A Conversation With Lyla Lane on Writing an Integrated Cast That Drives the Story (Killer Writers)

In Lyla Lane’s latest mystery, The Best Little Motel in Texas, the cast operates as a true ensemble, each character essential, distinct, and actively shaping the story’s outcome. Rather than orbiting a single protagonist, the characters function as an integrated unit whose conflicts, skills, and relationships collectively drive both plot and emotional change. I spoke with Lyla from Grand Rapids about how she designs and sustains such a fully enviable interdependent cast.

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“Lyla, I love how all the characters in this book work as a true ensemble. It really sets the book apart. At the conception stage, how do you know a story wants an integrated cast like this rather than a single protagonist with supporting players?”

“I started out wanting it to be a found-family story, which naturally gives everyone a role. I love generational differences and the way people connect across ages. That idea of a chosen family was really the seed, and it meant from the beginning that everyone would have equal importance within that structure. It wasn’t going to be one person surrounded by helpers; it was going to be a group that functioned together.”

“When you first imagined the cast, did you define who the characters were individually, or did you look at how they functioned in relation to one another?”

“The inspiration came from Dolly Parton’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I thought it would be fun to imagine an older cast of women in that kind of story. We often push women of a certain age aside, but someone like Dolly would still be sparkling in that role today. So, I imagined these women living fully and unapologetically, and then I asked who would create the most conflict with them. That led to someone much younger and very image-conscious, almost the oil to their water. I started with the ‘chicks’ first and then created my protagonist around them. I was looking for ways to build in conflict and see how people overcome differences and come together.”

“Creating the supporting cast first and then the protagonist is different. So, conflict really guided how you assembled the cast.”

“Yes, absolutely. Conflict was the primary goal. I love the way people overcome conflict and work together, and it just happened to be to solve a murder mystery. But the conflict came first, and then the protagonist grew out of that dynamic.”

“That’s almost reverse engineering of how most writers work: supporting cast, then conflict, then protagonist. How do you ensure each character’s goals, fears, and choices actively shape the trajectory of the story, then, rather than coexist alongside it?”

“It comes down to conflict and backstory. Each of them has ghosts, baggage, history, all those things that hinder and help at the same time in solving this mystery. Nobody else could have solved it but these women working together the way they did with all that baggage. Their differences aren’t just flavor; they’re functional. Each one’s perspective or limitation changes how events unfold.”

“The plot could only be resolved through the interplay of their differences rather than despite them. One character’s decisions seem to ripple through the others’ arcs, especially with such strong personalities. How did you design those interactions?”

“I wanted to play up those relationships and make sure they all gelled together and brought something important to the story. I didn’t want anyone to feel like empty space on the page. Everyone needed to be a contributing force. The protagonist is a good foil for them. She brings them down to earth a bit, but they also bring her up. They make her more fun, more lighthearted. It’s really the blend of the four of them working together that creates the movement in the story.”

“The novel is largely from the protagonist’s point of view, yet no one feels ornamental or overshadowed. How do you balance that?”

“It unfolded naturally because they were all so strong in my mind. They were firmly grounded personalities with clear skill sets and reactions. So even though the point of view stays with the protagonist, the others are always participating through what they do, what they say, and how they influence her decisions. They were all necessary, and that necessity guided where they appeared.”

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“How do you track emotional continuity when a character is off the page for a while, like the love interest who disappears and then returns?”

“I keep them alive in the protagonist’s internal awareness. Even when he’s not in a scene, she’s still thinking about him, what he might be doing, how he’d react, how she feels about him in that moment. So, he’s still present emotionally in every chapter, even when he’s absent physically. That keeps the relationship continuous rather than episodic.”

“I was really impressed by how every character also seems to experience change by the end. Did you consciously map arcs for each of them?”

“I think of it less as mapping and more as interaction. It’s almost like physics; the act of observing something changes it. For characters, interacting with one another inevitably changes them. When they butt up against each other, they each walk away with a different perspective than they had before. Their arcs grow out of those relationships rather than from isolated planning.”

“Were there ever signals during writing that a character wasn’t fully integrated or had become redundant?”

“Not in this book, because I was very clear on their roles and personalities from the start. They were so distinct that I could pull whichever one I needed for a situation, and they’d feel active and useful. They were always in motion within the story because their personalities drove action.”

“Not action plotted out first, but personalities driving the action. Is that part of it, making every personality equally strong, even for secondary characters?”

“Yes. My secondary characters are created with just as much care as the protagonist. I want them all to pop off the page and feel fully realized. When they’re that strong individually, they automatically carry more weight collectively. They don’t feel like satellites. They feel like forces.”

“And forces they are. In revision, do you ever test whether the story would break if you removed a character?”

“Usually I don’t need to, because they’re so woven into the fabric that there’s no way I could pluck one out and have the same story. Each has a specific role and skill set. That’s part of the fun of writing amateur sleuths. They don’t have the institutional tools of police or FBI investigators, so each person’s abilities, wits, charm, background, and perspective become essential. Only that specific combination of people can solve the mystery.”

“You’ve written many books and had strong success. How has your approach to integrated casts evolved?”

“I’ve always had a found-family element in my stories, but over time I’ve become better at fleshing out individual personalities within that structure. Experience helps you deepen each character so they’re more distinct and purposeful inside the group dynamic.”

“Is that something writers can learn?”

“Definitely. Critique partners, beta readers, and editors have all helped me strengthen character purpose. I’ve written characters who weren’t really serving a function, and I either wrote them out or combined their role with another character. That’s something you learn over time, making sure every character is playing a part and contributing something necessary.”

“For writers attempting their first fully integrated cast, what structural discipline should they commit to early and what mistake should they avoid?”

“Give each character a strong archetypal core and then subvert it. That’s how you avoid caricatures and make them feel real. Start with a recognizable type, then twist it so the character stands out. And avoid duplicating functions. If you have two characters serving the same role in the story, they probably need to be one character instead of two.”

“Do you always create the characters first and then let them interact?”

“I do. I build them, put them together, and let them cook. Sometimes it takes a full first draft to discover exactly who they are. Then I go back and tweak and refine once I understand them more deeply.”

“You definitely found them here. One of the pleasures as a reader is seeing how this particular group, and only this group, could solve this mystery.”

“That’s part of the joy of ensemble mystery. You don’t just wonder who did it; you discover what each person brings to making the solution possible. That’s where integration really lives.”

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Lyla Lane is a pen name for Sonia Hartl, author of the rom-coms Rent to Be and Heartbreak for Hire, which has been optioned for television, as well as the YA novels Not Your #Lovestory, Have a Little Faith in Me, and The Lost Girls, also optioned for television. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and two daughters. https://www.lylalane.com/