This might be a first—an author interviewing one of her characters. Well, maybe not. We normally do that fairly extensively—before we write the book. But after …? (Here’s hoping my character doesn’t give any spoilers. I probably should’ve prepped her before bringing her on Margaret’s site. Oh, well. Too late for that now.)
Today we’re here with Brooke Endress, the heroine in my new release, Healing Love. Brooke, thanks for joining us!
Brooke: I … uh …. Thanks. I’m happy to be here. (Internally: That’s a lie. She’s probably going to throw me under the bus, like she did numerous times in her novel. Only this time it’ll be in front of all cyberspace.)
Author: So, tell me about Southern California. That’s where you live, right?
Brooke: (Gives a relieved sigh. Internally: Not the type of question I was expecting. Thankfully.) I do, and I love it. I’m maybe an hour from the beach, an hour from the mountains, and within walking distance to three coffee shops.
Author: Ah. A fellow coffee addict?
Brooke: Not exactly. (Internally: If people had any idea how much coffee that woman drank. Sheesh! Especially when she’s writing. And she thinks my obsession with hand sanitizer is strange. Or does she? If memory serves, she’s a bit of a germaphobe herself. Hm … I’d love to ask her about that. Turn the tables a bit. Am I allowed to do that—ask the interviewee questions?)
Author: Tell me about your television career. You’ve been an intern with IETV3 for two years, correct?
Brooke: Correct.
Author: And you’ve just recently met Caleb Silvas?
Brooke: (Sheepish chuckle) Sort of. I’ve known about him—
Author: Who doesn’t? Wowzer, that guy is hot! And he’s got his eye on you. Lucky girl!
Brooke: Oh, I wouldn’t say that. He’s friendly with everyone, and he seems to genuinely want to help the newbies.
Author: So he’s managed to get everyone camera time? All the other interns and fact checkers? Everyone else who’s fighting for the next opening?
Brooke: (Looks around and tucks her hair behind her ears, her cheeks turning pink.) I … uh … How’s your book launch going? I know you’ve been writing a lot of guest blog posts and doing a lot of interviews and everything?
Author: All right. No questions regarding Caleb. I get that. Especially considering how things have been developing between you and Ubaldo. I don’t want to give any spoilers or anything, but you’ve got some tough decisions to make, don’t you?
Brooke: (Blushing more, she drops her gaze.) Ubaldo is a wonderful, godly man and I’m blessed to know him. He’s such a role model to the young men in El Salvador, and such a blessing to those sweet orphans he loves on in San Miguel.
Author: Ah, yes, the orphans. That was a pretty rough experience for you, wasn’t it? When you first met Fatima and Dinora—or Dulce Din as her sister calls her?
Brooke: God completely broke my heart on that trip. I’d never seen such poverty up close. And those sweet girls! I’ll never forget them. Ever. If you don’t mind me asking, where’d Fatima’s nickname for Dinora come from?
Author: That’s a fun story! When I went to El Salvador, the orphan girls always wanted candy, which they called dulce. Dulce means sweet. So, using a play on words, Fatima calls her sister Dulce Din, or Sweet Din. The funny thing is I thought I was so clever and original with that name, until one Sunday, my church hosted a Compassion event. The organization had a table with pictures of children in need of sponsors, and on the table was a young girl named Dulce. Of course, we had to sponsor her! Her picture is on our fridge as I type!
That very day, still pondering how God had used my love of of a fictional character (we authors fall in love with our characters. It happens. A lot. With every book, actually.) to draw my heart to a real child in need, I went to our local HyVee to mail copies of Healing Love to my street team.
Care to guess the name of the teen who helped me that afternoon? Dulce! It touched me deeply and really personalized this story and the events in it even more.
Brooke: Wow, that’s awesome. Apparently neither one of us are meant to forget Dinora.
Author: Amen. And with that, this seems like the best place to end this interview, with the call to never forget. Isn’t that what Lolita said to you, in the letter she wrote?
Brooke: (Nods) She said, “Please do not forget me.”
