Of all my characters, I think Will Trent is my most purposefully written. He came into my brain like a bolt of lightning one day, and I instantly knew all these things about him—he grew up in state care; he suffered horrible abuse at the hands of some foster parents; he’s in a crappy relationship with perhaps one of the worst women on the face of the planet. He’s also dyslexic, which is a disability that has shown up in just about every generation of my family.

Like a lot of dyslexics, Will is shamed by his disorder, and feels like he has to try harder than everyone else just to get to normal. Yet, the symptoms of dyslexia are actually characteristics of a good detective: He’s got a phenomenal memory. He notices details other people overlook. He’s also more attuned to emotional cues and very good at reading people. It was important to me that Will be a hero, too. Usually, when you read about disabled people, they’re somewhat marginalized, or they end up being knife-wielding serial killers. Will is just a nice guy who has a problem and is trying to help other people.

Something a lot of people don’t know is that I loosely based Will’s physical appearance on my friend Lee Child. They’re both tall and lanky with sandy blonde hair. I would say something about Lee being ruggedly handsome, but I don’t want his head to get big.

Editor's Note: Karin Slaughter is the bestselling author of several novels, including BROKEN, the most recent installment of her Grant County Series.