In Search of the Perfect Sidekick

I have a job opening. For the perfect sidekick. Of course, said sidekick must not mind dogs, many children, a python, and a cockatoo, and more laundry than the Hyatt hotel. Mustn't mind children climbing into bed at 3:00 a.m., and being woken at 5:30 a.m. by the alarm blaring that it's time to start the day. Mustn't mind moody teens and an eight year old who, in dramatic fashion, declares "Art is my LIFE!" Wimps need not apply. Not even Robin (Batman's sidekick), or Bucky (Captain America's sidekick) could handle it, I don't think. Sidekicks--good ones--are hard to find. And let's not forget about sense of humor, ability to hold one's liquor, and, in a pinch, sew a button and change a tire. Most importantly, a good, amusing personality and plenty of intelligence are needed.

Superheroes have sidekicks. Most of them anyway. I already have a significant other, but I was thinking I might like a sidekick. It would be helpful around here. BUT WATCH IT WHEN YOU PUT ONE IN YOUR NOVEL!

Why? Well, you have to be careful when giving your main character a sidekick. Though we often love those secondary characters--in fact, that is, often, a universal positive comment in all my reviews . . . the "cast of characters"--it's tough to do them well.

Because, make them TOO funny, TOO sexy, TOO witty, and TOO brilliant, and they can steal the show. Make them too fantastic and the book may slow to a crawl when they leave a scene. Make the lacking in the above characteristics, and they seem cardboard or boring; make them too typical of sidekicks and they'll seem cliched. (Hint: not every heroine in chick lit needs a gay best friends--of course, my male best friends ARE gay . . . but then if you have one in your book, draw them well.)

Yup . . . choosing a sidekick is a tricky proposition.

Do you have to have one? Well, in the universal rule of show don't tell, sidekicks are handy not only for their own quirks, but also for what they say about your character. Example: Billie Quinn's best friend is her boss and director of the crime lab. He collects blood spatter pictures, which he frames as art; loves zombie movies; and is colorful and then some. He can also be prickly and difficult, and he has an IQ hovering around 170, which means he doesn't tolerate fools. BUT, what does having Lewis for a best friend say about BILLIE? Well, she's his intellectual equal--I, in effect, am pointing out how smart she is without coming out and saying GOSH, MY LEAD CHARACTER IS SMART! She also doesn't mind the macabre--she is comfortable with his sick sense of humor, the fact that he has a brain collection in formaldehyde. Again, says something about her tolerance for the unusual and for eccentrcities in others. And though Lewis's lovelife and secondary storyline are important, he is there, in large part, to showcase Billie and verbally spar with her, and to tell the reader all sorts of interesting facts about her background and flaws. Lewis is a good sidekick, I think. As was Dominique in DIARY OF A BLUES GODDESS. She was a transvestite, there to play the "drama mama" for everything my heroine, Georgia, went through.

In my novels, I love the sidekicks I create.

In real life, I don't know that I'll ever find the perfect sidekick . . . The Green Hornet's Cato is unavailable.

How about your hero or heroine in your wip? Any job openings for a sidekick?