Do you ever write a side character, but there’s something about them that you can’t let go of?

There are two characters towards the end of Rini & Butler that I think I will return to the sequel, but I’m not even quite sure what it is about them that makes me want to bring them back. Perhaps I’ve done them well and don’t realise it? Or perhaps it’s the potential dynamics with them and Rini and Butler that I’m curious about? Maybe it’s even just their names. I’m going to do some quick character sketches on them. Not all of it will be in the current manuscript, because they’re currently only there for a chapter, but this is how they are in my mind when I read and write them.

Amaria Sanders

Is a good detective but has been told she has an abrasive personality, and by abrasive, she just has a naturally intimidating and no-nonsense aura from her difficult upbringing. She tries her best to be friendly and caring, but it is often not well-received, and so she often struggles to gain the trust of people.

Amaria has short, slightly curled, black hair and light blue eyes, that people often find quite piercing. Her features are quite rounded and smooth and her skin is on the lighter side of mocha, a product of her mixed heritage of Russian, Spanish, Egyptian and Torres Strait Islander. Amaria was deliberately “created” by her “adoptive family” also so was seen as strange and treated as “exotic” when she grew up. She faced tokenistic behaviour from her “adoptive family” and a lack of identity connection with her peers. She grew to despise her eye-colour, which was often treated as more beautiful than the rest of her appearance, which is quite dark. She rebelled against this aspect of racism by refusing to wear light colours and joined law enforcement as a response to finding out she was a product of a trend of rich people engineering “beautifully exotic” children.

Sybel Algiers

Is also a good detective and though shares a similar stoic aura to Amaria, is often quickly warmed up to by strangers, and therefore the pair make a good match. He tries to allow Amaria a chance to lead most interactions, but will pick up before an interaction might shut down or she gets frustrated. A lot of people thought that the pair wouldn’t work well because Amaria is perceived to be somewhat aggressive, but Sybel feels a kinship with Amaria because of their backgrounds, and he sees the effort she makes to try and be more “normal”.

Sybel himself isn’t quite sure of his heritage, but many people recognise him as being mixed middle-eastern. He was raised by an aunt in Australia, and so bonds with Amaria over not quite knowing what family and relationships mean. Sybel faced a lot of discrimination, but, despite this, grew up fairly well under the care of his aunt, who had taken in other family members who escaped war torn countries, with the agreement to pretend that the children had always lived in Australia as a way of coping. His appearance is neat and dark, and Amaria appreciates that he carries himself with such respect and pride, as opposed to how her foster families treated her. His aura is very calming and warm.