Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
ALAYA JOHNSON | The Sidekick
Author Guest , Guests / July 20, 2010

Let’s talk about sidekicks. I don’t know about you, but I love them. Best friends, sympathetic rivals, brothers, sisters–sometimes even mothers and fathers–are key figures in the lives of most main characters. In mystery and paranormal fiction, where the heroine is usually in way over her head, they can help her fight her way out. And, to me, there are few things I enjoy more than a really well-depicted friendship in fiction. Partly this is because paranormal fiction especially, and mystery to a lesser extent, tend to place a lot of emphasis on the romantic lead and complications thereof. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of romance, but it’s always a little disappointing to me when it seems to get in the way of Our Heroine having, well, real friendships. Especially with other women. If I found myself inexplicably at the center of (say) some centuries-old war between vampires and werewolves, you bet that my sister would be on the phone in five seconds, and she’d be on the train to come and help me in less than a day. That’s just how my relationships with my female friends work. We’re there for each other, and we have…