The Value of Secondary Characters

I don’t know about you, but some of the most fun I get from reading a series is getting to know the secondary characters. Seeing the characters take shape before your eyes as they sneak in and out of the plot of the various books is fun to watch. Sometimes they may play a central part in the book in question and sometimes they may not appear at all. Part of the fun of getting to know these minor characters is trying to figure out when their story will evolve. It’s so satisfying when they get to come out from the edges of the pages and take center stage.

How many times have you been reading a series and been absolutely certain of who the next character will be, only to have the author pull a fast one on you, and write about someone else instead? Your mind was all set to read about the next character and you’re suddenly involved in someone else’s story. The good series authors know how to manipulate their characters—JR Ward, Nora Roberts, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas—and, even though you were salivating for someone else’s story, you find yourself knee-deep in the story of the moment.

My historical Cotillion Ball series is about the nine siblings in the Fitzpatrick family in 1850s America. One at a time, each sibling gets their moment in the sun, and they appear in the other stories, sliding in here and there, giving readers a glimpse of their personalities and what to expect. But because this series spans a number of years when America was young, and takes place in multiple locations, there is a cast of other secondary characters who are not related to the Fitzpatricks. Readers of the first six books have already asked me for stories about some of these characters. Surely, Jake, Raoul, Gaston and Johnny deserve their happy ever after, too, right?

The beauty of a series with many secondary characters is that the story lines can go on and on for years. The world in which the characters roam has been established. Why not make ample use of it? How about you? Which series have you absolutely loved and why? Which characters didn’t get their own story when you thought they deserved it?

Filed under: romance