Good morning, bookworms!
It’s blog tour time and today I’m over the moon to welcome Rachel J Bonner as she introduces us to a character from her book, Cloth of Grace.
Hello, Rachel… Please introduce the character to my readers…
I’m going to focus on Andrew. He’s not one of the two main characters but he is vitally important all the same, and absolutely central to the whole Choices and Consequences series. He’s in his late twenties and he’s been a monk for nearly ten years. He’s a doctor at the local hospital where he specialises in working with those whose mental Gifts (telepathy, telekinesis etc) are developing. In the monastery he also has some duties in the stables as he grew up working with horses. He loves both the main characters, Perry and Leonie, deeply and to start with he was jealous of both of them and their relationship. Now he’s realised that he doesn’t want to be the significant other for anyone – he’s happy as a monk. Instead he’s a good friend to both Perry and Leonie and often the voice of reason and common sense.
I don’t tend to describe my characters much physically so that you can be free to imagine them how you like, but for me, Andrew is a classic Anglo-Saxon blond.
When did you create Andrew?
I don’t remember specifically creating Andrew. The whole story started with a very powerful dream which made such an impression on me that I needed to find out more. That dream is now a scene at the end of the first book in the series, Strand of Faith. Andrew was in the dream so he was always central to the story.
Did you write the book to accommodate the character or the character to accommodate the book?
I think they grew together. At the end of Weave of Love (book 3) and the start of Cloth of Grace (book 4) Perry and Leonie are together but Andrew isn’t with them. I knew they needed to be together but the story kept taking me in other directions first. I was delighted when I managed to bring them together again.
What do you like most about him?
Andrew’s a really good guy, a loving person who stands by his friends no matter what.
What do you like least about him?
He’s got a bit of a dodgy past and done some fairly unsavoury things – but I can’t tell you more. You’ll have to read Cloth of Grace to find out.
Did your early readers/editorial team like Andrew to start with or did you have to change him in any way?
Andrew was a favourite with my readers from the start. One of my very first readers, a close friend since childhood, read the first book in the series and told me I wasn’t to do anything mean to Andrew. That may have influenced the fact that his life gets a bit tougher in Cloth of Grace.
Does have any similarities with anyone real?
Yes, they do. But I’m not telling the who, what or why, because they don’t know and they haven’t spotted it.
What are your plans for him?
Andrew’s going to get his own short story/novella – I’m not sure yet how long it will be. It’s going to cover at least some of the period from the end of Cloth of Grace to the epilogue (3-4 years) but I think it will involve flashbacks too.
Would you be friends in real life?
I do hope so. Andrew’s a really nice person who has to deal with some tough stuff.
Thank you so much, Rachel. Andrew sounds great!
Bookworms, if you’d like to know more about him, you can get your copy of Cloth of Grace NOW!
Here’s the blurb…
When the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, how do you choose between what you ought to do and the only thing you really want?
Leonie finally knows who she is. But now she needs to decide who she is going to be. Her choice will affect not just her family, not just those she knows, but tens, hundreds of thousands, millions of people that she doesn’t. And every path that’s open to her will put Perry under the pressures that caused his breakdown before. How can she do what she must and still protect Perry?
Perry desperately wants to make things easier for Leonie. Somehow he has to find the strength to face the things that all but destroyed him in the past. But every way he turns, some aspect of his past lies waiting to pounce – even during his happiest moments. And he can never forget that Leonie’s life is in danger from someone, somewhere.
Gabriel has managed to negotiate peace, at least in theory. Now he must put that into practice and reunite Leonie with the family she never knew she had. Then disaster strikes right in the middle of his own sanctuary. Can he still protect those he loves, or has he been harbouring a villain the whole time?
About the author…
Rachel J Bonner is the author of the compelling and enthralling four book Choices and Consequences series. The first book in the series, Strand of Faith, was published in November 2018. Book 2, Thread of Hope, released on 2nd May 2019, followed by Weave of Love on 24th October. The story concludes with Cloth of Grace, released on 29th February 2020.
Rachel has a degree in engineering, which she followed with a career in accountancy which is probably not a conventional path to becoming an author, particularly in fantasy or romance. Rachel says that, although accountancy isn’t anything like as boring as everyone thinks, writing is a lot more fun. When not writing, she can be found walking in the beautiful countryside near where she lives, which has influenced much of the scenery in her books, or shooting things with her local archery club. Shooting targets only, honest. Nothing to worry about. (Okay, sometimes we shoot Polo mints. Or cabbages. Still nothing to worry about.)
She also enjoys swimming, eating chocolate chip cookies and growing aromatic herbs, especially thyme and rosemary. It’s no coincidence that her heroine likes the same things.
You can find out more about her books and sign up for Rachel’s newsletters at www.racheljbonner.co.uk.
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Emma The Little Bookworm 