From author Pamela K. Kinney
In my urban fantasy, How the Vortex Changed My Life, I had the challenge of writing a character who doesn’t speak. At least, not in English, nor any human speech. Larry. I’d worried that I wouldn't do a good job on him. I told myself, he was just a secondary character. This was Cat’s story. Even Connor and the Angel George are only secondary characters.
The novel grew into more than a story about Cat growing strong in facing the apocalypse. Larry found his voice, or should I say, his sounds, in this novel. My critique groups and beta readers liked Larry. The little demon shaped like an eyeball with a blue iris and was the size of a standard poodle had clawed his way into readers’ hearts. And in mine. Secondary character or not, he had to be on the cover, at Cat’s side, as he deserved it.
It makes me think of other books I’ve written over the years, where a secondary character develops a personality that grows beyond the bounds of a book. I write paranormal romance under a pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, and have a sequel, A Familiar Tangle With Hell, to an erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch. There is a demonic being in it, who looks like a white bunny with a fluffy tail, named Fluffy. He developed his own personality in the storyline. He possessed me to write him, the same as Larry did later.
There are many books over the years we’ve all read where a secondary character has grabbed the reader’s heart. Sometimes this character isn’t always a good person, like Gollum in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Sometimes, he/she is the comedy relief. Other times, he/she is brave and loyal. This person/animal/creature can be anything. Like Batman’s Robin, Sherlock Holmes’ Dr. Watson, and William Crawley’s Mr. Carson who are the assistant or companion. Other secondary characters are the foil, the roadblock, and of course, the antagonist.
A secondary character must have an individual purpose for being in your story. All of them have a common purpose to help move the story forward in interest-grabbing ways. A secondary character cannot become so prominent that he or she competes with the main character for the reader’s attention and concern. A secondary character who doesn’t flow naturally in the story should always be avoided.
#ThereisnoeyedropsinHell
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Excerpt from How the Vortex Changed My Life:
Maybe we should tell the Army or Marines. Some government agency."
Connor looked at me with disbelief. "Tell them what?"
"That the vortex caught you and drew you up into it, deposited you in Hell, where you met Larry . . . well, and you know, the whole rigmarole."
"Right. I'll tell the authorities that I became a werewolf at the full moon six months ago, got pulled into the Hell dimension, where I met a demon that looks like an eyeball. Then some blonde human female who got hauled in six months later, helped us to escape." He leaned closer and took both of my hands. "I'll be locked up in a cell, as either they'll think I'm crazy or once they see Larry, he and I will become part of some government cover-up." He added, "And we both will have tests run on us by government scientists. Telling isn't really a good idea."
Angry, I tore my hands out of his as I rose to my feet. "So, all you really care about is saving your skin. You talk the big talk about saving the world. But when there's even the smallest chance you might end up as some experiment, well, forget the world." I stomped away, heading for the front door. "I don't know about you, but I'm furious that Hell can take over my world and make humankind into mindless things or bodies to be possess or food for its fiends. I don't know what I can do, and I may end up a mindless gray pawn or even die, but I will try something.
Connor caught up with me at the door, stopping me. "Okay, okay. Let's do it your way and go talk to the police."
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