Ode to the Sidekick

Today's post is dedicated to the sidekick. The unsung secondary character who can elevate a story from good to great. I love secondary characters. Sometimes more than the main characters.

I think what I love about sidekicks is that they tend to let loose more than the MC's. They're given more leeway with their personalities and idiosyncrasies. They can be as bad, as crass, as naughty as they want and the reader will still love them because their outstanding personalities are like a get-out-of-jail-free card for any untoward behavior.

I have lots of favorite sidekicks. Ian from Jeaniene Frost's Cat and Bones series is one of my favorites. Ian is a VERY naughty boy, right down to his--uh--body piercings. ;) But he's so damn endearing, I'd forgive just about anything his rakish behavior can dish out. Another of my favorite Frost sidekicks is Vlad. I'm so happy to see that he's getting his own series. He's a sidekick who could easily carry his own series.

Patricia Briggs has Stephan, the vampire with a conscience, and Warren, Mercy's movie-night buddy with a cute southern accent and an even cuter lawyer boyfriend. JR Ward has Lassiter, the Oprah lovin' fallen angel. Lassiter is another sidekick who'll be seeing his own book. In a word...SQUEE!!!

Sidekicks make a story great. What would Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series be without Pam? And would Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series be the same without Nix? No. We need those secondary characters to help carry the story. The hero and heroine are busy fighting monsters, falling in love, and dealing with emotional baggage. We NEED those secondary characters to give those stories a little extra oomph. The laughs on the side. And in the words of SKY HIGH: Hero Support.

Who are your favorite secondary characters? Are there any sidekicks who just turn you off?

So...Whatcha Doin'?

I was a bad blogger last week. And I have to warn you, when my edits come in, I'll probably be a bad blogger again. I have a lot of blog reading and commenting to catch up on and I hope to hit you all up today! :)

I'm trying not to write too many new words because I have a hard time switching gears from writing to revising. So I've been finishing my outline for book 2 which is due next week and looking over CP feedback so the MS for book 2 is ready to go. I've also been reading. Sooooooo much reading. Some of my favorite authors had releases over the past few weeks, two of them being Jeaniene Frost and Patricia Briggs. Let me just say, I devoured their books. I've also dipped in to Kresley Cole and in a couple of weeks I'll be making the two-hour trek to Boise for the new JR Ward book. Yes, I love JR Ward enough to drive two hours for her. ;)

So, what is everyone else up to? Writing? Revising? What are you reading right now?

Magic and Mayhem - Books That I Scream Like a Girl For

I'm giving a shout-out to Patricia Briggs today over at Magic and Mayhem. RIVER MARKED, the sixth Mercy Thompson book releases today! I can't wait to get my copy :)

Spread the Awesome! Books That Deserve Ten Stars

Spread the Awesome: Books That Deserve Ten Stars

Thanks to idea machine, Elana Johnson, May 3rd has officially become Spread the Awesome Day. Throughout the blogosphere you’ll find posts dedicated to authors and books so good, they deserve ten stars. As my own journey in publishing continues, I can’t help but think of the great authors who have inspired my own writing and I’m using today to pay homage to an awesome author who has distracted me from household chores, meals, kids, work, and my own writing: Patricia Briggs.

Believe it or not, my first experience with Ms. Briggs’s writing came to me via a fireman. One of my husbands colleagues and a voracious reader, he approached me one day and said, “You’ve got to read this book.” Moon Called was my first Patricia Briggs reading adventure, and from the first sentence, I became a head-over-heels Mercy Thompson fan.

Mercedes, the WV mechanic (cute, right?) is a shape-shifter. Thanks to her Native American father, she can shift into coyote form whenever the mood suits her. But raising a shifter was no easy task for her very human mother. She’s sent to the Marrok (the alpha of all alphas) in Montana and fostered by the werewolf community. Needless to say, she grows up more than able to hold her own. You have to be tough as nails to deal with werewolf egos. Mercy’s adventures in the Tri-Cities area of Washington have her tangling with vampires, fae, demons, and ghosts. And in the fifth installment of the Mercy series, Blood Borne, her plate is more than full:



When Mercy attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down. It seems the book contains secret knowledge-and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side—leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father (the Marrok) declare Sam's life forfeit. All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

I just can’t say enough good things about this book. Not only is Patricia Briggs an excellent world builder, her werewolves ROCK! She’s done a great job crafting a tough, independent female protagonist who can hold her own in a fight while surrounding herself with Alpha males who can still bring a flush of excitement to her cheeks. In Ms. Briggs’s series, the Fae and werewolves have come out to the public. I love that even though the world knows about the existence of these creatures, an esoteric veil remains to conceal their deeper secrets. And as far as Mercy goes… well, Ms. Briggs has crafted a multi-dimensional, emotional character, unique as she’s a shifter and not a werewolf. Though she lacks the super-strength of the werewolves, she possesses her own magic that I suspect we readers know as little about as Mercy. I’m hoping to see that aspect of her character develop in future novels.

Haven’t read the Mercy Thompson series yet?!?! Well, you’re missing out! To celebrate this great day of blogging dedicated to our favorite authors, I’ll be giving away a copy of the first Mercy Thompson book: Moon Called right here next week. Stay tuned for details! In the meantime, if you’re looking for more awesome reads, check out Shannon Messenger’s blog to read about her featured book: The Candy Shop Wars by Brandon Mull. And for links to all of the Share the Awesome participant’s posts, check out the Recommended Reads page at Elana Johnson’s blog!