The Award for Best Supporting Character Goes To...

Main characters in a story are great. They're the reason you read the story, there to propel the story along, and they're the ones you generally fall in love with first. But what about these secondary characters, the supporting characters? The ones who were there when one of the main characters is not necessarily “available”.

Personally, I love secondary characters. I get into trouble, because I fall in love with them so much that I end up wanting to give them their own book, and often do. It's the reason that my series, The Bedfords, came to be. It started out as a one off; it was never intended to be a series. But I decided somewhere along the line, everybody needed their own book, their own story. Five books later, they do and the series is complete (even though it does have a spin-off series, because-hey-secondary character love).

Anyway. Back to the supporting characters of my latest book, Saving Her Cowboy.

The three main supporting characters that I want to talk about today are important in various ways. They each have their own quirks (as a good character should), and they each help carry the story along with the main characters. So, in no particular order, let me tell you about the supporting characters of Saving Her Cowboy.

1. Loredo

First we have Laredo. Now, Laredo is what you would call a crotchety type cowboy, the stereotypical man a few words. He’s hard working, but he loves his job. Now, Laredo used to be a ranch hand, but as he has gotten older, being out in the elements and on horseback, doing the physical labor, was really starting to take a toll on him. So, the Pierce family moved him into the position of resident cook. He stays at the Big House, where works to feed the family and house staff throughout the day, as well as doing the grocery shopping. The kitchen is his domain, which sounds kind of funny when you think about it, because he's a rough and tumble cowboy. Woe to the soul who messes up his domain. Laredo is like the uncle figure to the Pierce siblings, especially Buck. When Buck wants advice on how things are going with Kate, he goes not only to his father, but he also gets opinions from Laredo. And Laredo shoots from the hip, tells it like it is. He's got a dry sense of humor, but he genuinely cares about the Pierce family. He's very loyal to them, and it will take an act of God to have him leave Broken Rock Ranch.

2. Tilly

Next up on the cast of supporting characters is Tilly, Buck's sister. Tilly is the one who decides that Buck needs a nanny. She's trying to help him get his life back on track, and get his twins on a good schedule, so that they can thrive. Not to mention, so that everybody can try to get on with their lives after the death of Buck's wife. Tilly is a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners type of girl, and I love her for it. She is not afraid to stand toe-to-toe with not only her brothers, but the other ranch hands and anybody else who happens to step into her path. But she's also got the softer side. She loves her family, and she does everything that she can to take care of them. She is the one who has basically proclaimed that Buck is the resident self centered jackass, and it's a title he learns to appreciate. Tilly is also a driving force behind the Pierce family, second only to D.B., which brings me to my final character.

3. Deacon Buford Pierce, aka D.B.

D.B. is the patriarch of the family. He is the majority owner of Broken Rock Ranch, while his three children have partial ownership (this will play a significant role later on down the road, and I'm not going to spoil that for you). DB is a widower, having raised his children since they were teenagers, and they've all come out with vastly different personalities, which I find amusing. But he is always there for his kids, whether it's to support them, to tell them where they're screwing up, or if it's just generally to make fun of them, which he does in a fatherly kind of way. D.B. still gets out and works the works the ranch alongside his sons, but he also takes care of a lot of the business end of things. He works with Tilly a lot to take care of the administrative and business side of running the ranch. They all make a pretty good team. They work hard, they play hard, they love hard. And when Buck is widowed, they all really rally around to help him with his new situation and to figure out a way to make the ranch continue to run smoothly. Especially D.B., who is there to be the voice of reason and experience regarding being a widower.

So those are my three favorite supporting characters of Broken Rock Ranch. And I would love to hear what you think or what you would like to see going forward, as far as side characters go. What type of people should we meet? What type of personalities should we see?

Saving Her Cowboy has been going through rigorous rewrites, and I am in the final pass of editing. The eBook should be going up within the next couple weeks from this publication. If you want to go ahead and pre-order it, that option is available in my store.

Until next time, happy reading!

~ HCB