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6 Bestselling Authors on Their Recurring Characters
 Find out how favorite characters like Spenser, John Rebus
and Anna Pigeon came to life, in a conversation with six of today's top serial novelists --- Nevada Barr, Carolyn Hart, Robert B. Parker, Ridley Pearson, George Pelecanos and Ian Rankin.
Meet
the Authors:
Questions
1.
AOTW: When you originally created your character(s), had you
already decided they would appear in more than one novel, or did
their popularity with readers persuade you to write about them again?
Was it difficult to convince the publishers of the series' potential?
—Answers
2.
AOTW: Do you have different criteria in mind when developing
a character that you feel will be featured again from characters
that appear only once? If so, what are the differences?
—Answers
3.
AOTW: Have you ever wished you could change a character's physical
features, personal history, or name? If so, what would you want
to change and why?
—Answers
4.
AOTW: When writing a novel that is a departure from your usual
character(s), do you worry at all that fans may be disappointed
when their favorites aren't included?
—Answers
5.
AOTW: Has there ever been a character in one of your novels
that people clamored to see again, but you just didn't want to bring
back? If so, which character?
—Answers
6.
AOTW: Which authors, past or present, do you consider to be
masters at creating and sustaining serial characters?
—Answers
7.
AOTW: Do you keep notes on the details of your character's so
you don't accidentally misstate something? Have you ever made a
mistake and gotten away with it?
—Answers
8.
AOTW: What one quality above all others makes a continuing character
successful?
—Answers
9.
AOTW: Do you feel you have a limit on how many novels you could
write featuring the same character before you would experience burnout?
Would you terminate a character sooner than you really wanted if
readers seemed to lose interest?
—Answers
10.
AOTW: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was tired of writing stories featuring
Sherlock Holmes, so he sent Holmes and Moriarity, locked in a deadly
embrace, over a waterfall. The umbrage of his readers was so overwhelming
that Doyle, after a decent interval, brought Holmes back. If you
were going to dispose of your recurring character, how would you
do it? And how would you bring them back if you had a change of
heart?
—Answers
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