Lily Writes

One of my favorite things to do in a series is slip in a side character—sometimes as a villain or villainess, sometimes just a forgettable do-gooder—and then let them fade into the background. For a while.

Because the real fun isn’t the entrance. It’s the return.

I love bringing them back later. Maybe in another book. Then another. Slowly revealing more. Another facet. Another truth. Another mask peeled away.

Like an onion. You think you know them. And then—bam—you realize you never really did.

Sometimes the revelation is darker. Sometimes it’s redemptive. I especially love the slow-burn redemption arc—taking a character readers once hated (maybe I hated them, too) and digging deep until you suddenly find yourself rooting for them. Wanting them to win this time. Cheering for them from the shadows.

And sometimes the surprise is simply a gift—a well-deserved second chance for the character no one expected to get one. The loyal woman who sacrificed everything for everyone else, who thinks her life is over. Love has passed her by. The kids are grown. The ex-husband was a jerk who never saw her worth. She should have been forgotten. A church lady fading into the background.

But I couldn’t leave her there. She deserved her own love story. Her own spotlight. Her own happily-ever-after. So I gave it to her—in The Rock Star.

Because I don’t write pity arcs. No “poor thing, life was unfair.” Yes, maybe life hit them hard. But that’s not the end. Not in my world.

If they want change, they have to face who they were. Own it. And step up.

No one gets magically rescued by a love interest. They do the work themselves. Falling in love might give them courage to keep going—but the transformation belongs to them.

That’s one of the most important themes in my books.

Sure, my stories are escapist—cotton candy for the imagination, the kind you laugh and cry and swoon through. But if you walk away with a whisper of something deeper? Even better.

The message is always the same:
You’ve got this. You are enough. You can rise again.
Love will find you. Life is worth living.
No matter how many times you’ve messed up—start over. Keep trying. The best is yet to come.

Watch for this in characters like:

Rigel Lorian (Richard Leslie) – The Beaumonts, The Riders, and The Vanguardians

Bella Beaumont – The Beaumonts

Elizabeth Hamilton (Betty, Elizabeth, Liz) – The Hamiltons

Nomad: Forsaken Lorian available on Amazon July 2025

Alexei’s Woman (Alexei and Bella) Available on Amazon.

The Rock Star (Liz and Declan) Available on Amazon