TVS:  Welcoming Starla Kaye, who’s going to show us how secondary characters can help the writer tell more about a character and give the reader a good look into his inner feelings.

It is important to give as much depth as possible to a story’s main characters. The reader wants to be involved with and care about the hero and heroine. Or two heroes as in the case of Starting Over, my second book for the 1 Night Stand Series from Decadent Publishing. Adding depth and more personal definition of the characters is like seeing a movie in 3D: you’re there in the movie. In a book’s case, you’re there with characters that seem like real people.

In setting up for the reader exactly what kind of man Corbin Bradley was, I did all of the normal things. You learn what he looks like from the second hero’s Point Of View. You learn the kind of man he is in his thoughts and actions. But the other people in his life also added to understanding him. For instance,

Hazel, his middle-aged private secretary, glanced at him curiously. She had been with him from his first day in business and knew him far too well. The one constant in his life, more substitute mother than employee. She stopped him with a concerned, “Are you not feeling well today?” Code, he knew from experience, for “why the heck are you late?” This shows that she is important to him, having been with him a long time and that they mutually care for one another.

His ex-wife and his past and present interactions with her also help establish his personality. He strode across the thick, burgundy carpet toward his custom-made ebony executive desk. None of it his choice. Pamela had talked him into letting her have her interior design way and use his office as a showcase for her work. He’d been trying to save his marriage yet again. Once more the reader sees he cared about someone else enough that he would compromise on his tastes in office furnishings to please her. She was important to him.

This woman still means something to him and he treasures that they’ve found a way to be friends. He listens to her, although taking her advice is a difficult decision for him. “Madame Evangeline’s services are very exclusive.” She pulled in a breath. “It’s time, Corbin. You need to move on and be who you were meant to be.” Pamela might be right, but he still felt bad about failing her. He’d honestly tried to shove his secret desires aside and make the marriage work when they returned home. She’d tried, too, even after she came to accept his bisexuality. Finally they both accepted that he really was more flat out gay than bi. They still loved each other, but they couldn’t be man and wife.

The second hero, Matt DuCharme, also has faced upsetting changes in his life, changes that have brought him to this point. His gaze settled on the silver framed photo sitting on top of the file cabinet. He and Henri at the pier in Monterey. Everything inside him hurt, especially his heart. His associate in the landscape business…his mate in life…. Gone. Forever. Henri had been special to him, helped make him the man he is today. Dealing with his loss is difficult, the type of loss many of us face in real life: the death of a loved one. Now, it hurt soul deep to live like this, alone, with no one to go home to. No one to share the ups and downs of his days with.

Moving forward is hard and Matt has fought getting into the dating world again, not eager to find someone new and one day lose him as well. But the secondary character (even though he isn’t actually in the story) helps him grow. Matt could almost hear Henri saying, “It’s time you let me go. Time you found someone else. You have to take this first step in moving on.”

These are just a few examples of how a secondary character can be used in a story. Often they add “color” to a scene by just being there. Sometimes they help advance plot or help reveal secrets in dialogue with the main character. And sometimes, as in these examples, they add definition to the main characters.

BLURB

A virgin gay man, Corbin is finally ready to ease into his new lifestyle, still, making the move scares him shitless. He’d spent years fantasizing about embracing his true self, but what had possessed him to agree to a 1 Night Stand hook-up? As he nears his date, a long, lean man with shaggy, graying hair, and a sexy-as-hell grin, dreams pale in comparison, and easing in takes on a whole new meaning.

Though tired of being lonely, Matt considers changing his mind about the one-night arrangement until a tall, well-built man strolls across the pool area toward him, then all thoughts of leaving flee. He forces himself to calm down. Matt would be his date’s first male lover, and he intends to find the inner strength to take his time.

Intense physical attraction and Madame Eve’s magic ignite a nearly uncontrollable sexual fire, but will it be enough for two men stating over?

TVS:  Thanks, Starla.  Some things to mull over before I start that next novel which will be any second now.  You can find out more about Starla at this places: 

Website:  Starla Kaye

Facebook:  Starla Kaye Writer

Twitter:  Starla Writes

Authors Den:  Starla Kaye

Amazon Authors Page:  Starla Kaye

And  here’s the Buy Link-Amazon:  Starting Over

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