Sara J. Henry

Sara J. Henry is the author of the Troy Chance series of mysteries: Learning to Swim and A Cold and Lonely Place.

From her Q & A at BOLO Books:

BOLO Books: One of the hallmarks of a great series is its characters. In both of your novels you have populated the fictional world with a whole group of fascinating characters beyond your main character of Troy Chance. How did you go about coming up with them and did you know which would be sticking around to re-appear in future books and which were only transitory?

Sara J. Henry: In the first novel, many of the early characters were loosely based on people I’d known in the Adirondacks. But then the character Jameson stepped onto the scene, and came alive all on his own. Once that particular Pandora’s Box was opened, more characters popped out, alive and well.

I always knew that this was a series, and that many of the characters would reappear. Of course I knew that Troy’s brother Simon would, and by the time I had finished the first book I had a vague idea he might meet Troy’s reporter friend Alyssa at some point – I like the idea of bringing those two together. Readers particularly loved Troy’s friend Baker and her roommate Zach, and there was even a “Team Philippe” and “Team Jameson.”

For the new book, A Cold and Lonely Place, it was fun to watch the characters evolve. Jessamyn, Troy’s roommate, turned out very different than I first imagined her, and Win, the victim’s sister, became more of a main character than I’d expected her to be. I love letting characters develop and help direct the story line – I’ve learned just to...[read on]

Visit Sara J. Henry's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue