Meet the Cast of FOREVER RICHARD

The characters in Forever Richard are well developed and compelling, even the annoying ones. A look at the cast helps to know the story.



The main characters: Richard and Ceese

Richard (played by Stevie Mac of Shoutlife.com) and Ceese (played by Hannah Hokstad, daughter of author Caprice Hokstad) are brother and sister, but they didn't know that when they first met in Never Ceese. In fact, they fought like cats and dogs--make that werewolf and vampire. Eventually, though, they accepted who they were and that they needed to work together to find a way to lift their curses. Oh, the curses? Well, it turns out that Ceese had been cursed by a werewolf and Richard had been bitten by two vampires when they were young. Now, the curses lifted, they find themselves back 'home' in England where there are some big surprises for both of them. Richard has mellowed considerably since the vampire is gone. He really cares about people now, but that brings new problems. Ceese was thrilled to get back and see her dear friend Penelope again, but she wasn't counting on the oppressive sway still held over her by the werewolf who had cursed her. She also wasn't prepared to face the truth about her mother and her father.



Supporting Actresses: Penelope and Cassie

This may be a bit of spoiler, but Penelope is still alive. In fact, she's better than she had been for years. Her connection to Ceese was what made Ceese want to return, but Richard was completely thrown off guard. He had thrown a tantrum when he thought Penny was dead, and there she is alive again. Penny is the most spiritual of the characters, it seems, one who has long wanted to see Richard and Ceese come to terms with God. But when her dreams come true, it isn't what she had hoped for. Richard was different from the man she fell in love with, and she is confused about it all. Now add to that the presence of Cassie, who thought Penny was her grandmother (they really are related, but a few more generations removed than that). Cassie has fallen for Richard, so now there is a weird kind of romantic triangle. It makes for some tensions that were unexpected.



Supporting Actors: Rodney, Merideth, and Brendan with significant minor roles by Geoffrey, Josh, and Kyle

Rodney is the main carry-over from Never Ceese. He's a real screw-up who only cares for himself. That is, until he met Ceese. The two of them have a strange attraction that no one else can understand, but Ceese feels better when he's around, and he actually will do shat she asks of him. She can still get inside his head even though the werewolf is gone, but besides that, he's fiercely protective of her. The others only put up with him for Ceese's sake.

Merideth was a surprise entry who was hinted at in the end of Never Ceese. Yes, he's Ceese and Richard's father. How is that possible? I imagine you can guess. Neither Richard nor Ceese want to accept that their father, the godly preacher, could have been cursed. Truth be told, I am still struggling with that one. All I know is that it actually has to do with his love for his kids, and the answers are only hinted at in this book. Mystery still to be revealed in Book Three. Merideth is a bit wimpier than I expected, going off into fits of despair rather easily. For vampires who aren't supposed to get emotional, Merideth and Richard (back in the day) can certainly get upset.

And the family reunion continues with the appearance of Brendan. He makes me think of a Highlander mountain man whose been chewed up and spit out and tougher than rawhide. Yet the big lug is a teddy bear when it comes to Ceese and Richard. He isn't a werewolf, but...well, you'll see.

Then there are the other guys who all add a lot to the story. Kyle is the least important in a way, other than his connections and the fact that he has more of a heart than Rodney does. Poor Josh is the reason they make the trip back to England: he was cursed by the evil scientist-turned-vampire and is such an addictive personality that he is in great danger of passing on the curse in his weakness. He and Merideth hit it off well. Sometimes Josh and Kyle add comic relief; sometimes they make bigger contributions. Finally, there is a marvelous butler named Geoffrey. Butler par excellence who saves the day many times over. Kind of like Batman's Alfred, except he isn't thrown into a tizzy with vampires and werewolves running around the house. He might be my favorite character in the book.



The Bad Guys: Zade and Dr. Henderson
Ah, yes, the diabolic duo whose dastardly deeds drive the drama. Another weird pairing since vampires and werewolves do not get along and play nicely together. Henderson, however, convinces Zade that they can help each other accomplish their individual goals. Zade doesn't realize that the goal for both of them is Ceese, but for completely different reasons. Their evilness is kind of cliché, but it works for this tale. These are the guys you love to hate, the ones for whom we have no sympathy at all. Kind of like the devil and his demons.


Next Entry: The Spiritual Elements

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: The Writers Cafe Press (January 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934284033
• ISBN-13: 978-1934284032
  

You can purchase Forever Richard from the publisher, The Writers' Cafe Press (free shipping in the U.S.), Barnes and Noble , Amazon.com, or get an autographed copy from Sue here. If you want a copy of Never Ceese, you can order directly from Sue Dent herself at the Forever Richard site, but it's on the NEVER CEESE page.


Sue Dent's blog and website can be found at http://www.foreverrichard.com.


Oh! And don't forget! I'll be giving away copies of both Never Ceese and Forever Richard on Tuesday, Sept. 22. All those who comment on this week's posts will be included, so if you comment more than once, your name is entered more than once!

LET ME INTRODUCE SOME...FIENDS...I MEAN FRIENDS

May I introduce you to the main characters of Never Ceese? While the plot is important to the story, the characters are essential. After all, it's named for Ceese. And the sequel is named for Richard.



Ceese


She was born Cecilia Collette Porter in Port Hampton, Wales, on January 8, 1802. Her parents were the Reverend Meredith Porter and his wife Julia, who had seven children before Cecilia was born. Ceese was her nickname. From the prologue, the reader knows that her mother was attacked and raped by a man, then scratched by a werewolf. It was for a sign, and it somehow affected Ceese before she was even born. She never knew the truth behind the attack on her mother, and Meredith raised her as lovingly as any of the other children. Ceese has striking emerald eyes, or at least she did as a child. After she became a werewolf, they were golden in wolf form and a greenish-gold in human form. With her round face, short blondish brown hair, and the striking eyes, She would have probably been noticed by others even when she didn't speak. I get the impression that she appears to be about 18, perpetually, in spite of being around for a couple of hundred years. When it became too difficult to live with humans, she turned to the wolf form for countless ages, and so when she answered a call to turn to the human again, she was like a naive child in the society of the 21st century. She had hidden from it for so long that it was only with difficulty that she even remembered speech and wearing clothes. There are some humorous scenes because of this, such as when she uses her leg to scratch an itch, and when she attacks Richard's 'mouse,' the one on his computer. Even with the tutoring she got from Penelope and Richard, New York was like a foreign planet to her.

I feel a warmth for Ceese from the very beginning, because she seems to be a sweet person, one who really wants to escape the curse of the wolf. When something startles her or angers her, however, she quickly loses control to the wolf. My guess is that it is the prayers of others, on her behalf, that has helped to restrain the urge to curse others. Ceese wants to remember her family and the teachings of her father. She tries to remember scripture, and even manages to say words that hurt her because of the curse. Holy words. She has a special ability to get inside people's minds and plant thoughts to make them act or say what she wants. She can also read thoughts of others at times, sometimes even at far distances. In, addition, Ceese displays some of the instincts you would expect from a wolf, although they are somewhat muted in human form. The others soon learn to trust her instincts about people and situations. And once she has connected with a person, as she did with Penelope or Rodney, she displays complete trust in that person. A dangerous enemy, but a most loyal friend.


Richard

The vampire is probably in his twenties, tall, with long bleached-blond hair and refined manners. Unlike Ceese, he refuses to remember his past. He has successfully forgotten who he was or who his parents were. It seems that he gave up long ago on any thoughts of redemption and has resigned himself to remaining in the cursed state. And yet...he takes pains to resist cursing another. He insists that he can't have feelings like normal people, yet he does not want to be parted from Penelope (he calls her Mama) and always gives in to her wishes (once he throws a bit of a tantrum). While he shows great disdain for his immoral neighbor and some unsavory characters in New York, he's considerate enough to the maid. And then there is his odd relationship with Ceese. When she shows up, he is jealous of all the time she spends with Mama, he loathes having a werewolf around, he fights with Ceese physically and vocally, but once he promises Penelope that he will look out for Ceese, he becomes quite protective. In fact, the more time they spend together, the more protective he becomes. Richard is sardonic, cynical, and jaded. Yet he shows his soft side with Penelope. He would do anything for her. She brought out the good in him which he denies is there. It's interesting how modern technology has entered his world, unlike that of Ceese, and his prized possession is his computer. And the main activity he does on this computer? Order blood, of course! Thanks to blood banks and such online, he gets a supply that fills his refrigerator.

Penelope

Penny, also called Mamá by Richard, is the key connection for the werewolf and the vampire. Penny was a childhood friend of Ceese's, probably the closest friend she ever had. For some reason there is a very strong supernatural bond between them. The bond is strong enough that Ceese comes to the castle in answer to a telepathic call from Penny. Somewhere after the time Penny met Ceese, she met Richard and fell in love with him. Details leak out slowly about hem, so I don't want to say too much. Suffice it to say that Richard bonded with her in a way he didn't with any other human, but there was no sexual encounters. This is one detail that I think is quite different from some of the other modern vampires; Sue Dent's vampires and werewolves apparently don't become aroused that way. Penelope has grown old while Richard hasn't changed, and as the story begins, she is quite feeble. Yet she has this telepathic ability and a few other supernatural ones as well (hey, remember, this IS fiction!). She seems to know things that others don't. Unlike Richard and Ceese, her emotions run deep and true. At some point in the past she also became a Christian, and her faith is strong. Her greatest desire is to see Richard and Ceese break free from their curses, to be redeemed. Thanks to Richard, Penny learned to use the computer and found a relative in New York, a "granddaughter" named Cassie Felts. She began corresponding with Cassie, discovered that the young woman was working with genetics and DNA, and had a fascination with vampires. After many email back and forth, Penny became convinced that the answer to breaking the curse lay with Cassie. Before her time was gone, she called Richard in to tell him all of her plan and push him to take Ceese to New York and meet with Cassie.

Cassie Felts

American college student, working as an assistant to a strange but brilliant DNA researcher. Not knowing any family at all, Cassie is overjoyed to hear from a grandmother in England, Penelope. Eventually she learns that Penelope shares her fascination with vampires. Even more than that, she knows one intimately. Her grandmother's notes make up an important part of Cassie's personal notes, since she knows very few other people will believe it. Cassie appears to be a rather brilliant student, a young woman of the 21st century who is fairly sure of herself and what she wants to do. Unfortunately, she is just a bit too trusting and shares too much with Dr. Henderson, the obsessed professor that she worked with. Cassie naively believes that Henderson wants to help people, as she does. She doesn't realize that this megalomaniac is searching for eternal youth.

Rodney

Rodney is Cassie's suitemate, and when he first appears in the novel, he is totally out for himself, even if it means selling information to get good grades. He had been passing Cassie's emails on to Dr. Henderson. Worse, he even conspired to waylay Richard and Ceese when they arrived, taking them to Dr. Henderson instead of Cassie's place. Amazingly, Ceese connected with Rodney (just how much she connected is kind of funny), and he started to change to a good guy as the action progressed. He and his two friends Josh (a hopeless drug addict) and Kyle provide some drama and humor in the second half of the book. Necessary minor characters that move the story along as well as providing some laughs and gasps.



I've mentioned Dr. Henderson, but since his role is mostly in the last section of the story, I don't want to write any spoilers, at least not more than I may have already. Let's just say he is the main nemesis, the great obstacle in the path for Ceese and Richard. Other characters that appear include Meredith and Julia Porter, Ceese's father and mother, who are essential to the tale. Zade is another werewolf, one who wants Ceese to come back with him, who lurks around the castle while Ceese is there.




OTHER NEW BLOGS TODAY:

On the main CFRB website, David Brollier has a wonderful discussion about the curse. I love how he applies it to all of us.

I missed one at Back to the Mountains, written by Stephen Rice. Interestingly enough, this one also has to do with the curse.

Melissa Meeks recorded her musings today at Bibliophile's Retreat.

Christian Mystery Writer



Although Never Ceese is available through other venues, we urge you to go to your local Barnes and Noble or order it through them online. If your local store doesn't have it onhand, they should be happy to order it for you.

Wanna Hear the Truth About Dallan and Shona??

In my opinion, a key ingredient for a great novel is well-developed characters. Without a doubt, Geralyn Beauchamp has created strong characters for Time Masters Book One: The Call. She has created a population that you come to know on a deep level; even some of the minor ones become familiar. Today I want to introduce you to these people. You’ll want to know them better.


Dallan MacDonald. The hero and main character of the novel. He has all the usual qualifications of a hero: handsome, rugged, strong, intelligent, ready to fight for the oppressed and weak. He has a soft spot for kids and treats women with respect, loves his family and his country, takes the roles of protector and leader seriously. Dallan is a fierce warrior but a kind and gentle friend. His major weaknesses are excessive pride, impatience and a tendency to flare up in anger much too quickly. Well, actually, his major flaw is a lack of trust and faith. He needs to develop these, especially faith in the will of the Creator God. Dallan was a MacDonald in Scotland in 1692, and he was pulled away during the Massacre at Glencoe, a true event that involved an edict from King John of England, The Campbells carried out the edict, killing all the MacDonalds in Glencoe. What haunts Dallan is his inability to save his little brother Alisdair; he hates the one who pulled him away too soon, and he blames himself constantly for not saving his brother. By the plan of the creator and in His supernatural ways, Dallan somehow came to know a little girl who bonded with him at that early age. In the dream of vision or whatever it was, he gave her his heart way back then. She still has his heart, and at the time of most of the action of the novel, he feels a tug from that heart, pulling him across time and space to that girl, now grown up. A large portion of the story revolves around his search for the Maiden and the need to rescue her. Until they come together, the pain of the separating increases to a horrible level, and the reader experiences the pain with Dallan.


Shona Elsay Wittard, aka The Maiden. This girl is purity itself, but as the reader meets her, she is terrified at physical experiences that she doesn’t understand coupled with troubling dreams. She is a very lovely girl who wakes up for these dreams and find her facial features are changing. When she looks in the mirror, it takes a few minutes until she looks normal again. And it gets worse and more frequent as time goes on. Is she crazy or is it really happening? Shona doesn’t want anyone else to see it, and she sure doesn’t want to tell anyone. The poor dear feels more alone than she ever has in her life. And the dreams...she is calling for someone, and sometimes she sees the boy from her long past dreams. Every time there is a great deal of pain, but it gets better when she sees the boy. Until it ends. When the pain starts, she often can stop it with music, even singing to herself. Now music is her life. She is an extremely gifted singer an musician; they have even set up a music room for her in the house. Her parents have provided for her very well, but she feels great loneliness. Her only friends are a girl named Kitty, her tutor Julia, and a part-time tutor named Tomy. Then there is a man named Philip, who hasn’t visited since she was a child, but there is some significant connection between him, her parents, and her tutor. Julia says that Shona likes Philip, but she has noticed that his name makes her parents blanch and look worried. Shona loves to spend time at the library. She has decided to trust Kitty enough to tell her about the strange dreams, but not the face changes.

Kwaku Awahnee. Kwaku is the present Time Master, a huge African (Azurti tribe) with a tremendous laugh, a laugh he expresses quite often, even when no one else feels like laughing. It was Kwaku that snatched Dallan from his own time and brought him to the future, 2688 to be exact. The novel is mostly told from ten years later, 2698, and during those ten years, Kwaku has been training Dallan to be the next Time Master. Not everyone agrees with Kwaku’s harsh methods of training. He never lets up on Dallan, and their combat sessions are brutal. Everyone else is afraid of him, but Dallan constantly stands up to him in order to protect the villagers. There is another side to Kwaku, however, one that astounds Dallan.

John Eaton, Lord Councilor. John Eaton is the twelfth Councilor who has been assigned to Dallan. He is a go-between from the Elders who make the decisions for the world population of the time. No one before him had been able to get inside Dallan’s thoughts and get to know him, but John is a little different. This is a man who loves his family and takes his job seriously. John loves God, believes in His will and plan, and believes that He hears and answers prayer. He feels the weight of the assignment and the great need for speedily bringing Dallan to a point where he is ready for his Divine appointment . Unlike the other councilors who preceded him, John is a man full of empathy and compassion, virtues that Dallan senses from the start. That starts a connection in which Dallan begins to open up a bit. John feels the pain, to an extent, that Dallan experiences, and with time he becomes quite close to him.

Lany Mosgofian is John Eaton’s assistant. Lany is much different in his behavior, although he is compassionate at heart. He, like John, is a devoted husband who misses his wife a great deal while on this assignment. He tends to be calmer, at least on the surface, most of the time, so he make a good partner for John. However, Lany does display a dry wit which sometimes forces comments at inappropriate times. There is some kind of connection for him with the Muirarans, but it is only hinted at.

Kitty Morgan is Shona’s best friend. Everyone else wonders why, and most of them cant stand to have her around. Kitty is an total airhead, a non-stop chatterbox, boy-crazy, and klutzy to boot. Her driving skills are terrifying. In spite of her obsession with guys, however, she is a virgin and intends to stay that way until marriage. When it comes to her friendship with Shona, Kitty is true blue and loyal to the end, even when it is a choice between Shona and her sister. As much as she is a chatterbox, she keeps the confidence that Shona shares with her about her dreams and such. Kitty would be an annoying person to have around, but she provides great comic relief. In one scene, especially, when they are a little armor shop. It seems that Kitty and her purse are too much for the little shop, as she knocks things over and breaks them with every move. In the novel, this scene is worthy of Lucille Ball.

Julia is a very odd character indeed, Shona’s overly controlling tutor. Shona’s parents seem to be afraid of her, and they let her pretty much run Shona’s life. Shona trusts her and dutiful obeys her, but here is something shady going on with her. Or is it just my imagination?

There is still a long list of characters with significant parts to play in the tale, but I am afraid I may have already gone on too long and lost some readers to boredom. I hope that’s not the case. In order to avoid spoilers, I left out a great deal. If any homeschoolers or Christian school teachers are reading, I hope you can see this book would be a good on for the characterizations alone.

Once more, I want to direct you to the main blog site for CFRB, where the blog tour for Time Masters continues, and other links are also provided.

Time Masters Book One: The Call by Geralyn Beauchamp
Published by Cold Tree Press 2007
Available through http://www.amazon.com, http://www.coldtreepress.com, and Barnes and Noble

author’s sites at http://www.geralynbeauchamp.com and http://www.shoutlife.com/TimeMasters