Categories: paranormal books


Posted by Amy - March 23rd, 2009 Comments 2

How does author Laura Anne Gilman keep her urban fantasy Retrievers series going? Some unexpected secondary characters certainly help! Laura Anne joins us to tell us about a couple of these characters to celebrate the new paperback editions of books 2 and 3, Curse the Dark and Bring It On, now on sale — and to gear up for the sixth novel, Blood from Stone, coming in May!

by Laura Anne Gilman

You never know who is going to be important. We like to pretend we do, but….

When I started writing the Retriever series, I knew who was the star of the book – Wren Valere, my heroine. And her partner, Sergei, of course. They were the dynamic duo, the readers’ delight, the…hey. Who is this PB, and why is he getting so much fan mail?

PB, the pint-sized, bear-shaped demon with the growl that can stop Talent in their tracks, was originally supposed to be a walk-on character. He had one role in Staying Dead: to deliver some information, and then get offstage.

Apparently I didn’t send him the memo, because PB got onstage…and refused to leave. From that walk-on role, PB grew into full-fledged sidekick and, eventually, to an essential part of Wren – and by extension Sergei’s – life. In Blood From Stone, he plays a major role in the plot. He even got his own “origin story,” which is available through BookView Café.

Meanwhile, Rorani, the dryad den-mother of all the NYC fatae, keeps muttering about getting her own story, too. So far, I’ve managed to hold her off, but she’s getting louder.

Not to be outdone, Danny, the half-faun ex-cop who appears in several of the Retrievers novels, has decided that he’s taking a much more prominent role in the PSI novels featuring Bonnie Torres. This was news to me! Looking back, I can see that I seeded his friendship with Bonnie… but damn it, he wasn’t in any of the outlines! He wasn’t supposed to take over his scene, start directing plot-traffic…

Still. He is cute. And funny. And has already added a lot to the depth and development of both Bonnie and the plot… all right, I’ll let him stay. But if he starts getting more fan mail than Bonnie, I’m gonna…

I’ll write him his own adventure, is what I’ll do.

The truth is, a writer can plan and arrange and outline to her heart’s content, and it doesn’t matter. When a character comes to life under your fingers, it’s a gift from the muse (or your hindbrain) and the best you can do is go along for the ride and see where it all ends up. So far, the results have been a more interesting and colorful place than what was originally envisioned in the PB-less and Danny-less outlines. So who am I to protest?

And so, to paraphrase Mr. Bennet, at the end of Pride & Prejudice – “if any secondary characters should come for my next book, send them in. I am quite at leisure.”

Want to catch up on the entire Retrievers series? Find the books in order in a variety of formats:

  • Staying Dead (ebook, audio)
  • Curse the Dark (print, ebook, audio coming in April)
  • Bring It On (print, ebook, audio coming in April)
  • Burning Bridges (print, ebook, audio coming in May)
  • Free Fall (print, ebook, audio coming in May)
  • Blood from Stone (available in print and ebook in May, plus audio in June)
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