What makes a character memorable? Most of the time it’s an eccentricity, something odd about their appearance, or something out of the ordinary they say or do.
For example, the mad Miss Havisham from Great Expectations wears her wedding dress every day, her trunks still packed for the honeymoon she never experienced. Time stopped for this poor woman when she was dumped by her fiancée.
Boo Radley, a strange recluse in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Janet Evanovich created Stephanie Plum whose idea of a meal is to eat a bowl of Cheerios over her sink.
Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe rarely leaves his brownstone where he grows and tends to his orchids. He sends his partner, Archie Goodwin, out to do the leg work needed in their cases.
Kojack, a TV detective, is almost always sucking on a lollipop.
Monk, a detective with OCD, has to work around his compulsions to solve mysteries.
These are just a few examples of memorable characters. Can you name a character that sticks out in your mind? Who is it and why?
Someone will win a Kindle copy of one of the books in my Quantico series! Your choice.
Here’s a little something about the first book in the series, NIGHT FALL.
Now that Alexandra "Alex" Donovan is finally free of her troubled upbringing, she's able to live out her childhood dream of working for the FBI. But soon after she becomes a member of the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, authorities in Kansas and Missouri contact them about bodies found on freight trains traveling across the country--all killed in the same way.
Alex never expected to be forced to confront her past in this new job, but she immediately recognizes the graffiti messages the killer is leaving on the train cars. When the BAU sends her to gather information about the messages from her aunt in Wichita, Kansas, Alex is haunted by the struggles she thought she'd left behind forever.
In a race against time to solve the case while battling her own weaknesses, Alex must face how far she'll go--and what she's willing to risk--to put a stop to the Train Killer.
Leave a comment, along with your contact information, and I’ll pick a winner!
There are so many that I can't pick one but the firdt one I did think of was Kaely Quinn.To think that she talks to the subjects that aren't there. Some people would call her crazy.
ReplyDeleteOnlysis06
Yes, they would. LOL!
DeleteArmand Gamache from Louise Penny's Three Pines mysteries. He's the exact opposite of a hard-boiled detective. He's gentle and soft-spoken and kind, and after all his years of solving murders, he's still shocked when he arrives at a murder scene--shocked that somebody could take another person's life.
ReplyDeleteI love that!
DeleteI LOVE Inspector Poirot. His oddities are several, but I like his attention to what he wears and to his mustache is hilarious to me. Adds to his interesting character. Mary Gessner
ReplyDeleteHe's one of my favorite characters too!
DeleteColumbo with that awful raincoat comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteGood one. He's definitely a character!
DeleteI’ve been watching a million Monk shows lately…until I started becoming OCD. Ha! I love Kojak, too, because I love to rub bald heads. Lol Barbara Diggs englishathome01@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteLOL! Great comment!
DeleteThe 1st memorable character I thought of was Kaely Quinn. On one hand she was rather eccentric & on the other, normal like the rest of us! Or maybe she's normal & the rest of us are eccentric! LOL! Whichever it is, she is definitely an unforgettable character. Please don't enter me as I already have all of your books.
ReplyDeleteWell, you're a little eccentric. That's one reason I like you so much!
DeleteBirds of a feather... 😂
DeleteMonk stood out
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
He sure did. Loved that show!
DeletePatrick Bowers from Stephen James' series had two characteristics that made him memorable to me. He loved good coffee with a touch of honey (which I thought sounded odd until I tried it!) and he would sit/lay in the same spot as the victim at the same time of day as their murder to see what they saw. He used that technique to help him find clues.
ReplyDeletecarrottopfromtexas2@gmail.com