  GILT BY ASSOCIATION will be available in February 2015.



at

7 comments:

  1. Penelope MarzecJune 12, 2014 at 1:08 PM

    I enjoy using pets in my books, too. In one book, I have a little turtle, in another there's a pig, and there's a dog in one of my earlier books. Pets are important!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laurie IJune 12, 2014 at 2:29 PM

    I agree with what you've said about secondary characters. Sometimes I read books whereby the secondary characters don't make a difference to the story whatsoever and it just feels like filler material. On the other hand, I've read stories that have secondary characters that are almost as interesting and significant as the main character(s). It just takes a good writer to incorporate them in a fulfilling way.
    Nice post. I'm happy to be getting acquainted with your cozy mystery books.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KRSJune 15, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    Laurie--I hope you enjoy them. Caprice loves her pets as much as I love mine so they have personality. I hope. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. KRSJune 15, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KRSJune 15, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    Laurie--I hope you enjoy them. Caprice loves her pets as much as I love mine so they have personality. I hope. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. KRSJune 15, 2014 at 7:42 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KRSJune 15, 2014 at 7:42 AM

    Penelope--And so fun to write!

    ReplyDelete