One of my favorite
stories as a child was about a large family living in an old Victorian mansion
with pets, a dozen children, a cook, a maid, and a driver/caretaker. I've
forgotten most of the book but remember it for its humor, including the moment
when the father looks down at one of the boys rolling around on the rug and
says, "Which one are you?"
I sometimes feel like
that father. I'm deep into a scene
with one character taking over and doing wonderful things to complicate the
plot, and out of nowhere enters the protagonist's half-brother or long lost
cousin or the neighbor who shows up at every barbecue without anything to
contribute. I look at what I've typed and wonder, "Which one are
you?"
In my current work-in-progress, Chief Joe Silva must deal
with a death ruled a suicide in one of Mellingham's better neighborhoods (okay,
I admit it, they're all better neighborhoods). The house sits near the inner
harbor, which of course means lots of activity involving boats and sailing, and
into this comes Joe's stepson, Philip. So far, so good. But I've forgotten what
I knew about Philip. Who is he?
I keep three-by-five inch notecards on each character and
certain aspects of Mellingham. All I have to do is pull Philip's card and note
what I've written about him in previous books. Seems easy enough. He came into
Joe's world in Family Album, as a
nine-year-old boy, and stayed when Joe fell in love with the boy's mother, Gwen
McDuffy. I read the notes I've made on Philip and once again see the young boy.
But I know there's more, so I pull out the two previous books in which he has
appeared and read every section, gleaning crucial details and nuances of
expression that I should be mindful of as I write.
Philip is older, by two years, since his last foray into Joe's
world of crime and misbehavior typical of a small town, but he's not an
ordinary teenager. I have given him certain qualities and quirks, and I have to
continue these. It wouldn't do to have him turn into an avid soccer player or a
hard-core junkie when his character in A
Murderous Innocence promised an entirely different future.
Any writer who has written at least two books in a series
recognizes this problem. Sir Arthur Conan
My job as a writer is to tell a good story while being
observant of the way people behave and expressing that honestly. I want readers
to recognize in the teenage Philip the nine-year-old boy introduced in the
third book in the Mellingham series.
I have learned that no matter how careful or detailed my
notes are, nothing can convey the full sense of a character better than going
back to the earlier passages and getting to know him or her all over again.
I've been doing this with Philip, a teenage boy who discovers that he loves
sailing, thanks to Joe deciding that anyone who lives on the water should know
how to manage it. And fortunately for everyone, Philip manages very well.
Come About for Murder
is Philip's book, despite all the other characters sailing through it. He's
still a teenager, but a maturing one, and I love getting to know him again.
