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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wistful Wednesday

Today, I am very excited to welcome Joel M. Andre as my guest on the blog. Read on to discover how you can win a copy of his book, The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen!


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The Importance of the Supporting Characters

by Joel M. Andre

When it comes to a story, everyone will mention how vital the main character is. They are the soul and essence of the story. Blah, blah, blah….and so on. I’m here to disagree with that point. Why would I do this? Well, it sounds like a fun challenge that I can’t pass up. So here we go.

Main Characters Would Lack Substance

Think about this. There might be a character you love, but if they have no one to interact with. The story would instantly become bland. It would be full of self interaction that will never show you any character depth at all. Supporting characters encourage the dialogue that happens and help to form the main character better.

The World Would Be Narrow

How many people want to read 300 pages about one person? I sure don’t and that is what the supporting characters allow to happen. You can have another view on a situation and begin to explore the minds and thoughts of others. Best of all, you can go other places with these people, that the main character would prevent.

No Genre Would Exist

In the Horror/Murder Mystery/Thriller genres, these people make up the body count. If you didn’t have the supporting characters, you would quickly have no story to tell. In fact, part of the fun is guessing which of these characters is going to see the end of the book and which ones are going into literary heaven.

Sometimes They Make the Story

There are times you enjoy a main character, but the supporting characters really give life to the story. They make it fun and you can’t wait to see what they do next. This theme is often found in Television Shows and Movies and is usually the groundwork for a sequel or spinoff.

So in short, this is my points as to why the supporting character is vital to the story. As you can see, there are still some valid points to be made as well. That’s your job. I’ll be stopping by the day of my tour and seeing what points you can make. Best post wins a copy of The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen!


Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.

Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection, Pray the Rain Never Ends.

Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, A Death at the North Pole, created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.

October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.

Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.

Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.
Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.

Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.
You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.com.

3 comments:

  1. Excellent article.

    I'm not entering the contest, since I've already ordered and read the book on the Kindle.

    Your points are good on the need for the supporting character. But I still believe that they aren't required. Many authors have given wonderful tales that are delivered on a solo performance level. Shakespeare does this with his Soliloquy.

    Then again, some genres will require them to remain.

    Nice article and I did want to tell you I liked the book. It had some great elements of suspense in it. It is a true page turner.

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  2. Michele, thank you. It's always nice to get a reader's take on books for those who are considering reading it.
    Margay

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  3. Thanks for a good article. Made some great points and the book sounds interesting. Have to grab them to read. :)

    Dawn
    love2read28@gmail.com

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