Your favourite ... character

One of the questions that I ask my readers is who their favourite character is, and why.  The answer that I expect is either "Kate" (for Hacking the Dragon) or "Lena" (for Big Brother's Little Sister), for the simple reason that they're the heroes (heroines, if you must) of their respective stories.  I know that I've invested a lot of thought and care into them, and I can get quite emotional about some of the things that happen to them, and I also know a lot about them, their background, their motivations, fears and aspirations.

The answer, however, isn't always what I expected.  J, my eldest, for instance, chose Jess and Jagruti from the two books.  Both are more minor characters, though both have an important role to play in the action.  I suspect that one of the reasons that J is interested in these characters is that they both have a bearing not only on the main characters in the books - Kate and Lena - but also both have interesting interactions and relationships with them. 

It's surprised me how much interest I have in the secondary characters in my books.  There's certainly a tier of tertiary characters who don't have much to do, and are maybe a little less developed that the primary and secondary characters, but I know an awful lot about the first and second tiers, so although I don't quite understand quite why my readers aren't as taken by heroes as I am, it's also quite pleasing that they think that these other characters are worth investing time in.