Win a digital copy of FADEOUT.
Each author participating in the Sultry Suspense Showcase will be giving away a prize to a lucky commenter on their post.
A CALM CHARACTER IN THE STORM: THE IMPORTANCE OF A FOIL IN A SUSPENSE NOVEL
Thanks to Guilty Pleasures for offering suspense writers a chance to talk about our genre. October is a wonderful month for me to introduce my suspense series because my novels center on a rather dark subject, fitting for the Halloween season. Cue the scary music: FADEOUT and SWOON are stories about a boutique funeral planner whose dead people refuse to die in peace. What’s more, Jan Solvang suffers from Syncope, a fainting disorder. You’re thinking she should find another profession, aren’t you? Well, she can’t (for reasons you’ll find out) so she’s in for some frightening times.
We readers and writers know that because our main characters struggle constantly with chaos, 
we yearn for a character or two in the story who offer calm in the storm…to serve as a contrast to the conflict and fear rampant in the majority of the book. In my novel, one character who is a foil to the heroine, is Pete MacDonald, a blind investigator.
How many blind forensics investigators do you know? Well, I met my first one via the New York Times, in a bio about a man who works for a big city crime-fighting unit. From that time on, I was looking for a plot to suit my Pete MacDonald, working freelance on the Central Coast of California. He is a big-brained guy, analytical, persistent and calm. No one interrogates a potential criminal more acutely than Pete MacDonald. But the man has a sharp wit and a warm way about him that is endearing to our heroine, so they become friends quickly. When her dead clients reach from the grave to unveil secrets, it’s Pete to whom she goes for advice and forensic research. He’s her calm harbor in a stormy plot.
Pete has moved into his father’s home after the death of his mother, mainly because ‘Duck’ MacDonald can no longer live alone. Duck, in his early seventies, has early onset Alzheimer’s, and Pete is his primary caregiver. Though he usually works out of his home office, when Pete’s gone from the house, Duck must stay with his sister or at adult day care.
Jan Solvang and Pete first meet when she helps plan a celebration of Duck’s life, in the early stages of the disease, when Duck can appreciate such an event.
Jan and Pete have a strong buddy relationship, seemingly stolid and important. Yet the reader wonders: When Jan makes a habit of rubbing shoulders with danger as she solves the mysteries of her dead clients, will Pete stand by her side?
I can’t wait for you to answer this question as you learn about the exploits of Pete, Duck and Jan in FADEOUT (available now) and SWOON (available in November).
CONTEST TIME
For readers: Name the person (and novel) with your favorite secondary character. (My editor loves Pete so much she wants me to write a novel centered on HIM!)
For writers: Where do you ‘find’ your most colorful characters (I found Pete in the feature section of the New York Times).
One lucky commenter will win a digital copy of FADEOUT. Winner will be selected using random.org on 10/11.
FADEOUT
The Funeral Planner Suspense Series
By Rolynn Anderson
She’s a boutique funeral planner whose clients will not rest in peace.
Jan Solvang has spent her life avoiding conflict and commitment. Six months ago, she left a marriage proposal and a job in Seattle to care for her dying mother. Now she feels trapped in California with an inherited dog, working with her estranged father as a memorial event planner.
Scriptwriter Roman Keller thrives on conflict. His documentaries reveal the flaws of the famous. Jan’s challenge is to help him write a positive eulogy for a grandfather he despised, but Roman is more interested in her other client: a powerful attorney with a dark past his family wants buried with him.
If Jan stands behind the family and Roman goes for the exposé, who wins?
The tension between them grows as each discovers the other is keeping secrets. Will the truth destroy their chance at love?
This series sounds interesting. Thank you for participating. =)
You’re welcome, Didi. We all have guilty pleasures…I’m glad to rub shoulders with others of like mind!
cool! I had not heard of these. Thanks Rolynn!
Thank you for the post. To answer your question, I would have to pick Kevin in Lori Armstrong’s Julie Collins series. Ive begged her to write a story just for him. I often fall in love with secondary characters and Pete sounds like a great guy. It’s very cool where your inspiration for him came from. This is my favorite genre right now and I hope to read your books soon.
Thanks, Kimber! I’m excited about writing a story for Pete. We all need a guy like him in our lives!
I will have to look these up!! Great post!! Lassiter from JR Ward’s BDB series is one I would love to see get his own book! LOVE him!!
Amen! Love Lassiter. I can see why you picked him! Rolynn
Great post! I had never heard of Fadeout so this is great. As for a secondary character – I would say that of the series I read (and I read a lot of series books) that Patricia Briggs offers the best secondary characters – one of them has actually gone on to become a romantic hero in spinoff series – Charles Cornick. Thanks for the giveaway!
You’re welcome. I haven’t read Patricia Briggs’ novels. Now I look forward to them…thanks! Rolynn
oh, Rock Chick Regret- Daisy. I love it when Daisy get’s all mother hen. :o)
Okay, Ava. Now I’m very interested in Daisy’s story. On my TBR pile, for sure! Rolynn
This sounds like a very interesting book, thanks for sharing a little about it. I’ll tell you the one secondary character I have begged and pleaded with the author to write a book about and she’s not said that he is getting his own short story and that is Chris from Lori Foster’s Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor series. From book one his character had my attention and throughout the series I always wanted more!
Amazing how a character like Chris can stay in your head. Thanks for the tip on Lori Foster’s series! Rolynn
I found my most colorful characters in my past.
Oh, I can’t wait to read this. Thanks for the giveaway! lisarayns(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks, Lisa. I’ll be looking for those characters in your stories! Rolynn
I’m with Ava…I would love to read Daisy’s story. Thanks for giveaway.
Okay, now I’m feeling left out about Daisy…I’m remembering Daisy in The Great Gatsby. That dates me, huh? Rolynn
lol Rolynn, I believe the Daisy they area talking about is from the Rock Chick series by Kristen Ashley.
I found it Rolynn! lol (Apparently I didn’t scroll down far enough. :/) Ok- where do I find secondary characters? From all over. In my new book coming out in 3/2013 I have an older woman, a cat lady, who reminds me of my sister. She’s a firm believer in a plaque I saw at a yard sale this weekend “There’s no such thing as too many cats.” LOL
Congrats and I’m crossing everything I win, which will make it extremely hard to write tonight, but I have to read this book! 😉 Congrats!
Great to see you here, Calisa. I’ll bet your sis is honored to be featured in your book! And I agree that lots of our characters have traits of family members. Good luck with the contest! Rolynn
I can’t think of any secondary characters, every one I think up I’ve read their story already.
I think my favorite secondary character was John in Linda Howard’s Kill and Tell. And yes, he did go on to have his own book. Thanks for the opportunity!
I remember John, Karen. And you’ve picked one of my favorite suspense writers. Smart woman, you are 🙂 Rolynn
Sounds like a great book and I love the cover. Thx for the giveaway.
blinkysthebest at aol dot com
Thank you all for stopping by! Thank you Rolynn for such a great post and for participating in our Sultry Suspense Showcase.
Congrats to Lisa Rayns you won a copy of Fadeout.