If you have a set of characters you love, you’ll accept
almost any story about them because you’re dying to have more stories in their
universe. You want to spend more time with them. Maybe the story had plot-holes
big enough to drive a Mack truck through, or was fairly implausible, even
insipid. As long as you adore the characters, as long as their dialog is snappy
and full of chemistry, you’ll forgive them almost anything.
If I love something, I’m usually incapable of seeing its
flaws until the third or fourth exposure. In fact, a sure sign that a story or
movie hasn’t properly engaged me is if I begin nit-picking right away.
Character love is why we adore series, and keep coming back for more, long past
when we feel the series has grown tired. Character love is what keeps people
reading stories they know aren’t well-written, and sing the praises of an
otherwise mediocre tale.
Frankly, the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries were not all
that well-researched or written. Even the most ardent fan will admit the
ridiculousness of the idea of training a snake to do its master’s bidding by
rewarding it with a saucer of milk. A recent re-read of these treasured stories
surprised me in how much of the action is passive, and takes place off-stage. But
what we find so compelling about the Arthur Conan Doyle legacy is his creation,
Sherlock Holmes. As a character, he leaps off the page, transcends the level of
the prose, and becomes one of the most enduring fictional characters of all
time. The Guinness Book of World Records lists him as being the most portrayed
movie character, and that’s not counting all the plays, novels, and television
series that have been built around this character. As an ardent fan, I can tell
you I’ve seen and read almost every incarnation of Holmes that exists.
In the same way, the Star Trek franchise stayed alive because
of the love of three men: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and their starship, the Enterprise. There are Browncoats and Firefly conventions honoring a show that
only made thirteen episodes. We quote Ivanova from Babylon 5 (and are convinced the show went downhill when they
eighty-sixed her character), imagine ourselves at an Impression on Pern, and
desperately want to bond with a treecat from Sphinx like Honor Harrington. We
write fanfic for our loves because we just can’t get enough of them.
Most of us will never light upon a character that will
capture the public imagination the way Holmes or Spock have done. But we
authors fall in love with our own characters time and time again, and we share
that love with our readers. It’s why it’s so hard to say goodbye to them at
times, and why we find ourselves spinning more tales about them when we thought
their stories were done. So don’t be surprised if I bring back beloved characters
from time to time. It’s because I love them.
Bishop Takes Knight
Redclaw Origins Book 1
by McKenna Dean
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Genre: Paranormal Romance
New
York, 1955. Former socialite Henrietta ("Rhett") Bishop,
destitute after her father gambles away the family fortune, takes a
job at Redclaw Security. But Redclaw is no ordinary operation. Part
detective firm and part enforcement agency, Redclaw regulates matters
involving the growing population of shifters who have emerged since
the onset of the nuclear age.
Peter
Knight is a nuclear scientist shattered by the death of his wife.
Blacklisted by the government and scientific organizations, he drowns
his sorrows while searching for the people behind his wife's
murder.
When
Rhett is assigned to recruit Knight, their meeting is more than
either bargained for—a rival organization will do anything to
secure Knight for themselves. Following a lead to locate a missing
cache of alien technology stolen from Redclaw, Rhett is thrown back
into her previous glittering life with Knight as her pretend
boyfriend. But when someone from the past turns up to start a bidding
war on the artifacts, Bishop and Knight wind up in a fight for their
very lives.
McKenna
Dean has been an actress, a vet tech, a singer, a teacher, a
biologist, and a dog trainer. She’s worked in a genetics lab, at
the stockyard, behind the scenes as a props manager, and at a pizza
parlor slinging dough. Finally she realized all these jobs were just
a preparation for what she really wanted to be: a writer.
She
lives on a small farm in North Carolina with her family, as well as
the assorted dogs, cats, and various livestock.
She
likes putting her characters in hot water to see how strong they are.
Like tea bags, only sexier.
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