Who Are You? – Crafting Characters

Encourage readers to believe that your people live and breathe outside the confines of the story. Memorable characters don’t exist solely in a particular scene. They were alive before the story began and they will live (at least in some cases!) after it ends.

Interesting people are at the heart of any crime novel. Even the most ingenious plot, even the most memorable setting, won’t be enough to redeem a book which is populated by lifeless characters.