Murder is Everywhere: “Am I the Killer?” The art of staying true to your characters

Karoline Anderson guest post for Michael on Thursday

Karoline Anderson is a pediatrician with a love of books. Born in Vancouver, Canada, she currently lives with her husband, golden retriever Jax, and cat Smoky on a lake in Nebraska. She runs whenever she can and has completed several triathlons and one marathon.

Her debut novel, Killer Insight, is a thriller with a touch of the paranormal. It's the first in a series featuring Detective Kaitlin Kruse, a smart detective who also has dreams from past lives that give her clues and messages, a very intriguing premise.

Here Karoline tells us about her characters and where they come from.

“Am I in the book?”

This became a familiar question when I announced to friends and family that I’d completed Killer Insight, a murder mystery, the first in a series. “Why yes, you’re the killer,” I always felt compelled to say wittily but didn’t.

Seattle skyline
where Killer Insight is set

I suppose it’s perfectly natural to ask such a question. Conceivably, someone could be certain they possess the courage and insight to be cast as my protagonist, Seattle detective Kaitlyn Kruse. After all, who wouldn’t want to be someone’s muse?

Alternatively, some may be concerned they would show up as a suspect. One friend even suggested another mutual friend they thought might be a good inspiration on which to base the killer. Perhaps I could exploit this? After all, what’s more threatening than being worried you may be featured in my next book as a murderer? “Oh, you have a scar on your left elbow too? I never knew. And just disregard that the character is from your hometown and has your eye color…and is, just maybe, a killer.” This could have some use in the way of leverage.

But seriously, it seemed to come as a relief to some friends that although I couldn’t help but draw on my own life experience, no particular individual from my past is featured as a whole person in the series.

The characters, as I view them, are not based on other people; rather, they’re, in some sense, people in their own right. They came to me as complete individuals. For me, developing characters is more like freeing an existing entity to walk the pages of the book.

Michelangelo once said of his sculpting process: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” My characters feel the same way to me. They’re already intact and I know right away how they will think and feel and react.

Hiking trail near Seattle
a similar trail leads to the crime scene in chap 1

I’ve heard writers say things like this before. And I have to admit, previously I couldn’t comprehend this notion. I wondered, How did the characters “just come to you?” After all, you made them up. Didn’t you just piece together every detail until they became an individual? What do you mean that one day they just formed whole in your consciousness? Now I know. It’s an odd phenomenon. But nonetheless…true.

And perhaps I enjoy my characters more because they came to me with loves and fears and neuroses that are unique to them. Frustratingly, I can’t always convince them to do my bidding. Sometimes they just refuse. Okay, what I really mean is that I might be going a particular direction with the story and realize that it just isn’t going to fit my character, so I have to change directions. I have to stay true to their nature, their true character.

Kaitlyn, my protagonist, is exceptionally fun to write. She is honest and forthright but can’t always be as transparent as she wants to be. She has an ability that others might not understand; she can access memories of her past lives through her dreams. Thus, she often finds herself in situations where she is forced to gloss over or bend the truth, lest she have her sanity questioned. This makes for some tricky situations.

And can we blame her if she is overly cautious about her personal safety? She does hunt down serial killers after all. But maybe she takes her concerns a little far, and in a way that may eventually cause her some strain in her personal relationships.

The fun thing about Kaitlyn is she comes with multiple sub-characters in the form of her past lives. Through her dreams, we get glimpses of these characters, and they help her to solve crimes in unexpected ways.

Mount Ranier peeking through the clouds

And you never know whose life she might dream of…we get to explore some interesting characters from the past. For Kaitlyn reliving a memory from a past incarnation often isn’t easy. For example, in her previous life as a doctor she’s front and center in attempting to save a man’s life–very different from saving lives as a detective. And, if she’s to correctly interpret those dream memories, in addition to questioning the intentions of the suspects in the present, she also has to take into account the motivations of her past selves. It can get complicated.

Kaitlyn’s partner Joe is a straight-shooter and he supports Kaitlyn as she embraces the role of homicide detective. His love for his family is a strength, but it may put him in a precarious position in the second installment of this series. While Joe tends to play things by the book he has a fun habit of changing his shoelace color to suit his mood, one little act of rebellion against dress code.

Isabella is Kaitlyn’s boisterous best friend. She knows just when to step in to support her injured friend or maybe do some matchmaking. While Isabella is a source of strength for Kaitlyn, can she keep Kaitlyn from sabotaging a new relationship?

For me, the writing process comes in fits and bursts, the characters forming as complete individuals in my mind and the story materializing like a piece of yarn unravelling endlessly from the edge of a blanket. There’s no end to the string of ideas, no convenient stopping place. Sometimes I don’t eat. Sometimes I don’t sleep. I just have to get the novel in my head out onto the page.

Often, I need help out of my writing cave, and back into the real world. Thankfully, I have friends and family and another job which pull me back to reality regularly. But it’s never long until I drift back to thinking about my characters.

When I started the second book in the series, I felt like I was revisiting old friends. The central characters have become dear to me, as I hope they might also become to you. They’re whole individuals, complete with quirks and habits and questionable decisions, as we all have. So, whether it’s Kaitlyn and her fears for her safety, or Joe with his unconditional love of his family, or Isabella with her matchmaking, I hope you identify with these characters and even find a little of yourselves in them.