A couple of days ago, a friend of mine and I were discussing scenes from our books. After a while, it dawned on me that we were referring to our characters as if they were in the flesh. It's inevitable, spend a few years writing the same character and he will eventually become real.

Sam Harper has been a part of our household for four years. A couple of summers ago, when my husband and I needed to buy a new stove and refrigerator, I couldn't decide which models to buy. He paced and waited then paced some more before he finally leaned over an appliance and asking: "Which one would Sam buy?" The best, I replied.

Once our teenage son walked into the room while we were in the middle of a conversation about one of the crime scenes. From the look on our son's face, I knew I had to explain what bullet holes, whose body, and what blood spattering on the wall I was talking about.

I'll admit I know everything about Sam Harper, from his upbringing and quirky habits to what pushes his buttons. By the time I started to work on the second book, the character immediately came to life on page one. That's what I like about writing a series, I can add to his personality traits, but his core qualities are in place allowing me time to develop the plot and to tell the story.