Killer Questions – Who in Your Latest Book Surprised You Most ... Why?
Part of writing a book is creating characters. No matter what an author plans, there are times that the writers is surprised by a character. We thought it would be fun to tell you about which character in our latest book surprised each of us most – and why.
Teresa Inge - How quickly my protagonist, Lainey Gentry defends herself against the killer in “Main of Murder.” I love creating strong, female characters.
Korina Moss - In Case of the Bleus, how Detective Heath reacted to my protagonist, Willa, at the end of the book surprised me. He’s always begrudgingly accepted her doing things her own way, but as I was writing the outcome this time, I realized this wasn’t something he could brush off. This time, her choices would come with consequences for their relationship.
K.M. Rockwood - I’ve been writing mostly short stories lately. In the one on which I am working now I was pleasantly surprised that the “villain,” the nephew of an elderly woman who had used the barn on her rural property as a meth lab, was fond of her and brought her fresh fish back when he was out in a small fishing boat on the Atlantic picking up shipments of drugs brought up from South America. He knew she liked the fish, and had a limited income, so he took the opportunity to actually fish and bring her some.
Shari Randall - Brandon Terwilliger, teenage ice cream creator and aspiring rock guitarist, started out as a rather shy guy, but now he has a girlfriend, Lucretia. Let's just say she's not the typical teenager. (No spoilers here!)
Nancy Eady - Several of my characters have surprised me by being problem children that require me to keep working with them until we both are happy with the result!
Kait Carson - Mallory. She’s Hayden’s best friend and Hayden’s change of career created surprising conflict between the two.
Lisa Malice - Lest She Forget is a psychological thriller, which also meant I had to get into the mind of Felix, my narcissistic hitman out to kill my heroine. Making him a real, multidimensional character with a not-so-evil past, a treacherous present borne out of past mistakes, and a future beyond working for a boss he hates was challenging and fun.
Martha Reed - In “Up Jumped the Devil,” a character suddenly appeared on the page when I thought they were imaginary.
Susan Van Kirk - In Death in a Bygone Hue, Jill Madison’s mentor, a man she revered, has a secret, a dark one that concerns Jill’s deceased mother. I was shocked when I realized this, and so was Jill. Since this mentor dies in chapter one, she’s going to have a heck of a time finding out if she misplaced her trust.
Mary Dutta - My latest short story centered on a bridesmaid. I was surprised by the lengths she would go to to give her friend a perfect wedding.
Marilyn Levinson - A teenager who just graduated high school named Albi Valdez surprised me. Albi asks Carrie, my sleuth, to help his troubled brother Tino, who is suspected of having murdered his two friends. Though Albi is the younger brother, he has been doing his best to look after his older brother. His taking care of Tino almost at the expense of his own future was a surprise to me.
Margaret S. Hamilton - The victim, Joe Pye. Joe left clues in his sketchbooks and garden mural identifying the campus predator.
Heather Weidner - I’m a plotter, so I had outlined the killer and all the motivations before I started. However, when I got going on this one, the characters took over, and another killer with a much stronger motive appeared.
Annette Dashofy - In my latest release, Keep Your Family Close, I would have to say Eric, Emma’s friend from back home. I never intended for him to take over and be so funny.
Grace Topping - In Upstaged by Murder, Laura Bishop, my main character, receives a visit from someone presumed to be dead.
Sarah Burr - The killer! In two of the books I wrote this past year, I ended up changing the killer at the end. That’s never happened to me before, so I was completely taken aback by how the story evolved away from my outline.
Molly MacRae - Even though I dreamed him up, Emrys the ghost surprised me the most. I had no idea what a full “life” he’d made for himself after he died back in 1750.
Lori Roberts Herbst - Monika Schiff, the young rookie reporter who starts work at the Rock Creek Gazette. When I started with her, I expected her to play a small role, but she moved in and made herself a vital character, so much so that she'll be back in subsequent books.
Connie Berry - The killer—because it wasn’t at all the person I’d planned to pin it on.
James M. Jackson - Seamus's half-sister Colleen Carpetti, who, I now realize, could be a stone-cold killer if she weren't such a nice person.
Debra H. Goldstein – In Five Belles Too Many, I was surprised that two characters, who had become estranged, tentatively found each other again.
