Hi, Dotsie!

Thanks for dropping in and asking about Tim.
I saw Kit as a "reluctant hero", someone who really preferred not to get involved unless she absolutely had no other choice. And the one way to get a woman involved in ANYTHING is to threaten her child. That's how Tim became embroiled in the story.
I enlisted the aid of a 16-year-old boy, the son of some book store owners, to help me with Tim. I'd written several chapters involving Tim and gave them to Robert to tell me if that was truly how a 16-year-old boy would react to a kidnapping, the media frenzy, and all that was happening with his parents. Robert gave me some great information, which I incorporated into the book. It really helped round out Tim's character.
I'm told that Tim evolved more than any of the other characters... he went from being very distant from his parents and frightened because of his ordeal, to rising to the challenge and helping to outwit the kidnappers.
I've been asked more than once to write an entire book from Tim's point of view. I might just do that some day.