Characters and Assassinations

 

Since I wrote my first novel, ’The Asylum Soul,’ creating my characters, especially their names, has been an enjoyable part of the writing process.

Dreaming up a character and imagining their appearance, dress sense, and mannerisms is always a thrilling experience. Of course, I must translate the clarity and personalities into the finished article as best I can.

Some readers have asked me how I manage to derive a character. A perfect example is Harry Horlock from ‘The Asylum Soul’. He’s the ageing fire chief who lives at the North Lodge on the edge of the asylum grounds. Indeed a very cantankerous individual. In real life, I knew two very similar gentlemen, both sadly no longer with us. The trick was to merge them into one person and produce my desired result. Des Horlock and Harry Sale became Harry Horlock, and they matched the personality I wanted to create.

Another example is Roger Saliant, a flamboyant and utter rascal of a policeman who appears in ‘Jude & Bliss’, which is set in Victorian England, specifically Woking and London. I once knew a guy named Roger who loosely suited the description of the person I was trying to create. The surname Saliant is the name of a passenger boat that used to be moored by Blackfriars Bridge on the River Thames.

One of the negatives is being slapped on the wrist by readers for killing some of my popular characters off, which is an occupational hazard for any writer. That said, it means the character's creation has worked, and a reader has inadvertently taken them to their heart. Such feedback undoubtedly makes me happy! 

AI ... Do I use artificial intelligence to create characters? As some of you have seen, I have made a few retrospective images that match a few of the characters I have created… You can see for yourself below!   

On the left is DI Sue Grendel, a main character in 'The Story of Virna Babineaux'. She also appeared briefly in my latest novel, 'In the Shadow of Marc Bolan'. The surname Grendel is the title of one of my favourite Marillion songs. Centre is Nathaniel Bream, an eccentric forensic psychologist who has appeared in three of my stories, including 'Fluke's Cradle'. He's a fishy character (Bream), and I plucked Nathaniel from H.G. Wells' classic, 'The War of the Worlds'. To the right is Virna Babineaux herself. Her name is an amalgamation of two very pretty French girls I used to know in my teens.

My Instagram page has images of other characters, including Maisie from 'The Asylum Soul' and Brother Allen from 'In the Shadow of Marc Bolan'.  

Of course, readers will always build up their own image of a character; it's part of the joy of reading, and that's something that should never give way to the recent intrusions of AI. 

To find out more about my novels, go to my website at www.malfoster.co.uk