Dirty El

I receive a fair few emails about the characters in the tvdetective books, and as you'd expect most concern Dan and Adam.  But following that pairing, and not far behind in fact, comes Dirty El.

Interestingly with El, readers are nigh on unanimous in their love of the idiot.  Only a couple of times have I read adverse comments about what he's been up to, despite him probably being the naughtiest of the bunch (after the criminals, of course).

I can happily reveal that I too am an enormous fan of El.  I'm fond of all my characters in different ways - they're like family to me - but I notice when I'm writing sequences about El, I inevitably end up smiling and often even laughing out loud at his antics.

So, back to the point, and the email posed the very fair question - what is the point of El?

That might be a little harsh - for what's the point of any of us?! - but I think I know what my correspondent asks.  It's rather a high level inquiry, the sort of thing a literature student might ask, and a tad worrying for that.  I'm not sure my writing bears such thoughtful analysis, but here we go with an attempt at an answer...

Firstly, as a freelance, unfettered by company policies, El can do things that Dan can't, so he's a great conduit for a little mischief.  Secondly, he's simply fun and I like to have a few laughs in a book.  Thirdly, I think he's just a great character.  He's also a kind of court jester, being a fool most of the time, but occasionally capable of unexpected wisdom.

But most importantly, for me El is a sort of link in the books, often holding various different parts of the plot and sub plot together. He's kind of a theme that winds through the narrative.

I hope that's some sort of an adequate answer to a very good question.  Don't forget, if there's a question you'd like to ask about the tvdetective books, or any area of my writing, you can get in touch via the contact page of the site - www.thetvdetective.com/contact.html

Look forward to hearing from you!