Questions

A quick reminder for you - if you've got a question about the tvdetective series, feel free to raise it and I'll do my best to answer.  You can get in touch via the contacts page - www.thetvdetective.com/contact.html

One such has just come in.  It's - where do I get my characters from, and are any based on real people?

It says in my book of how to be an author that mystery sells, so I shouldn't give too much away.  But I can tell you that only one character in the series is based entirely on a single "person" - and you'll see why the use of quotes there in a minute.

Most characters are what I think of as composites, built up from several different quirks of a range of people's mannerisms, behaviour, or appearance.  So yes, I do borrow a little from real life, but only usually a tad per person, and always combined with plenty of imagination.

But - back to that real "person".  Here, I'm talking about Rutherford.  He's based on the dog I grew up with, a wonderfully protective and loyal Alsatian called Sam.  He was my companion through the early years of childhood, and to this day I remember the weeks of tears I shed when he died.

Rutherford is my way of bringing him back, as best I can.