An Unexpected Guest

HANK: We all know people like this. They come into our lives, and we think: hi and goodbye. And then something happens, and they’re baaaaack.

Every author will tell you there’s no such thing as a secondary character. Say it with me: “A secondary character is the main character in his/her own life.”  But it’s not only a mantra, it’s the truth.

As our dear wonderful Annette Dashofy—hurray—found out first (or second?) hand.

Harry Adams’ Encore

By Annette Dashofy

I created the character of Harry Adams back in the second book of the Zoe Chambers series. I’d been exploring the theme of fathers, which for me meant exploring my own heart. I’d lost my dad to complications from Alzheimer’s a few years prior to starting this book. Enough time had passed that I could tackle the subject and the character with some clarity of thought. Or so I believed.

 

Harry is Pete Adams’ dad. For those unfamiliar with the series, Pete is the secondary protagonist who also happens to be the small-town chief of police. Pete’s sister has been their father’s primary caregiver, and in Lost Legacy (book #2), she drops him off on Pete’s doorstep, so she can have some downtime. In the process, Pete learns a lot about his dad and himself.

I knew from the start that Harry had Alzheimer’s, but I agonized over the character and the disease. Almost everyone has some experience with a family member or friend who suffers with this devastating illness. It’s ugly. 

I wanted to represent Alzheimer’s truthfully and accurately, but I also wanted to create a character whom readers would want to spend time with. As I wrote, I had no idea whether I’d found the right balance. However, Lost Legacy became the story of my heart, giving me a chance to revisit my dad. I selected quirks of his and instilled them in Harry, while leaving out the most difficult parts. I’ve always said, Harry is not my dad, but parts of my dad live on in Harry.

At the time, Harry Adams was to be a one-and-done character. I’d even contemplated having him die a hero in the end. To my surprise, my critique group fell madly in love with the old codger, leading me to realize I’d be in big trouble with my readers if I bumped him off. I also realized I must have succeeded in striking the balance I sought.

Harry got to live on, a tad worse for wear, but I still hadn’t planned to bring him back. Until my readers started demanding to know when Harry was going to show up again.

Four books later, I finally found a storyline that worked for him in Uneasy Prey (#6, released March of this year). I had Pete and his sister move their father into an assisted living facility where he constantly insisted people were being murdered. I liked the idea of a man with Alzheimer’s and a cop for a son, who would witness fellow residents passing away and immediately jump to wrong conclusions.

I’d intended to wrap up the thread and leave Harry to live happily offstage. Except, once again, my intentions didn’t work out. His story felt incomplete to me, so I knew it had to feel that way to my readers.

Which led me to Cry Wolf. What would happen, I wondered, if one of the deaths at Harry’s nursing home really did turn out to be murder? I loved the idea of Harry and his new friends “assisting” in a homicide investigation—and providing the key to solve the case.

Now that Harry’s had a taste of policework, will he be content to stay off the page? I have my doubts. As before, I don’t have plans for his return, but I suspect he’ll soon be hounding me for another chance to charm my readers.

For the writers out there, have you ever had a secondary character completely steal the show and demand a bigger part? And for the readers, what secondary characters have you fallen in love with and wish to see more of?

HANK: Well, Peter Hardesty in Truth Be Told. He gets SO much fan mail—right, Ramona?  And you’re not the only one.  (This potential suitor for Jane Ryland turned out to be incredibly winning and charming and attractive.  I love him, too, and we may see more of him.)

And may I say—hurray, Annette! Congratulations on your wild success. I truly, truly remember when you were just starting. And you have hit it out of the ballpark.

Okay, “secondary characters.”  I always wanted to write a book with Nancy’s pals Bess and George as the heroines. That’d work, right? Oh, whoa, Eeyore.

How about you, Reds and readers?

Cry Wolf 

Rural Pennsylvania’s Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams is down an officer and has been dealing with extra shifts as well as a pair of bickering neighbors, one of whom owns a machete and isn’t afraid to use it. Golden Oaks Assisted Living is outside Pete’s jurisdiction, but a murder in the facility his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father calls home makes the case personal.

Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe Chambers has been itching for an opportunity to take the lead in a death investigation. She gets her chance when her boss is hospitalized and not only assigns her to the Golden Oaks homicide but puts her in charge of the county coroner’s office. As if she doesn’t have enough to handle, a long-lost, over-protective, older half-brother walks into her life threatening to drive a wedge between her and the man she loves.

A second dead body leads them to realize the case may have dark ties to a distant past…and if Zoe doesn’t untangle the web of lies, Pete will be the one to pay the ultimate price.

USA Today bestselling author Annette Dashofy has spent her entire life in rural Pennsylvania surrounded by cattle and horses. When she wasn’t roaming the family’s farm or playing in the barn, she could be found reading or writing. After high school, she spent five years as an EMT on the local ambulance service, dealing with everything from drunks passing out on the sidewalk to mangled bodies in car accidents. These days, she, her husband, and their spoiled cat, Kensi, live on property that was once part of her grandfather’s dairy. Her Zoe Chambers mysteries have received three nominations for the prestigious Agatha Award. Cry Wolf (September 2018 )is the seventh in the series.