Befriending and Rediscovering Characters

Today on Murderati, Pari Noskin discusses picking up her series protagonist, Sasha Solomon, after a three-year hiatus. Mentioning she'd like to have a friend like Sasha right now, Pari asked:

Who, of the many characters you've read, would you most like as a friend right this minute?

Why?

Writers: Have you happily rediscovered a character you thought you’d abandoned?

I commented:

I'm not in the habit of imagining characters to the point I'd want to befriend them, but if I had to pick two right now, they would be Bill Cameron's Skin Kadash and S.J. Rozan's Lydia Chin. I like that Skin has seen a lot in his life yet retains a sense of humor, however dark. I also like how persistent he is. He's someone who would stick by a friend. Lydia I like because her upbringing and attitudes are similar to mine. If she were real, I think we'd enjoy hanging out.

I recently published an ebook of three stories featuring a 1930s flyboy character I created in 1994. Originally I had only planned to reprint my existing stories, but I figured as long as the stories were out of print, I may as well revise them to my current sensibilities. As you said about Sasha, I don't know how commercially viable the character is, but I know I was meant to write him. I can't say I ever abandoned him, but not knowing where to take him after each story, I took breaks from him and wrote other stuff. It's good to be back.