The Sun Down Motel

by Simone St. James

“This place is dark.” “Some of us like the dark. It’s what we know.”

Heather was supposed to be a very minor character, a background person who showed up in a couple of scenes. From the first moment she appeared on the page, I knew she was going to be something more. She is Carly’s friend, but she also has her own struggles. In a lot of thrillers, the roommate is a character who gets murdered to further the plot. I thought, what if the roommate doesn’t get killed? What if she’s actually really cool? That was Heather.