How Cookies Define Character by Alexis Morgan

The Write Way Café welcomes Best-Selling author Alexis Morgan, who shares interesting thoughts on characterization.


I should probably confess right up front that I was an English major in college. As such, I’m probably more prone than most to see symbolism everywhere. Having said that, I do believe an author can give the stories she creates greater depth by allowing the reader to understand what a prize possession or favorite activity really means to her characters.

Take a second and picture a favorite hero or heroine either from a book you’ve read or a book you’ve written. Then see if you can answer this question: What would his/her favorite possession be? I’m talking about the one thing they would never get rid of, that one item they’d grab on the way out the door if they knew they were never coming back.

Or what activity are they always drawn to in good times and in bad? Who or what do they think about when they’re doing it?

I don’t usually pick a favorite item or activity for my characters at the same time I’m choosing their names, age, job, and hair color. But as I start writing, I am often surprised by how the same things keep popping up naturally in the story as I put words on the page.

For example, I wrote a book about Ranulf, a thousand-year-old Viking living in our modern world. When I needed him to drive somewhere, I had to stop and figure out what kind of car a man like him would own. The only one that seemed to fit was a 1930s Packard convertible, which he’d owned since it was new. It was one of the items he’d held onto from his past, a way to remember the people he’d loved and lost over time. Even more than the car, though, he cherished the necklace he’d given to his wife as a young warrior. It was all he had left of the woman he’d once loved with everything he had. Despite all the centuries that had passed since he’d laid her to rest, he still loved her.

In one of my Paladin stories, Hunter Fitzsimon had been tortured by the enemy. At the beginning of the book, he’s a broken man, not sure if he’ll ever recover enough to pick up the shattered pieces of his life. When his friend gives him an antique cane with a carved ivory handle to help him walk, Hunter takes it badly. It’s only when he realizes that there is more to the cane than can be seen at first glance, that he understands what his friend had been really trying to tell him. Inside, there is a razor sharp sword. Over the course of the story, Hunter leans on the cane in different ways. It does help him walk when his leg bothers him, but he also draws comfort from gripping the handle during the times his PTSD threatens to overwhelm him. In the end, when he uses the cane’s hidden weapon to defend himself, he finds his own hidden strength and the courage to rebuild his life with the woman he loves.

Finally, while writing DEATH BY COMMITTEE, my new cozy mystery from Kensington, I made an interesting discovery about the protagonist. Abby McCree, the unwilling amateur sleuth at the center of the story, draws comfort from a particular activity rather than a physical object. When in doubt, she bakes cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. I never set out to have that play such a significant role in the book, but that’s how the story unfolded all on its own.

To begin with, Abby shares her home with a mastiff mix named Zeke. He’s a rescue dog who had a pretty bad time of it in the past. He loves the organic doggy treats she bakes for him. She knows she’s spoiling Zeke a bit, but it’s her way of making up for his rough start in life.

She also enjoys spending time with her friends gathered around her dining room table sharing refreshments. Sometimes the occasion is purely social, but they also conduct a lot of boring committee business while munching snickerdoodles.

Abby has also learned that fresh baked cookies can go a long way toward smoothing troubled waters when it comes to the men in her life. Tripp Blackston is her handsome but curmudgeonly tenant, and then there’s the local chief of police.

But beyond all of that, for Abby, baking is a powerful emotional connection to the times in the past when she and late her aunt spent hours in the kitchen together. When Sybil passed away, she left Abby her house, her dog, and even her tenant. That generous gift came at a time when Abby’s life was in turmoil. It enabled her to start over and build a new life for herself. So every time Abby makes a batch of cookies or doggy treats, it’s bridge from good times in the past to her new life in Snowberry Creek.

So, the bottom line is that what the readers learn about the people in a book isn’t just revealed in the big moments in the story, but also in the small details that have a special emotional meaning to the characters. Whether it’s through a physical object or a particular activity, the author can help her audience make a deeper connection to the hero or heroine and to the world she is creating with her words.

For a chance to win an ARC of DEATH BY COMMITTEE and a keychain with a picture of Zeke, the dog in DEATH BY COMMITTEE, please leave a comment AND your email so we can contact you if you are the winner!  Apologies, but this giveaway is limited to the U.S. only.  Winner will be announced on Monday February 11th!

When Abby McCree suddenly inherits her favorite relative’s property in small town Snowberry Creek, Washington, she soon realizes that the ramshackle home comes with strings attached—one of which is tied to a dead body!

After a rough divorce, Abby McCree only wants to stitch up her life and move on. But other loose ends appear after her elderly Aunt Sybil passes away, leaving Abby to tend to a rundown estate, complete with a slobbery Mastiff of questionable pedigree and a sexy tenant who growls more than the dog. As Abby gets drawn into a tight-knit quilting guild, she makes a twisted discovery—Aunt Sybil’s only known rival is buried in her backyard!

Despite what local detectives say, Abby refuses to accept that her beloved aunt had anything to do with the murder. While navigating a busy social calendar and rediscovering the art of quilting, she launches an investigation of her own to clear Aunt Sybil’s name and catch the true culprit. The incriminating clues roll in, yet Abby can’t help but wonder—can she survive her new responsibilities in Snowberry Creek and still manage to patch together a killer’s deadly pattern without becoming the next victim?

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A Rita finalist and USA Today Best-selling author,  Alexis Morgan has always loved reading and now spends her days imagining worlds filled with strong alpha heroes and gutsy heroines. She is the author of over forty-five novels, novellas, and short stories that span a wide variety of genres: American West historicals (as Pat Pritchard); paranormal and fantasy romances; and contemporary romances. She is currently celebrating the launch of her new mystery series, The Abby McCree Mysteries. 

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