There are times in writing when the term “characters take on a life of their own” is used. That can be interpreted in various ways and I’ve mentioned before how I too sometimes significantly alter a character for different reasons. In this case, I had a character who was quite minor, but as I got deeper into the plot, I realized the minor character could be given a larger role in order to have a better flow for an event I needed. I didn’t care too much about him initially – think of it as an actor with a walk-on part in TV or film who is suddenly given lines instead. So, my minor character who really had only a name and profession and a slight relationship to a victim suddenly had to have more depth. In fleshing him out with a place of origin and why he relocated to the Florida Keys, I decided a little twist would be in order, too. It was fun and at least this time, I didn’t have to kill him off to make the story work. I left him alive and well and while he probably won’t make an appearance in another book, he might come in handy for the future. I’ll explain more later.