The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.― Raymond Chandler
Readers like you and like me love words, especially when they go together in that amazing way to make stories. And what we like best are the characters in those stories. That’s true whether the characters who grab our hearts and minds are male or female, young or old, or human or animal. As long as those characters think and act and love and hate the way we do, we are ready to follow after them down their story roads.
We have loved Black Beauty, the horse. We have loved Cinderella, the fairytale princess. We have loved Scout, the kid in To Kill a Mockingbird. We have loved Dumbledore, the wizard in the Harry Potter stories.
In my own stories, I have loved characters of all ages from Granny Em and Perdita Sweet in These Healing Hills and Along a Storied Trail, both of whom could count up a lot of years of mountain living to Adria in River to Redemption who starts down her story road as a seven-year-old and Jacci who wakes up in danger at the age of five on the first page of In the Shadow of the River. That’s not to forget Lorena Birdsong, the sweet little girl who held up five fingers to show how old she was in Angel Sister. I’ve had characters of all ages, even brought some babies into the world in my Shaker novel, The Refuge.
For me, they all became alive for me in their stories and I hope I managed to use the right words to make them come to life for those who read my books.
But I have other characters too. Supporting characters, you might say, in my books. I asked if any of you had a question you might want to ask me. Here’s what Lee asked.
When you start a new story, do you already know who all the characters will be or do they just pop up as you go along your story’s path?
I do have my main characters in mind as I set off down a story path. I am often rock solid on my main female character. Somehow, she is front and center when I begin thinking about a new story. Well, except for my Hidden Spring mysteries. My main character front and center in all three of those books is Deputy Sheriff Michael Keene. And some of my young adult stories starred a boy instead of a girl. But for most of my historical novels, I start out with a female character.
I usually have in mind two viewpoint characters, but later in the story veer off to the viewpoint of other characters. I often don’t know that is going to happen until it does. For example, I didn’t plan on Perdita Sweet being a viewpoint character, but when Tansy, my book woman in Along a Storied Trail, showed up at her door to bring her a book, Perdita came to life in my head. She let me know she had plenty to say and I’d best let her say it. I enjoyed writing the chapters that were from her viewpoint. Maybe a little too much, considering she was a cranky old mountain woman. Does that say something about me?
And then there’s Granny Em. She was one of those characters who just pops up in the middle of a scene. I had no idea she was going to be in the story until she walked out of the trees to talk to Fran, my nurse midwife in These Healing Hills. She had a basket on her arm and little sympathy for Fran who was scared to step out on a swinging bridge. Of course, Fran is half afraid of Granny Em too before the old lady finds a place in Fran’s heart and in readers’ hearts too. 
The answer to your question, Lee, is that some of my story people step out on the story path with me at the very beginning. But then, on down the path, others move out of the shadows to join in and make the stories richer and more fun.
Granny Em is one of my favorite surprise characters, but she’s not the only one. How in the world would I have been able to share Jocie’s story in my Hollyhill books if Wes hadn’t fallen out of that Jupiter spaceship and turned up on his motorcycle to be the next thing to a grandfather or favorite uncle to Jocie? There wouldn’t have been any smiles for his and Jocie’s Jupiter talk. By the way, if you haven’t read those stories, don’t worry. They aren’t outer space stories. Just family stories that let Wes hide his past.
So, I’m always glad when characters pop up to enrich my stories.
Do you have a favorite supporting character in the stories you’ve read? Or other questions to ask?