The cast of characters…

“Sherlock McGaritas tweaked his beard and examined the crime scene in front of him. “I say, old chap, this is a most dastardly deed. We shall get to the bottom of this in a most timely manner.”

Um… no. Hell no.

The vast majority of my readers love my characters, and love them for two reasons. First, they don’t have contrived, fake sounding names, and secondly, they talk like real people. And they act like real people. There is a certain classic genre of detective novels where the characters were seemingly drummed up by Shakespeare enthusiasts, and they all speak like they are Rhodes Scholars - even the skid row bums. Nope, not my style.

But hey, there is a contingent that likes that (to the extent of demanding it.) I can’t, and don’t try to please everyone. I might point out that none of my books are written any differently than the ten percent previews, and all of the main characters have been introduced by then.