BFS Online: Crafting Characters – Supporting Cast

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Supporting Cast: You know who your protagonist and antagonist are, but what about the rest? How do you create secondary characters that jump out of the page? And how do they add to the story?

Join moderator Chris Hawton as he chats to panellists Lindsey Byrd, Rob Cameron, and David Watkins about crafting a supporting cast that enhances storytelling.Find out more about our panel below.

Lindsey Byrd (she/her): Lindsey Byrd is the author of The Sun Blessed Prince, out 1 May 2025. She grew up in New York before moving abroad for graduate research studies. She is an amateur birder and enjoys going for hikes to take photos of nature. She enjoys all forms of speculative fiction, and is an avid researcher of history – particularly history of medicine and science. Both find their ways into her books in various forms. Find out more about Lindsey on her website. Or follow her Bluesky, Tumblr or Twitter. Get Lindsey’s books here.

Rob Cameron (he/him): Rob Cameron is a teacher, linguist, and writer. Among other publications, he has poetry, stories, and essays in Star*Line, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tor.com, Foreign Policy Magazine. One of his stories is curricula material for the Carterhaugh School of Folklore. He’s been a guest lecturer at NYC on solarpunk science fiction. His debut middle grade novel Daydreamer is forthcoming from Labyrinth Road, summer ’24. Rob is a lead organizer for the Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers, a former guest host and curator for the New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series, and former executive producer of Kaleidocast.nyc. Learn more about Rob at his website. You can also follow him on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram. Get Rob’s book here.

David Watkins (he/him): David Watkins lives in Devon in the UK with his wife, two sons, ridiculous dog and psychotic cat. He has currently released five novels, two novellas and several short stories. Each book is well rated and reviewed on Amazon and beyond. His most recent release is The Original’s Rage, from Original Books. Find out more about David on his website. Or you can follow him on Facebook and Instagram. David’s books are available here, here, and here.

Chris Hawton (he/him): Chris is a podcast host and avid consumer of SFFH. He occasionally dabbles in writing it as well. Chris has tonnes of Dr Who related goodness for you to dig into. Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, YouTube, Podcast. Or you can email him for even more.