Saturday, November 23, 2013

Supporting Cast, Centre Stage Please!

By N.R. Walker (Guest Blogger)

And a giveaway!!

I’d like to thank Lisabet for offering me some page time on her blog!

Every now and then, we write a book where the secondary characters, or supporting cast as it were, sometimes take centre stage.

They don’t run away with the story but play such an important role, they’re impossible to ignore. 
And sometimes, they steal every scene they’re in.

My latest story, Breaking Point, has several supporting characters who I fell in love with. Yes, they helped the main characters in some way, pushing the plot and character development, but they were also stars in their own right.

The most memorable are Sal and Yumi. Kira’s parents play such a pivotal role in the Turning Point series. They offer some comedic relief, but also deliver some very hard truths for Matt, the main character. They’re insightful, funny, honest and almost everyone who read the first book in the series loved them.

Other supporting characters in Breaking Point whom I just loved were Arizona and Boss. They offered a support network to Matt, which I don’t think he really appreciated until the very end of the book. Not only that, they had a presence on page, and they were a joy to write.

Does that mean they’ll get their own book? Um, no. It just means they were a joy to write. LOL I found the other guys at the gym had so much more presence than Matt’s police partners, I don’t know why. Maybe I related to them better. There was a genuineness to them, a down-to-earth, hard working ethic that I loved. They had next to nothing, no money, not much in the way of possessions, but they were all heart.

Not all secondary characters have such a pull. Some are disposable, forgettable. But some - well, some are just standouts.

For your chance to win a copy of Breaking Point, the much anticipated sequel to Point of No Return, leave a comment on the lovely Lisabet’s blog telling us who your favourite supporting character is, and why. Can be from a book, TV show or movie...

(Terms of the giveaway: A random winner will be drawn after the blog post has been live for 24 hours and notified by email.)

Blurb

A fight for what's right becomes a fight for his life.

As guilt plagues him, Matthew Elliott’s world begins to spiral out of control. The harder he holds on, the more it slips through his fingers, and he’s helpless to stop it.

Entering into the underground cage-fighting scene, he starts out fighting for what’s right. The deeper he gets, the more guilt consumes him—the more pain he takes for his penance—and he’s soon fighting for more than justice.

He’s fighting for love.

He’s fighting for his life.

Excerpt

How ’bout you and Kira? Did ya tell him how good you went the other night?”

I sighed. “I, um… I told him I won my fight, but not that I didn’t fight here,” I said quietly. How could I explain this? “He…he doesn’t really understand…”

But he’s a kick-boxer, yeah?”

I nodded. “Yeah, trained in karate as a kid, went on to kick-boxing as he got older. He’s a personal trainer, but teaches boxing as a type of fitness. So he understands the love of it, as a sport, he just…he just struggles with why I’m doing this, why I left the police…” I stopped talking before I said too much.

Arizona looked at me for a long second. “Why’s he struggle with it?”

And I said out loud what I’d only ever told myself. “I’m doing this for him. I’ve not told him that, but I think he knows. I mean, he’s not stupid…”

You’ve not talked about it?”

I shook my head. “No. He’d feel guilty if I got hurt,” I said. “I don’t want him to worry.” Then I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I don’t want him at risk because of what I did for a living. Doing what I did, being a cop and being in the public eye, put him at risk. I couldn’t put him through it again.”

He’s okay though, isn’t he?” Arizona asked quietly. “And the girls he was kidnapped with? They’re all doing okay?”

I nodded and kind of shrugged. “They’re all still in counselling, but yeah, they talk openly about it.”

And you?”

Me, what?”

Talk about it? With Kira, with anyone?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Arizona picked up the backpack at his feet and stashed the money I’d given him inside it. “Man, you need to talk about shit like that, or it will eat at you.”

I nodded, and pushed down the knot in my stomach. “I know.”

The big man beside me stood up. “I’m going home, man. Gonna take my girls out for ice cream.”

Sounds good.”

You need to go home and talk to Kira.”

I nodded. I knew I did. I wanted to. I needed to. But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t tell him. Not any of it. If I started to tell him one little thing, I’d end up telling him everything, and expose this whole case.

I wouldn’t put him at risk like that. Not again.

When I got home, Kira was on the sofa watching TV. I threw my gym bag on the floor, sat down next to him and curled up into his side with my head on his chest.

He slid his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “You okay?”

No.

Not at all.

I miss you.

I’m sorry.

I’m dying inside.

Yeah, babe. I’m fine.”


Get your copy of Breaking Point here: https://www.totallybound.com/breaking-point

About N.R. Walker

Who am I?

Good question…

I am many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer.

I have pretty, pretty boys who live in my head, who don't let me sleep at night unless I give them life with words.

I like it when they do dirty, dirty things...but I like it even more when they fall in love.

I used to think having people in my head talking to me was weird, until one day I happened across other writers who told me it was normal.

I've been writing ever since…

Where to Find N.R. Walker

Facebook -
N.r. Walker
Facebook fan page -
N.R.WalkerAuthor
Twitter -
@NR_Walker
Goodreads -
N.R. Walker

12 comments:

Unknown said...

It hurts my brain to try and sift through everything in it to find my favorite secondary character. I have too many favorite books, movies, etc. Thinking about your books, however, my favorites are Lucas and Cameron's secretaries from Sixty Five Hours. Supportive, funny, perfectly placed. I want to be friends with them and hang out. I am looking forward to reading Breaking Point when I get my (oh God hopefully!) Amazon gift card from my "turns his head away from subject matter" husband for Christmas. p.s. Your "I have pretty, pretty boys who live in my head" is one of the things I show my friends when I try to convince them that boys who love boys is the way to go! Whew!

Unknown said...

I know it might sound unusual but my favorite secondary character is Cheta of of the old (like black and white) Tarzan movies he/she always made me laugh no matter how down I was.

Colleen C. said...

I love seeing secondary characters I have met get their chance to share their own stories! As for a fav secondary character... oh my goodness... I do not know! I have met so many through reading... some that are really funny, some that are great friends, some that shine and add more to a book... as for a fav, I am coming up blank at the moment. Thanks for sharing!
greenshamrock AT cox DOT net

Lisabet Sarai said...

Hello, Nicole! Welcome to Beyond Romance - I'm sorry I'm so late in coming by to greet you!

I love this excerpt. It's full of real emotion, the mixed feelings and secrets that make relationships so complicated.

As for my favorite secondary character - it might be Spike in Buffy. Of course, I'm not sure you'd call him "secondary", exactly. I marveled at the way Joss Whedon kept adding new layers of complexity to his history and his motivations. And of course he was really sexy, too...!

She said...

Good excerpt. Good column. My favorite secondary characters were Lenny and Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley. They were so goofy they made the show many times.

smg5775@yahoo.com

Lori R said...

Sam Elliot as Wade Garrett in Road House. He's so sexy in that movie.
lringel(at)Comcast.net

H.B. said...

There's been quite a few books I've read where I've wished that the secondary character get a story of their own and chances at love. It's so hard to choose but I've been waiting for Cicero from the Moonlight Breed series to have his own HEA story.

humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com

Barbra said...

This is soo hard. I know there are a million but all of a sudden I can't think of anything. How about the Donkey in Shrek. He's hilarious. :)
aelnova@aol.com

Urb said...

My favorite secondary characters are Crash and Lisa, both from the PsyCop series. And I really enjoyed Point of No Return--thank you!
Urb
brendurbanist @gmail.com

Terri H said...

The first character I think of is AJ from Maya Banks' Seducing Simon. I would still love to read his story, even though that book is a few years old!
terrihawk66@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I always loved Lane Kim on GILMORE GIRLS--the character was always relegated to the sidelines (and treated poorly by the show writers near the end of the run), and yet her music-geekdom and complicated family dynamics made her much more interesting than her best friend Rory Gilmore!

Trix, vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

kelsey said...

I read so many books that I can't think of a "single" secondary character that I love...there are so many of them! Of course, it's really satisfying when you read that one of them is going to get their own book... love it when that happens!
kelsey@netspace.net.au

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