I have a problem with secondary characters.
I love the hell out of them. Probably too much. As I wrote “The Ghosts Between Us” with every intention of this being a standalone story, a secondary character started talking to me and there was no quieting him.
Chris Allen is one of the main characters in “The Ghosts Between Us”. After his brother Cal’s death, he had to come to terms with who his brother was and how his death has changed Chris’s own life. Cal’s secrets led to all sorts of discoveries for Chris and to him grappling with the relationships around him. Dave Wegman was Cal’s best friend and for years, was close to Chris as well. Dave was dealing with his own grief and as I explored their friendship, Dave began talking to me.
He kept hinting that he had secrets of his own. And as my characters are prone to do, he kept pestering me to tell his story. You’ll find hits of it as you read “The Ghosts Between Us”. Dave ended up with a much bigger role than I ever intended, and I found it impossible to ignore him.
As I wrapped up “Ghosts” I began to plan Dave’s story. The title, “Lost in the Black” dropped into my lap and I began to consider what the plot would be. I spent a few hours on the phone with a friend plotting out his story. While I can’t tackle it yet—I still have a few other projects I need to wrap up first—I am really looking forward to telling Dave’s story at the end of this year.
But it was another secondary character who really took me by surprise. Alec Walters was Chris’s ex-boyfriend. He was a rather shallow, arrogant jerk who cheated on Chris. I had no love for him as I wrote the story, but I began to get glimmers of an idea as I got further into it. I like a good challenge and the idea of taking an unlikeable character and making him sympathetic and likeable intrigued me.
What if I was able to find a way to redeem him?
The plot for Alec’s story isn’t fleshed out at all, but I suspect once I work on Dave’s book it’ll become clearer. I already figured out a way to tie the two books together and start to build toward Alec’s redemption.
Each story will be able to be read as a standalone and it’ll be a while before I can write Alec’s story, but I am really looking forward to the challenge.
Let’s just hope I don’t have even MORE secondary characters pop the heads up and demand their own story. If they do, I’m in real trouble!
Dr. Christopher Allen knows how to deal with death. He’s a psychiatrist who works with hospice patients and their families, helping them cope with grief and letting go. But Chris’s job doesn’t prepare him for the sudden death of his devil-may-care brother Cal.
At Cal’s funeral, Chris is completely thrown when he meets Elliot Rawlings, an artist Cal has been dating. Chris is hurt to discover that the brother he knew as straight was actually bisexual. Elliot is angry and resentful of having been kept hidden from Cal’s family.
After the funeral, a night of drinking at the bar with Cal’s friends leads to Chris and Elliot falling into bed together. The next morning, they’re overwhelmed by guilt and grief and agree to never speak of it again.
But Cal’s apartment needs to be packed up and Elliot reluctantly agrees to help Chris, as well as answer some questions about Cal’s life and their relationship. Despite their guilt and initial dislike for one another, they sort through the pieces of Cal’s life and begin to fall for each other.
Despite his best efforts to fix things, Chris’s family seems to be crumbling around him and he begins to question who he is and what his role with them is. As his feelings for Elliot grow, Chris must decide if they’re worth further damaging his fragile relationships with his friends and family.
Elliot’s rough upbringing has left him distrustful of getting close to anyone, much less another man who isn’t willing to acknowledge him in public. The odds seem stacked against Chris and Elliot, but if they can overcome them, they may be able to lay Cal’s ghost to rest, along with their own demons.
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time author. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.
Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, bisexual, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
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I love it when secondary characters finally got their turn to tell their story – not many got that chance! 😉
Great to see a compelling side character get his turn!
congrats on the new release
congrats on this new release