Will Brewster is a character who started out as the ideal husband, a little too ideal as one of the members of my critique group pointed out. Far better that he be someone who creates tension, so I rewrote this character as a man I’d love to hate.
Rhe and Will have been married for fourteen years. Will is an Assistant Professor at Pequod College, a private liberal arts college on the northern outskirts of the county. Despite his PhD in Psychology, Will still doesn’t completely understand Rhe.
He is not as tall as his brother – about six feet tall – and more slender, but has his same fair hair and is also balding, although not quite as much. Both brothers wear glasses, but Will is short-sighted and needs to wear his all the time.
A thread through the first two books is Will’s increasing frustration with Rhe’s involvement in various investigations. Initially. he grudgingly allows her to continue when she becomes a paid consultant with the police department, which helps their finances. Rhe in turn resents being ‘allowed’ by her husband to do something she loves. But as time goes on and Will becomes increasing vocal in his opposition, sparks fly. Plus he is hiding a something from Rhe that will change their lives. More, I cannot say without giving away one of the plot lines in Death in a Dacron Sail.
What do you think Will looks like? Got a suggestion for me?
I like that he has a degree is psychology but doesn’t understand his wife. I have a theory that people who are good in their professional life don’t transfer their skills to their home life – I know a builder whose house is always an ongoing project, mechanics with half-fixed cars in their garage, a hedge fund manager who is useless with his own finances and a record producer who seems incapable of listening! I think this element of the character makes him more real.
Excellent, excellent point, Lucy. I have a friend who is married to an electrician. Guess who doesn’t have power during storms (no generator)!
I don’t like Will, but I love a villain. Makes reading so much more fun! Interesting that you changed his character due to suggestions in your critique group. I think it was a great decision. There’s am actor who always plats a bad husband. Blond, good looking, looks wonderful,;but always turns out bad. Can’t remember his name.
I think there are a couple of those! Would you believe I started him out as an ideal husband?
Amazing hiw characters grow a life of their own…
I think you did a great job with Will, Noelle. He adds tension, but out of concern. I like the volatility in their marriage. It works. The fact that he and his brother are on opposite sides of Rhe’s investigative interests adds another layer. Nice. 🙂
Thanks, Diana. Coming from you, that is indeed a great compliment.
You wrote the book and deserve the applause, Noelle 🙂
I agree with Portergirl – it’s so right to have a Psychology prof with no understand of how people tick! I think you did a good job of making him nice but wayward in the first book and then increasingly unsympathetic. No, I don’t visualise him, either. There must be something wrong with my visualisation gene – or else I don’t watch enough tv or film to name any actors!
Thanks, Jemima. I do have a choice for this character – stay tuned for a reveal!
Great details on Will. I’m thinking that the actor who plays Peter, the bad husband in the TV show The Good Wife, with glasses, could look a lot like Will…
That’s Christopher Noth, and he is indeed a slimy husband!
I definitely hated Will! Rhe deserves so much better but I liked that he was a realistic character. Not a character I’d want to know but I have known plenty of people like him.
I agree, there are too many husbands like him. But boy, did I have fun writing him! Now I have to find another one – the problem with killing your darlings!