Lately, I've shared character interviews on my Blog. They included a protagonist, an antagonist, and a support character.
The importance of characters to a story cannot be understated. If readers can't identify with characters, love characters, or despise/hate characters, why would they care about what happens to them in the story? They won't.
I try to create interesting characters in each story. I strive to give each and every character their own voice, their unique life, their own goals, and their own motives for doing what they do. The last thing I want are cookie-cutter people marching to a set formula.
I enjoy giving characters a sense of humor that emerges in quirky ways. That touch of humor adds an interesting dimension to a character and story. It's useful to lower intensity and add silliness to a situation.
Relationships with other characters provide opportunities to explore the dynamics of a situation through their interactions. I enjoyed creating the brotherly feelings and attitudes between Caleb and his older brother, Josh, in Sparks Fly. Their interactions when together or talking on the phone added insight into the protagonist, Caleb.
Creating bad guys or gals is interesting. Antagonists are especially needed in romantic suspense stories. In the Consequential Love Series, Garrett faced a host of bad guys. And in Playground Antics, both Jace and Beth had confrontations with the scheming Mayor Roebel. Personally, I found him an easy guy to hate. Those characters add to the conflict in a story, which is an important element to the plot.
I like creating loving, caring support characters. Parents and friends have filled this role in my stories. Ben and Julie in Accidental Attraction added support and humor to the story. I still laugh at the thought of Ben scurrying across the hall to the bathroom, naked as a jaybird!
Bottomline is characters can make or break a story. I hope you have enjoyed the many characters found in my books.