Thanks to lovely Liv Thomas for passing the baton for 'Meet My Main Character' on to me. You can meet Liv's main character, in her latest book Beneath an Irish Sky available from Amazon, and learn more about Liv’s hero Luke Kiernan, on her blog:
And so on to my main character from my latest book,
A Summer of Love
What is the name of the main character? Is he real or fictitious?
Jonah Briggs is the protagonist of A Summer of Love. I’m not entirely sure if he’s a product of my imagination or he actually came to me to ask me to tell his story. He feels real enough to me!
When and where is the story set?
The story is set partly in London, but mostly in Cornwall, in an imaginary village near Penzance. It covers about twenty years in Jonah’s and the other characters’ lives, from the early 90s onwards.
What should we know about Jonah?
Jonah is an artist. His paintings can be described as neo-surrealism and he’s especially skilled at painting light. He’s something of a troubled soul, a solitary man that is mostly happy creating in his studio. But he has a sensitive and caring side that unexpected circumstances in his life will bring to the surface.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
As the book opens, Jonah is leaving prison, where he has spent two and half years following a fatal car accident. This tragedy has had a big impact on him and his family, most of all on his relationship with childhood sweetheart Sally, who, in his absence, has married his best friend Ewan. And now Jonah has to start over again…
What is Jonah's goal?
The one thing Jonah yearns the most is love. He lost it in his youth and now he’s striving to win it back, to find forgiveness and redemption from his family and, above all, Sally. Will he be able to mend his past mistakes?
What is the book's title?
A Summer of Love should probably have been called “Summers of Love” as it’s over the course of two decades and three momentous summers that Jonah has to confront his past and heal old wounds, while Sally faces the consequences of her choices – whether to follow her conscience or her heart.
Thanks, Liv, for asking me to do this. It's been fun.
Next week, Shani Struthers and Miriam Drori are taking the baton. I look forward to reading all about their main characters!
