One of my favourite characters is Jack Coglan, an older man in my second book Shattered Sky, who’s caught in a downwind spiral of his own making. Yes, there are compelling reasons for his actions, but they don’t excuse them.
In both Wings of Fear and Shattered Sky I have secondary characters who are returned servicemen. I’ve listened to men who served in Vietnam talk about their struggle to come terms with what they’d experienced in that war and the vilification they faced when they came home. So many of them battled to find their place again in their old lives. It was important to acknowledge them and those issues.
Jack sprang from all those conversations. He’s also one of the villains and, as so often happens, the bad guys seem to have much more interesting back-stories than the main stars.
What kind(s) of character do you consider this character primarily to be, or how would you describe this character?
Jack’s an anti-hero who will ultimately redeem himself. Along that hard road he will come to accept some of the truths about himself and be pivotal in changing another major character. If I were to put him into the Hero’s Journey then he’d be a mentor/spirit guide who helps the hero/heroine discover something of grave importance.
What is a character from a published fiction story by another author you would compare this character to and why are they similar?
Hmm, that’s a difficult one. I think there are many examples of characters who ultimately sacrifice themselves knowing it’s the only way they can find redemption. Boromir in Lord of the Rings is someone who finds it easy to be seduced by his dark side, but when confronted with the truth of his actions he gives his life to prevent the Hobbits being killed. Jack plays a similar role in Shattered Sky.
To what extent did you use any pre-existing character formula, template, paradigm, character design, archetype, or theory or principles of making or analysing character in planning, writing, and refining this character?
Consciously I didn’t follow any character formula in the first draft, but I do think the patterns of stories are age-old. Many of the myths and legends have good men or women caught in circumstances of which they have little or no control. Suspense novels certainly lend themselves to those old archetypes. The concept of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ demonstrates how those archetypes cross cultural borders.
In the editing process I identify which characters fit what roles within that concept and then strengthen their traits appropriately. In Jack’s case that meant making him more heroic. As a mentor/spirit guide he had to be able to influence Lauren, the heroine, and she needed a compelling reason to listen to him.
How would you describe the first chapter, scene or section of this story in one paragraph?
The first chapter in Shattered Sky starts slap bang in the middle of the action. It sets the pace for the story with two minor characters in grave danger on a sinking yacht caught in a Category Five cyclone in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s meant to drop the reader right into the heart of danger,
Pick one of your published stories. How would you describe the introduction of the main character, or one of the main characters, in this story?
Lauren Bennett is the heroine in Shattered Sky and she’s introduced in Chapter Two. She’s at work in her role as a Captain of a Dash 8 surveillance aircraft helping to rescue the crew of the sinking yacht. It was important for me to put Lauren in her ordinary world where the reader could instantly have an appreciation of her role at work, her strengths, her weaknesses and her abilities.
What makes this an effective character introduction for this story?
The Border Watch is a job that has inherent danger, risks and stresses that are routine to the crews operating them, but perhaps not to the average reader. I needed to show Lauren competently dealing with that before she’s forced out of her comfort zone later in the story when most of the action takes place on land.
I also think in Romantic Suspense it’s important for readers to connect quickly with the heroine and empathise with her. She needs compelling reasons for her actions and that starts with her introduction.
What major changes does this character go through, or what major challenges does the character encounter and how does the character respond to them?
In the start of story Lauren was still hurting from what she viewed as her betrayal of friend when she failed to save him from terrorists in the first book, Wings of Fear. It had left her questioning herself, her ability and her courage.
When she uncovers an operation trafficking women for the sex-slave trade she’s forced to confront those fears and find the strength to take action. The story takes her on a journey into the rugged wilderness of Cape York where she discovers personal depths she didn’t know she possessed.
Once she makes the decision to act it allows her to move forward, put her grief in perspective and take responsibility for her actions.
What does the story gain from the minor characters?
Writing minor characters is a joy. There are so many personalities to explore. In Shattered Sky there are a raft of bad guys, plus a couple of ‘mentors’. The villains allow me to explore a criminal’s motivation and there are several layers in this story.
The Outlawed Motorcycle gang is out for straight profit. The mastermind is out for revenge and if there’s profit to be had then that’s fine too. Jack is caught by spiraling debt caused by his wife’s medical bills for her battle with cancer. They all have strong reasons for their criminality.
They all impact on the hero and heroine so ultimately the secondary characters are all pivotal to the growth of the main characters.
I hope the good the bad and the ugly add another dimension to the depth of human nature!
To what extent would you describe the characters in this story as typical or atypical of characters in your fiction stories?
I hope the characters are atypical. Romantic Suspense does tend to lend itself to feisty heroines, but there are many ways to achieve that sort of independent strong-minded characterization without becoming clichéd.
Criminals differ depending on the crime and in my earlier book the bad guys were terrorists and an ex-ASIS agent. My third book revolves around an arsonist working alone.
The job of a writer is to create unique characters that resonate with readers. It is both the challenge and the joy of the process.
Author website: http://www.heleneyoung.com/
