This week I’m hosting Kristen Ethridge with Saving Grace, Jo Huddleston with That Summer and Tanya Eavenson with Unconditional (ebook). If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (Feb. 10th) evening.
Hero Interview from Saving Grace by Kristen Ethridge:
Jake, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I’m not afraid to strike out on my own and try new things. I chose not to go into the family business, but became a lawyer instead. When I returned home to Port Provident and took over Peoples Property Group, I tried to take it in a different direction than the one my father had been going.
What do you do for fun?
Since I’ve recently returned to Port Provident, the thing I enjoy most is reconnecting with my family. I missed spending time with Nana and my sister while I was away in Austin. Of course, living on an island has benefits—there’s nothing like an afternoon on the beach or out on the water—or even just looking at the waves—to bring a sense of peace.
What do you put off doing because you dread it?
For most of my life, I put off being a part of the family business. I’m John Edward Peoples, IV, and I think most folks in Port Provident assumed I’d be a part of Peoples Property Group like the other three men with that name before me. But I had such a strained relationship with my father growing up that I just wanted to get as far away from him and that legacy as possible. I didn’t want my personal issues to also become my professional issues as well.
What are you afraid of most in life?
That all the nasty things my father said about me are true. I lived with the burden of believing I was lazy, soft-hearted, and a disappointment for so many years. I’ve returned to Port Provident in large part to prove to myself and others that I’m not who we’ve all been told I am.
What do you want out of life?
I’d like to make a difference in whatever I do. I’m in a career transition right now, and I’m not sure if I’m suited to running a development company. I liked being able to connect with people when I had my law practice, and I don’t really get to do that in my new role. I’m hoping I can find a way to help people, wherever I wind up.
What is the most important thing to you?
My family. My relationship with my parents could fill a how-to book on dysfunction. But it made me even closer to my sister and my dad’s mother, Nana, who helped raise me because I felt I had so few people who loved me unconditionally. And isn’t that what we all really want? Someone who loves us just for who we are?
Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
Nana gave me a book recently about the history of Port Provident. I’m looking forward to reading more about it.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
That’s a tough question. I think I would like to change that part of me that believed all the negative things said about me as I was growing up. I wish I could have blocked it all out and not allowed it to affect who I thought I was.
Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I don’t have a pet. I’d probably like a big dog who enjoys running on the beach like a Labrador. Right now, I’m living in Nana’s guesthouse, so that would be kind of cramped!
If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I’d like to meet my great-grandfather, the first John Edward Peoples, and be there as he helped Port Provident rebuild after the 1910 hurricane that almost destroyed the whole island.
