Let’s start with Angie

Angie is a background character on Shedding. She’s an important character, but a background character no less. I still would like her to have her own story, and as I’m reading these recaps, I realize that I should try to develop her a bit more. I don’t want anybody (EVER) to tear apart my story the way those recaps do. So allow me to brainstorm here for a few minutes:

Angie is in her late thirties, blonde blue-eye “all American girl.” She’s been with Bobby since college and share three kids. Angie didn’t grow up with her parents and she went to college on a scholarship. With obvious childhood traumas, Angie only liked professors and had affairs with a three of them in less than four years. Here enters Bobby. They became friends, not really having a thing for each other. They become study buddies and confidants. Angie always had a new “friend” to introduce to Bobby. And Bobby in return, would always stay “semi-sober” at parties just to keep an eye on Angie. 

That’s all I can tell without giving away to much of the plot and a lot of this is not mentioned like this in the book. Angie has very few lines and most of the background is hinted at, so… Why is any of this important? I think is because it paints a deeper picture of what you’re reading. It forms the world you’re submerging in and it surrounds the reader in the story. Let me be clear: Angie is not the bad guy here. Angie is here because she wants to be. Bobby, being one of the three main character, needs to deal with the consequences of his recent actions. And for the first time, in over fifteen years his actions do not have Angie as the main reason. But Angie is the omnipresence in the background. Angie is always on everyone’s mind. 

Based on this I want to give her, her own little story. She deserves it.