Supporting characters. Who is/was one of your favorite supporting characters you've written in an Intrigue? What made him/her stand out for you? Have you used the same supporting character in more than one story? And finally, did that special supporting character ever get a story of his/her own?

Delores Fossen--My favorite supporting character is Jordan Taylor, who owns Sentron, a private security company in San Antonio. Jordan first appeared in my third Intrigue back in 2003, and he continues to pop in when I need a bodyguard or security specialist with a dark and dangerous edge. What makes him special is that he's drop dead hot, has the skills of a James Bond but has never found true love. And yep, Jordan will finally get his own story in October 2009. His book will be the final story in my new Texas Paternity mini-series that launches this month with Security Blanket.

Ann Voss Peterson--One of my favorite supporting characters was Detective Al Mylinski. He made an appearance in many of my books, Inadmissible Passion, His Witness, Her Child, Accessory To Marriage, Claiming His Family, Incriminating Passion, Marital Privilege and Serial Bride. He had such a great sense of humor, and he always felt like a rock in the middle of chaos. I'd love to give him his own book, although I'm not sure readers are ready for a bald, middle-aged hero who's slightly overweight. But that doesn't mean he can't eventually find a good woman and settle down!

Dani Sinclair--Supporting characters add so much to a story, humor, drama, pathos, whatever. There’s at least one in every story I’ve ever done that I’ve loved for one reason or another. A number of them had to be given their own stories because they simply wouldn’t go away. A case in point is Lucan O’Shay from Sleeping Beauty Suspect. As the hero’s older brother I fell in love with his name. And he had such great interactions with his brother Flynn and heroine Whitney. In fact, the entire O’Shay family is one I think I’d like to know better. But it’s Lucan who stood out and I had several requests to do his story. He demanded it as well so I finally had to give in. I’m working on his book right now. It’s scheduled for a 2009 release.

Readers have begun to notice another secondary character who keeps sneaking his way into several of my stories. He was never intended to have his own book but Mark Ramsey, the somewhat mysterious head of Ramsey Inc. keeps haunting me. He’s rich. He runs a security firm. And he can produce the most amazingly expensive sports cars with almost no notice. Who is this guy? What’s his story? I’m not sure, but I have a feeling I’m going to have to find out pretty soon. Stay tuned.

Mallory Kane--How can I choose? I love all my supporting cast! There was Devereaux Gautier from The Lawman Who Loved Her (2001.) He hasn't gotten his own story yet, but I still hope he can. He's a very fine hero. Holly's sister Deb in Bodyguard/Husband (2003) was an interesting character to write. She's Holly's younger sister and she's always getting into trouble, unlike Holly who always chose the safe path until she met Jack O'Hara. I think, although Deb would make a great heroine.  My Ultimate Agents have all appeared in each others' books. So they've been almost an ensemble cast, which is so much fun. I've managed to give all the Ultimate Agents except two their own books. Storm and Danny Gambrini are still in the wings waiting.

Right I'm very lucky to be writing a series of books set in the Black Hills of Wyoming. These books are chock full of wonderful secondary characters. I'm already thinking about stories for them. Hmmm, maybe Danny or Storm can get detailed from Washington DC to Wyoming.  In the meantime, watch for Laurel Gillespie, forensic specialist, to get her own book in my 6th Ultimate Agents book, coming in December, 2008. The book is called High School Reunion.

Dana Marton--My favorite supporting character is Karim, the younger brother of the hero from Sheik Seduction. He was such a dark character that I didn't know whether he'd make a good hero. He had a difficult childhood, he'd been tortured at a young age and lost sight in one eye as a result. At one point he was beaten to near death with a camel whip. He grew up to be the Dark Sheik, a man distant from everyone but his twin brother. When that twin brother is killed, Karim lives for nothing but revenge. I sort of left it at that in Sheik Seduction. Then I received letter after letter from readers wanting to read Karim's story. So Sheik Protector was born and is now in stores. He was a supporting character that just needed to get his own story.

B.J. Daniels--I have good and bad supporting characters I love. Arlene Evans was born to be bad. She was a gossip, she had three horrible grown children, she was miserable and she was also 51 years old. But I loved her for all her faults. She got her story in Second Chance Cowboy, part of the Whitehorse, Montana series (5/08). Fans responded well to Arlene as a heroine who'd never known true love and asked for more stories about older women. My latest favorite is Agnes Palmer who will appear in Big Sky Dynasty (6/09), also part of the Whitehorse series. I was going to kill Agnes, but I couldn't. Unlike Arlene, Agnes was just too good. She is one of those elderly women who is cheerful, always pleasant and never has a bad word to say about anyone. A widow, she grows tomatoes because her husband of 50 years loved them. When she is struck by lightning, Agnes becomes psychic. You can see why I couldn't kill her. She'll be back in Whitehorse in the future. She's just too fun and who knows? Maybe there is a man for Agnes in the future.

Julie Miller--My favorite supporting characters are the ones who take on a life of their own, and wind up becoming much more than a backdrop or foil for the hero and heroine of the story. Merle Banning, from my very first Intrigue (and first Taylor Clan book), One Good Man (currently reissued and available on the eHarlequin.com site) was such a character. In that first book, when I was establishing my community of characters in Kansas City's fictional fourth precinct, Merle was a rookie detective who was more computer geek than competent cop. In fact, his main role in that story was to lose track of the heroine while he was guarding her, setting up her abduction by the villain. He went on to appear in the rest of my Taylor Clan stories--working as the partner for one of my heroines--getting shot up helping save the hero/heroine in another book. All the while, he was getting tough, growing street savvy, developing his investigative instincts and turning into a dynamite cop.

So, when it came time to spin off my successful Precinct series, Detective Banning was the natural choice to be my first hero. Readers had seen him grow over the course of the seven Taylor Clan books, and were demanding his story. My only problem was that I'd given him the name Merle back when he was more geek than hero material. So, I came up with some backstory to explain why a manly, scarred-up brainiac like him would go by Merle, and Thomas Merle Banning (T) was born. I had my heroine (a psychic) intuit that Merle wasn't his first name. She's the one who called him T. Now I'm extra careful about the names I give even the most minor of my supporting characters--I never know when one of them will become a future hero or heroine!