Meet the Characters in My Latest Book…

I thought I would share with you a little about some of the characters in my latest book, God’s Timing. Writing books gives the author an opportunity to mould the way the people in the book live their lives.

In this story, I have both main characters and characters who are more peripheral. The peripheral ones serve a purpose, helping build the main story line, but it’s the main characters whom I focus on. Let me introduce you to them and tell you a little about them…

Every young person in this world starts out with optimistic hopes and aspirations for their future, but in reality life has a habit of taking unexpected twists and turns completely contrary to the carefully laid plans of that person.

Felix

Felix, who comes from a small town in America, doesn’t want too much change in his life. He has been fortunate enough to have had a solid Christian upbringing and happy family life, and that’s how he would like to continue once he has married and had his own family. But circumstances beyond his control make this impossible. Felix discovers he has a natural aggression which stands him in good stead during a period of his life when he also becomes mentally resilient. Later when he is confronted by a situation that arouses his ire he shows it’s impossible for him to tolerate an injustice.

‘I’ll kill you!’ Felix roared. He jumped to grab Martin, but the other man was quick on his feet and he dodged out of Felix’s grasp and made a break for the door. Felix was close on his heels and furniture crashed to the ground as the two men hurtled through the house.

Felix knew he was going to kill Martin. For the past year he had been killing people – people who probably didn’t even deserve to be killed. Now he had a man in his sights who did deserve to be killed and Felix was well qualified to do it!

Philippa

Philippa, who is a Kenyan, also has a good start in life before a catastrophic event in her life changes everything. With nostalgia she remembers the days when the Great Rift Valley was the backdrop to her home.

‘The valley was always so beautiful and at different times of the day it changed in appearance and mood. In the early morning it looked fresh and clean as the first rays of the sun sparkled on the dew drenched vegetation and chased away the night time shadows from the hollows and contours of the land. At midday it basked in the hot sunshine and everything stood out in sharp relief. Then in the evening as the sun disappeared, a grey pearliness would steal over the valley and the sky above would be decorated with splashes of bright orange and pink colours that highlight the clouds and cause them to blush like new brides!’

Lucy

Lucy is born in Southern Africa and never realises what a precarious start in life she’s had. However, after a lull during which she is happy and contented all hell seems to be let loose. Like a bit of thistle down that has been tossed about on the storms of life, she becomes broken and vulnerable.

Suddenly Lucy burst into tears. ‘I just don’t want to be in this world anymore,’ she said. ‘Wherever I look there are problems – the world seems an ugly place to me and the one person that I loved most of all has died and I want to be with him. I desperately want to get away from all the nastiness and evils – I just can’t imagine that anything good can be in the future. I think I’m cursed and I want to be somewhere nice where everyone is happy and kind to each other.’

Gigi

Gigi is English and has always had a difficult life since birth, but her Christian faith is a great comfort to her and she stoically overcomes each problem that looms in her life.

‘The Bible is full of treasure just waiting to be discovered,’ Gigi remarked as she flicked through the pages. ‘Some of the treasure is lying openly on the pages, clear for you to see. Other treasure you have to dig for – often it’s in fragments so you have to dig through the Bible to find all the pieces and then put them together. And the Bible never stops giving. I’ve been delving into it for years and I’m still finding nuggets of treasure within its pages.