What A Boy Needs Blog Tour: Guest post by Nyrae Dawn

I’m thrilled to welcome author Nyrae Dawn to the blog today to talk about writing secondary characters.

I loved Nyrae’s first novel, What A Boy Wants, featuring the irrepressible Sebastian Hawkins. I’m happy that Bastian's best friend Jaden got a chance for his voice to come front and center in his own book, What A Boy Needs.

What A Boy Needs is a beautiful companion novel. It’s a tad darker. Jaden is a broken boy. But you can still expect incredible swoony moments, humor and of course the whole gang with Pris, Aspen and Sebastian.

A companion novel to WHAT A BOY WANTS.

Jaden Sinclair knows he'll never amount to anything...so why would he deserve a girl like Priscilla Mendoza?

Since last summer, things have been screwed up between Jaden and Pris. He knows it's his fault, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to go a few rounds with her new boyfriend. He also knows he’s the loser his dad calls him, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting her.

After getting a huge bomb dropped on him, Jaden lashes out and lands himself in jail. Everything in his chaotic life is turned upside down and to make it worse, his mom kicks him out in order to side with his dad. Yeah, he’s totally a prize for a girl like Pris.

Sebastian, Aspen, and Pris are all going places in their lives...and he knows he can't keep tagging along for the ride.

The group has one last chance for The Epic Adventure they've been looking for: a road trip to New York, where Jaden's friends will be going to college. Unfortunately, the more time Jaden hangs around Pris, the harder it is to keep the carefully constructed walls between them so she doesn't find out what a train wreck he really is.

When the trip ends, Jaden has to decide if he's ready to say goodbye to his friends, and the girl he loves. He knows what he needs, but will he be man enough to go for it?

Contains mature themes. Some sexual situations and language. ~ Goodreads

Nyrae Dawn:

I am a HUGE fan of secondary characters in a book. I think they’re very important not only to the plot, but also to the main character and their growth.

I put a lot of thought into the secondary characters in my story. They’re just as real and important as the protagonist. They need to be fully developed and layer. They have to DO something for the main characters, IMO. Add something to their story, challenge them, etc. At the same time, they can’t take the story over. It still has to belong to your main characters.

When I started WHAT A BOY WANTS in the very beginning, I didn’t plan to write Jaden and Pris’s story. That lasted as long as a couple days. LOL. A chapter in I KNEW there was more to both Jaden and Priscilla than you see in WHAT A BOY WANTS.  I knew there was another side of Jaden that he didn’t show to the world or even his three best friends.

I had to explore that—and from there came WHAT A BOY NEEDS.

The cool part about this was even though Sebastian’s story had been told, now the roles were reversed. Sebastian was still a part of the book, yet he got to support and give his encouragement to Jaden. And often times he was there to challenge him.

It was a really fun swapping the roles between the foursome and letting them each get the spotlight and then support the other. It added to their friendship which was one of my favorite things to write in these two books. I wanted stories that showcased what strong, unbreakable bonds of friendship and love could do for people.

Do you often find yourself falling in love with secondary characters? Are there characters you would LOVE to have their story told?

Nyrae Dawn website | Twitter
Sebastian & Jaden Twitter
WHAT A BOY NEEDS on Kindle

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