Where do characters come from: Sloan

Sloan is the pushiest of my characters. I wanted a female protagonist because I couldn't think of any legal thrillers where the MC (main character) was a female litigator. Someone that I'd be friends with, but who was infinitely cooler than me. For example, I can handle maybe two glasses of bourbon, preferably Woodford Reserve. Sloan can knock them back and it doesn't hit her as quickly.

Sloan started out as Reagan. Then, she decided she didn't want that name. At the same time, "Spirit in the Sky" kept playing in my head. The song reminded me of a pilot. Sloan said, "duh, I'm a pilot." And so little bits and pieces of her personality trickled into the book as well as snippets of her sarcasm.

She's a lot of fun to write because she always surprises me. There are times where she describes things and I laugh out loud. During case preparation, she becomes more serious and becomes a challenge to write because we're working on the case together.

I know to non-writers, I may sound like I have a split-personality, but I assure you I don't. Not yet, anyway.

What are some of your favorite characters from books and why?