The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

Last year following Valentine’s Day, I decided to unpack the idea if characters need to be emotional to be effective. What I ended up deciding is that it isn’t necessary, as long as the character’s distance or detachment is credible. They key is for the character to be compelling, and there’s no reason a character can’t fulfill that requirement if they don’t wear their heart on their sleeve.

The key involves getting the audience to want to find out more about the character – basically, having a mystery of some sort to uncover, to hark back to the column title. Even if the character can’t grow and change, if the reader’s knowledge of them grows and changes, this can be effective as well. Also, I think genre can make a difference – an emotion-guarded or distant character would be a harder sell in a romance versus hard-boiled detective fiction, for example.

The ultimate thing I emphasize is that a character should be worth caring about. This would be true whether a hero, anti-hero, or antagonist. I realize that the idea of “worth caring about” might need a little fleshing out, and perhaps might be a bit over-simplified. It would certainly be plausible to find a character to be interesting, and yet not care about how the character progresses. I even realize I’ve read a few stories like this, where the character’s own story and background are interesting, but when the writer actually tries to use this character in a plot it feels forced and stilted – therefore,  while I find the character to be one I might care about, I don’t necessarily care about the character in the story’s context.

The bottom line, then, is not to just create characters your readers will find interesting but to place them in a plot that brings out the nature of those characters to the fullest.

Until next time!

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Over time, the news reported on the background of the suspects that broke into the home. Neither of them fit the profile of what Randy described to Sam. Sam considered that perhaps the people now in custody had been hired by the person giving Randy trouble. That thought made him consider that in turn, perhaps that person could be working for higher-up people.

No telling how much trouble Randy might actually be in. However, Sam determined not to involve Lauren if Randy hadn’t desired it. However, he knew for his own piece of mind he’d need to reach out to Randy again, if for no other reason to make sure he was ok. Sam may have married into this family, but when he vowed his love to Lauren, he’d promised to take care of any member of it.

Sam knew where Randy lived, and checked in on his place. From how things looked, Randy didn’t seem to have been around for days. He didn’t know if the young man went into hiding or already ran into issues. The next logical place Randy might be would be with his parents, but going there might tip off Lauren something bigger was going on and he hadn’t entrusted his own wife with it.

The seasoned private investigator debated what to do next.

Sam went home to his wife Lauren that night feeling rather guilty. Not only was he unable to help Randy, he’d come to Sam looking for the confidentiality any client would expect, so Sam couldn’t talk to her about her nephew in any way.

He walked in to find Lauren glued to the television. Given her print journalism background, that wasn’t like her. Sam immediately went to check what was up. He found Lauren watching a news story with the headline splashed across the bottom of the screen: FAMOUS DRAG QUEEN KILLED IN HOME BREAK-IN.

“What’s going on?” Sam prodded Lauren, feeling in his gut this tied in to what Randy came to him about.

“It’s that performer that was at my brother’s charity event. Someone broke into the house with that person home at the time and ended up murdered. They caught the people behind the break-in, but now everyone’s debating if it’s a hate crime or not. I feel for the person’s family and everyone they loved. It must be so heartbreaking.”

Sam prayed that Randy would come back to him, and fast, to confirm or deny if the person in the news would be the same person they discussed today. If so, Sam would be more than ready to pool all his resources to help. No one messes with his family or anyone they love.

“Whoever this guy is, he keeps going through various phones to contact me. Either burner phones or he’s spoofing the number.”

Randy might be an actor, but also smart as a whip about tech. Sam understood what Randy meant from an investigative side of things, even if he didn’t understand how some of those processes worked. His daughter Carly, now part of the police force, probably had a far better clue.

“It he trying to hit on you? Does he know your interests?”

“Yes. I’ve been as discreet as I can but apparently that’s impossible. What’s worse, he knows about my involvement with her. I’ve been told to break it off with her and be in a relationship with him, or he promises to expose all of her to the world.”

“Sorry to interrupt. You keep saying her again here.”

“The guy contacting me always uses the drag artist name referring to the person I’m in the relationship with. By ‘expose all of her’ I can only presume he means to tell the whole world about her birth name and her full past.”

“I’m guessing it’s a rough history. You seem to really want to protect that information.”

“You have a daughter, right? And Aunt Lauren? Wouldn’t you do anything to protect them?”

Randy had a point.

“I totally understand,” Sam reassured Randy. “But right now, I’ve got to be upfront with you. Without knowing more about the very things you don’t want to reveal, it puts limits on how I can help.”

Randy slumped back in his chair.

“I wish I could share them with you, Uncle. I really wish I could.”

“And until you can, my hands are pretty tied, Randy.”

“I have someone in my life,” Randy admitted. “You don’t see us much together because it would be harder than this person on me for us to be both in public right now.  The person I care about makes a living as a well-known drag artist – drag queen might be more what you’d say. We both live lives under the spotlight. So, as far as our relationship goes, we need to both work on announcing this slowly and carefully.”

Sam relaxed. He knew there would be questions that needed answering, but didn’t want Randy to feel interrogated. Sam also saw an opportunity to really get to know this nephew of his wife’s who, as far as Sam was concerned, was part of his as well.

“How did you meet?”

“We’re both in the biz, so it’s not hard. It was at one of my parents’ charity functions. We were simply introduced. At first, I confess I wasn’t up on everything. I thought the person I was introduced to was a woman in all ways. Then I saw the performance on stage she gave during the event and she had me completely mesmerized.”

Sam stopped a moment.

“You said she.”

“When in character, I’m to refer to this person in my life as she. But when we’re just being us, it’s male to male.”

“I see,” Sam said, hoping a hint of compassion showed through. “I see you’re trying hard not to tell me who this person is.”

“I’m afraid if I slip somewhere and the wrong person overhears, this person’s life could be in danger. Everyone knows who she is, of course, being in the spotlight. But the public doesn’t know much about the private life of this drag artist. His anonymity is part of what makes this relationship possible and challenging at the same time.”

“So how does the person giving you trouble tie in to this?”

Then there was that fact Randy Mallory-Tate also happened to be the nephew of his current wife, Lauren Granville Hawkins. He’d met Lauren while on a case, where she’d been a journalist. Her father – and Randy’s grandfather – reached out to Sam shortly before he died because he feared for his life; it turned out the fears were justified as he died not long after. Lauren turned out to be an illegitimate daughter the elderly actor had with a small-time actress in the 1940s whom he ended up not marrying. Together, Sam and Lauren found the true killer and Randy’s father ended up taking her as family, with them being an uncle and aunt in Randy’s life.

“What makes this different than other people who want to contact you?”

“Most of them are just women,” he says. “They send texts and videos to me, showing their bodies off or talking sexy. It’s so stupid because of everything my parents stand for, and the charity I’m now part of. I don’t believe in exploiting women. I don’t. I don’t’ believe in exploiting anyone.”

“Still. What’s different here, Randy?”

“The person giving me trouble, it’s a guy.”

This immediately got Sam’s interest.

“Have you dealt with anything like this before?”

Randy looked away. Sam didn’t know what to make of it.

“You’ve dealt with other stalkers before now?”

Randy shook his head in the negative, but didn’t look up. That could only mean one other thing.

“Who else knows you’re gay?” Sam said, not forcing Randy to go first. He and Lauren certainly didn’t know. He didn’t know if Randy’s parents knew. Yet, from Randy’s body language, that appeared to be the conclusion.

“How can I help you, Mr. Mallory-Tate?”

Sam Hawkins saw a lot of people on the other side of his private investigation desk over the years. He’d started out a cop, but decided he needed to be able to work more of his own life and hours after his wife Anne died and Sam needed to raise his daughter Carly alone. So, he took his skills and became a private investigator, relying on his parents to help out until Carly’s teenage years. He never looked back.

Randy Mallory-Tate wasn’t much over the age of eighteen, third generation of a famous actor family. His parents, the only son of a 1940s-film star and the porn star-turned-nurse who cared for his grandfather in his final days, both ran a charity to get young girls off the street sucked in by the dark side of Hollywood. After their recent death while on a boating trip, Randy Mallory-Tate found himself thrust into managing the charity as well as their living trust.

“I’ve got a big issue to deal with, and I need your help.”

“Honestly, from my perspective, you have many things going on in your life right now. Not sure how a private investigator can help.”

“Somebody’s stalking me,” Randy told Sam. He could see the kid’s arms shaking. Clearly, whatever was going on wasn’t child’s play. The young man genuinely feared the current events in his life. “I never minded getting all the attention when my parents were alive, heck it was kind of fun. Now, things are different. Everyone thought they could get through me to for my parents’ money. Now, to them, I have all the money. But you and Aunt Lauren know that’s not true!”

Authors set up details about characters so that the readers get to know about them for the story. Most of the time their backstories involve concrete details that sculpt them for the reader. However, there may be parts of the character that aren’t so neatly cleaned up. These are stories that rely on inner conflict of character, sometimes in concert with external conflict, and sometimes not.

The main character’s lingering doubts, feelings of failure, and similar things can drive plot. Readers go along to follow the adventure, while often seeing the character find personal resolution as part of the story. That’s not to say there couldn’t be cases where a character’s unresolved issues continue on for story after story as part of their general motivation for doing what they do. We see it in mystery stories, as well as superhero ones, just to name a few examples.

Often authors give characters specific mannerisms – or quirks – to make them memorable. They want to ensure that the way someone always straightens his time, or the particular way a woman always greets people, makes them stand out. But is this always good to do?

In my opinion, these quirks are best used if they directly serve the story. If they don’t, they should be subtle enough so not to as to detract from it. Some readers may enjoy a certain character quirk, while others may tire after a time. Don’t make these habits scream so loud that those who don’t enjoy seeing them every time get frustrated and decide not to complete a story.

Having said that, does it ever bother you when there are interesting ways a character behaves, but that are never explained? Sometimes it does for me, usually when characters just happen to have a skill set that advances the story that isn’t explained. However, when it comes to character quirks that don’t seem to exist for any reason to support the story, my view is mixed.

Characters that have unique and memorable traits aren’t bad in and of themselves. These mannerisms may be an author’s way of making sure characters aren’t easily confused and seem too much alike. However, when the character or characters behave in such a manner that suggests the question of wanting to find out why they are that way, and yet it is never answered – those are the times I become frustrated as a viewer or reader. At that point, I do find myself wanting an explanation because it distracts from the story at hand and makes a character memorable for all the wrong reasons.

A character’s unresolved issues or unique quirks may drive their character, and in fact don’t even need to be resolved or abandoned by the end of the book – it may be essential to their character that certain issues go unanswered – but they definitely should not come off as loose threads without explanation or purpose.

Until next time!

Where do characters come from? As I often state, all my work evolves at looking at the character as the core, and then seeing what logical plots build around that. It varies for different people, but this happens to be my approach.

It’s different for different people, so this week I will give you insight into how I tackle it.

So how do I find my characters?

There are two main ways I use:

Observing people (usually strangers) while going about living my life;

News stories.

In either case I start with what facts I have available to me – either an event I see in front of me, or the facts presented by a news story – and contemplate what might be untold there. How might a person who has acted the way I’ve seen or been through such an event cope with an event in a genre I like to write (for example, a mystery)?

From there, I try to figure out a logical event for them to react to.

The next step from there becomes figuring out how the event happened, and what the after-effects of said event are on the person’s life. Also, remember I’ve just started with a skeleton impression of a real-life observation; I’ll also have to build and flesh out the character along the way.

That’s when the fun begins for me, as I move away from fact and imagination takes over – though I always need to remember to keep whatever I create grounded enough to be a believable character.

Until next time!

The holidays are supposed to make things jolly and bright, right?

So how does that affect characters?

When we see that Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch can even be moved by the season, does it make it a requirement that every character should be?

I’d argue not.

Ultimately, a character should be true to what that character is. In both the above characters, their attitude is part of trying to block out specific emotions that are part of their character whole, and as a result, creating a lopsided characterization of their full selves.

However, perhaps a character in a story set in the holiday season clearly just isn’t redeemable. For them to do so would not be authentic to themselves or perhaps even a larger story. In the end, the story needs to dictate. Granted, dark thought about the holiday season aren’t what anyone hopes for, but perhaps a story might need to make that point to help the reader find brightness in him or herself.

One thing I’ve given some thought to over time on this subject is reader expectation. Society (at least where I live) creates the expectation – largely through marketing – that holiday stories all end with cheery and bright happy endings. Therefore, selling a story that does not meet this criteria would seem to be a daunting task. If you intend to market a story that doesn’t meet this criteria, it certainly would create some extra hurdles, but I wouldn’t let it keep you from writing the story that you want to tell. It’s just something to be aware of it you would want to take the step of selling it.

Until next time!