Secondary Character Love

Crimson Romance author Winter Austin is back with us to share how falling in love with secondary characters in her books has revealed surprises and led her to expand them with books of their own.

While writing my second book, Retribution, two things happened. First, I discovered some astonishing secrets that were hidden deep within two of my secondary characters. Number two thing, I had beta readers screaming for me to start writing books on those characters because they fell madly in love with them. Well, I did too, and I’m the creator. For me, as with most authors, characters are like real people and they speak to me, and sometimes kind of like the way my teenage kids do, like smart aleks.

I love it when secondary characters take on a life of their own and add to the layers or flavor of the story. They can either irritate the main characters to no end, or enhance their personalities. For both of my main characters they have a cast of secondary characters lined up behind them that bring out a different aspect in both. But for this post I’ll focus on just two of them.

For my hero, Detective Remy LeBeau, it was his partner, Detective Heath Anderson. Heath showed up in my first book years after I created Remy. Eventually this good ole Texas boy began revealing bits and pieces of himself to turn him into a force to reckon with. He kept pushing and prodding into Remy’s life and past, hoping to crack that thick block of ice around Remy. I never understood why it was so important to Heath—well, I did from the aspect that most detective partners are like brothers, they rely on that protection to make it through the job. But it wasn’t until Heath finally connected with the other main character, Cody Lewis, that the flood gates opened up. I can’t give too much away, it would ruin Retribution for you, but let’s just say, what Heath was hiding I never saw it coming.

Then there was Cody’s longstanding best friend, Kimberly Anne Gregory. Kim has been in Cody’s life for as long as I’ve known Cody, but she didn’t step onto the story book stage until Retribution. Kim is a whirlwind, go-getter who loves life and brings out the feminine side of Cody. Yet Kim’s life is an enigma, but I knew one aspect of it for a long time—can’t tell ya, it’d blow the secret. Oddly enough, I never planned this, but the moment Kim and Heath met in Retribution, sparks flew. And well, I had a new romance starting to bud within the main arc for Cody and Remy’s story. Because of this, I got hammered with: “You better write a book for Heath and Kim.”

Ha ha, I actually do have a story for them, but book 3 needs to release first.

I’m not the first and nor will I be the last author to have readers beg to see books for their favorite secondary characters. I’ve been getting requests for books for some secondary characters from my first book, Relentless. And believe me, I do have some general ideas for books for most of my secondary characters.

Now the question remains: How far will this secondary cast take my book series? I hope for a while longer.

Book Info:
Called to the homicide of a Dallas criminal lawyer, Detective Remy LeBeau stares at a scene that drags him back into his past. To another murdered lawyer in New Orleans. A case that put Remy on a collision course with death.

Cody Lewis struggles with the horrific memories of her kidnapping and the need to numb the pain. The battle she puts up causes her to avoid Remy and their undetermined relationship. But the flashbacks and nightmares are proving more potent than Cody thought and she’s having a harder time resisting the cravings for alcohol.

As the case takes a turn in revealing a professional assassin is behind the death, Remy begins to make decisions that could cost him his job and Cody. Because the deeper he sinks, the closer the enemies of his past come to finding him.

About the author:  
Winter Austin was once asked by her husband if he could meet some of the people who took residence in her head. She warned they weren’t all characters he wanted to meet, as killers walked among them. Needless to say, that conversation ended abruptly.

A lifelong Mid-West gal, Winter swears she should have been born in the South, Texas or Louisiana preferably. But then she’d miss the snowy winters.

Dividing her day between her four children and their various activities, a growing pet population, and her Beta-with-Alpha-tendencies Hero, Winter manages to find time to write chilling thrillers between loads of laundry.

Don’t worry. You won’t find any of her mouthwatering culinary dishes poisoned. Unless you’re one of her fictional creations.

You can learn more about Winter Austin and her current and upcoming releases by visiting her website: http://www.winteraustin.com or her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/w.austin.degressofdarkness

Links:
Crimson Romance: http://www.crimsonromance.com/upcoming-releases-romance-ebook/retribution/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Retribution-Crimson-Romance-ebook/dp/B00D0AGZLU/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369505603&sr=1-5&keywords=Crimson+Romance

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Retribution/book-
3vdkyxng9kOxfDKacbhVSQ/page1.html?s=sbiBGb8S-02ubmmuT9WgdQ&r=5