Characters: To Kill or Not to Kill

I promise I haven't been slacking lately.  Okay, maybe a little, but truthfully, summer is nearly upon us and I swear when you have two kids its like herding wildlife.  Anyway, that has kept me busy, plus work.  That said, I wanted to do a quick post to get your thoughts on killing off characters.


As a writer, ever have an internal debate about when or if you should kill your characters?  When you've contemplated this, are they usually secondary or tertiary ones?  What about a main character?  Or have you done this already?  I ask because recently, I was sucked into Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampire series.  No, I haven't reviewed any of her books here, because I haven't had a chance.  I enjoy the series, but what I'm most perplexed about after reading Hard Bitten, book 4 in the series is why the author killed off the main character, Ethan Sullivan?  I understand when you're towards the end of a series that some times main characters are sacrificed, but usually there is a story/reasoning behind doing so.  Like most fans of the Chicagoland series, I was a bit taken back.  Was I pissed off like several were?  No and I'm still a fan.  But...I was disappointed and that got me thinking.   

Source

As a writer, when is it okay to kill a main character off?  And as a reader, when is it acceptable for a beloved character to die?  


Before you respond, consider this:  


JK Rowling killed off many beloved characters including main ones.  Remember how much flack she got for it too?  I think Time magazine did a spread of it.  Additionally, Joss Whedon does it...a lot.  In fact, he talked about it last month on Reddit.  Here's an interesting fan question on the topic:

Fan Q: "I'm sure that killing off a character you've invested a lot of time in can be tough. Have you ever found that doing this to a particular character has had a profound emotional affect on you? Who was the toughest kill?"

Whedon reply:  "I actually find it refreshing... delightful.... vaguely arousing.... Actually, I'm, no offense, very tired of being labelled as "the guy who kills people". Shakespeare (he's this hot new writer) does it way more than me, and everyone's all excited about how he, as it were, holds a mirror up to nature, while I'm like the Jason Voorhees of the writing community. Unfair."

And as far as who was the toughest to kill, Whedon's answer was Buffy's mom. I agree. In fact it was the toughest to watch.  What about you? Thoughts?

Mina B.

A-Z Challenge: "P" for Pottermore

The letter for the A-Z Challenge is "P" and I chose Pottermore.  If you don't know by now, J.K. Rowling's interactive magical website launched this past weekend.  Woot!  Since I'm a geek and all, I spent last night pouring through it.  Signing up was a bit strange, but hey, I'm game for anything Harry Potter.

Anyway, since we are talking about characters, Pottermore is filled with them.  JK Rowling is breaking ground in the area of ebooks and ecommerce so I'll be watching closely not just for the literary aspects, but for the marketing ones as well.  For those interested, Nathan Bransford wrote a recent post on the topic, Why the Harry Potter E-books Are and Aren't a Really Big Deal.  With so much going on with publishing, you'd be crazy not to at least be curious, right?

Have you unlocked the magic or signed up yet?  Are you planning on it?  I'm taking my son with me on this journey so I'm sure we'll have loads of fun.


Mina B.

A-Z Challenge: J.K. Rowling's Hermione Granger

It's A-Z Challenge time. Today's letter is "H" is for J.K. Rowling's Hermione Granger. I could have easily discussed Harry Potter for this character feature, but I thought I'd highlight Hermione. Why? Because she was one on my favorite characters in the middle grade best-selling series.

"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have."  

To me, she was the intellectual backbone of the threesome. She not only gave Harry intelligent perspective, but unconditional friendship.  Hermione helped guide him with her wisdom almost like a little Dumbledore.  And there is absolutely no way Harry would have flourished and eventually conquered Lord Voldemort  without her (Ron too, but that's another post.) 

What made her even cooler were her faults. I thought they made her vastly more appealing.  Isn't that always the case with lovable characters?  In fact, often their imperfections make them more perfect.  Right?  In the case of Hermoine, she was a muggle.  And to boot, she was entirely too smart, which made her more intimidating, especially since she was a muggle. She had a brash approach with her classmates and was a quasi know-it-all. These weren't horrible flaws, but at Hogwarts, one could consider them ghastly.  I loved how vulnerable yet likeable her shortcomings made her.

What about you?  What do you like or dislike about Hermione?

Mina B.

Fridays with Fred: A Wizard Wannabe

Well, minions…Fred looks quite the part, wearing my glasses and all.  Don’t you think?  I wanted to dress Fred up in Harry’s gown & Gryffindor scarf so that you knew he was representing all those JK Rowling/ Harry Potter fans.  Fred would be a killer wizard, indeed! 
Anyway, today’s the big release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and so we thought we’d celebrate in our own way.  This weekend, we – Fred & my demonic hellions – will be making wizard wands…Mina Burrows style! 

For those interested...the Wall Street Journal posted their review of the movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Can't wait to see it too!

Have a great weekend!

For another crazy shot of Fred try here.   Remember to check out Schatze over at Mary's (BookHounds).

Mina B.

Fridays with Fred & Book Blogger Hop

Fridays with Fred is here & Book Blogger Hop too! WOW! I am Iate for this post! Sorry! Thanks for picking me Crazy-for-Books! I do love this question because I often think about it.

"If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…

which one would it be and why?"

There are several series I would do this for but if I have to name one, I have to say…Harry Potter. Why? Because I want to be a wizard! I want to soar the skies on a broom (Nimbus 2001) and fight the evil Lord Voldemort with my magical wand. I want to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and learn all about magic & potions, attend classes, fight a death match with a spider in an enchanted forest. And I want to play quidditch for Cripes sake! Doesn’t that sound like fun? It does to me.  Anyway, that’s my answer. I’m sure I one of millions who feel the same.

And now...Fridays with Fred!

Did you know that I used to have another Jack Russell Terrier? Her name was Buffy and she was beautiful.  But…about three years ago, she ran away.  As you can see Fred had some fun with her as did Buffy with Fred.  They weren’t best friends per se, but companions nonetheless.  Fred doesn’t like sharing the top spot, if you can imagine that.  I guess it’s a dog thing.  Anyway, when Buffy took off, it devastated our family including Fred.  To this day, we still search for her.  Today, we find humor in her leaving, attempting to reason why she left.  We joke saying comments like Buffy couldn’t take the BS of living with us anymore and so she got the hell out of Dodge type thing.  And so *sniffle*…I thought I’d share this sweet photo I recently found of the two of them. It’s a classic scene of Fred running around and Buffy trailing him.  Don’t they look like their having fun?


Enjoy your weekend!

If you'd like to see more of Fred, try here and here.  Also, please stop by and visit Schatze over at Mary's (BookHounds).  She's one of Fred's other hot babe.

And if you get a chance, enter to win a signed ARC copy of Rachel Caine's latest, Bite Club!  Contest ends April 3rd, eod.

Until next time...

Mina B.