Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet with Ann Cleeves (at Crime Bake), which was a treat on many levels, one of them being that she has created one of my all-time favorite characters, Vera. Of course, when I tried to tell this to Ann Cleeves I felt like one of those babbling brooks, but I did mean it quite sincerely. Vera has been a good friend to me. So my question is, do you have any fictional characters who you connect to powerfully, and if so, who?
Alexia: I connect to character types more than to a specific character–I connect to strong, independent female characters who use their own wits and courage to get out of situations. Nancy Drew (excluding the awful 1980s Sweet Valley High rip-off Nancy Drew), Alice of Wonderland fame, and Miss Marple are all characters I “get”. I also connect to the hard and cynical on the outside/good guy on the inside character, especially if that character redeems himself (this type of character seems to be mostly male) for past misdeeds by making a sacrifice for someone else. Archie Goodwin, Han Solo, Jame Retief, Rick Blaine, John Lee and Meg Coburn (Chow Yun-Fat’s and Mira Sorvino’s characters from The Replacement Killers), Riddick (Vin Diesel’s character in Pitch Black), and most of the characters portrayed by Jason Statham come to mind.
Connie:
As for a fictional character I identify with, I’d have to say Ruth Galloway in the series by Elly Griffiths. She’s a forensic anthropologist and provides expert info on bodies found in the north of England where she lives and teaches at a local college. It’s odd that I feel this way since Ruth and I have almost nothing in common. I think it must be the way Griffiths presents her—first person, present tense—that makes her so real in my mind. Usually I don’t like present tense narrative, but Griffiths does it so well, I make an exception for her. Ruth has issues to deal with, not the least being her love for DCI Harry Nelson, with whom she has a daughter. The problem is DCI Nelson has a beautiful wife, four children, and a baby on the way. I always wait impatiently for the next book in the series because I need to find out what happens to Ruth. I’m invested in her as a character, and isn’t that what we want for our readers?
Tracee:
I’m new to the Ruth Galloway series this year and loved my first read… and plan to go back and start at the beginning of the series.
Robin:
I would love to meet Kinsey Millhone for a glass of bad white wine at Rosie’s. I discovered the alphabet series when “E is for Evidence” hit the book store shelves. I went back and read the first four books in rapid succession. Once I was caught up, I missed Kinsey so much I started reading “E is for Evidence” again. And every Sue Grafton book after it, of course. I’m grateful to have gotten a chance to see Sue Grafton speak at the California Crime Writers Conference in 2013. It was the first writers conference I attended and, to my eternal regret, I was too shy to talk to her. That’s a mistake I no longer make.
Tracee:
I don’t have a strong connection to a character the way I believe you do to Vera. At least not to ‘a’ character. When I started thinking about this, I realized that I feel more of an affinity toward a cast of characters, for example, those in Martha Grimes’ Richard Jury series. I wish I could spend time with them at the pub or Melrose’s house (who wouldn’t want a weekend at Audry End) or even hanging out with Jury when he’s at his London local.
How about you? Do you have a favorite character?