Suspense

Character Sketch: Jake from Protection @linda_rettstatt #RLFblog #suspense

Protection 

About the Book

Title Protection
Genre Romantic Suspense
Author Linda Rettstatt
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG13
Jake Garber is a new man after being placed in the witness protection
program pending a Federal child-trafficking case in which he’s a witness. Shannon
Chase is the identity stolen by a young woman escaping her past to protect her child.
A foggy night, a hairpin turn, and a car crash throw Jake and Shannon into one another’s
lives where each struggles to protect a secret.

Buy This Book

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Protection-Linda-Rettstatt-ebook/dp/B00IXXBMSU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397319661&sr=8-1&keywords=Linda+Rettstatt

About the Character

Name: Jake Garber
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Birthplace: New
York State
Profession: Carpenter
Ethnicity/Species (if not human):
Describe his/her body
build, skin tone, height and weight. Include any unique features such as dimples,
freckles, or scars:
Jake is tall and lean, with dark brown hair that creeps
over his shirt collar. He is tanned from working outdoors.
Who is the significant
other in your character’s life?
Shannon Chase – a woman who literally crashed into his life along
with her three month old daughter.
What special skills does
your character rely on?
Jake learned carpentry from his father and grandfather and relies
on those skills now to support himself.
What does he have a knack
for doing?
Taking care of other people.
Does this character see
morality as black-and-white, or with shades of gray?
His once well-defined views on morality are challenged and shift
because of his forced exile into witness protection and his growing attraction to
Shannon.
If someone from your character’s
past showed up, who would he most want it to be, and why? OR who would he most NOT
want it to be, and why?
He would not be happy to see Lou Crowley–the former priest who
is now trying to kill him.
Can your hero keep a secret?
If not, why not? If yes, why?
Jake is a walking secret. In his former life as Father Steve
Avery, he became a key witness in a child-trafficking case. With two of the suspects
still on the loose, Father Steve was placed in witness protection, living now as
Jake Garber in the Pacific Northwest.
What inner doubt causes
your character the most difficulty?
After having Shannon Chase and her baby come into his life, Jake
is seriously doubting his original call to the priesthood. He struggles with his
feelings of betrayal by the Church and his sense of belonging with Shannon and Bailey.
What is your character’s
biggest need at the beginning of the story?
Jake needs to protect his identity while trying to help Shannon
and her infant daughter, Bailey. He risks letting this woman into his home and his
heart.
What is your hero’s biggest
hopes and dreams?
He begins to realize a longing for his own family, something
he can never have if he returns to the priesthood when the Federal case is resolved.
What is your hero’s breaking
point?
When he begins to doubt that Shannon
has been honest with him.
Who in his life has the
power to hurt this character the most? Why?
Shannon. Because he has fallen
in love with her.

Bonus: Questions for you to ask your character.

Jake, what is your favorite
meal?
Give me a nice thick steak, medium rare and an ice cold beer
and I’m happy.
When you went into the
Witness Protection Program, you had to take on a new line of work. You chose carpentry.
Why?
My grandfather was a master carpenter. And woodworking is my
dad’s hobby. I learned from them and enjoy creating things that will mean something
to people for generations to come.
What drives you in life?
The desire to do something meaningful, something that makes a
difference.

About Your Writer: Questions for your character to answer about you.

Why do you think your
writer chose to write about you?
Well, it’s not every day you meet a priest in the witness protection
program. I guess my story intrigued her. That along with the varied possibilities
of how everything could turn out.
What do you wish your
writer had not told others about you?
That I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to weaponry. I rely on
my Louisville Slugger for self-defense.
Was there anything your
writer discovered about you that was a surprise to one or both of you?
Yep. We were both surprised by the intensity of my attraction
to Shannon.
When your writer is writing about you, what do you think makes
your writer the most happy?
She just loved digging into my emotions. Someone should tell
her us guys aren’t too fond of that. And she just couldn’t keep her nose out of
the relationship I have with Shannon. She
was gleefully determined to get the two of us together.
What makes your writer
the most sad?
Even though my story has a happy ending, I know Linda was sad
to write those last two words. I think she enjoyed being in my company. (Maybe I’ll
have to whisper another story line in her ear some day.)
Why do you think your
writer loves to write?
She’s a story teller, that’s for sure. She seemed to thoroughly
enjoy dragging the fine details of my life and my struggles out of me. If she weren’t
a writer, she’d make a pretty good therapist. Or a sadist, since she managed to
put me into a few heart-stopping situations.

About the Author

Linda Rettstatt likes to know what makes people tick and she
loves a good story. This combination fuels her passion for creating stories that
capture your mind and touch your heart. Her writing garnered the 2012 EPIC eBook
Award in Mainstream Fiction for her novel Love, Sam. Linda grew up in SW Pennsylvania
and suffers a bout of homesickness every October when she thinks of the fall leaves
and trails at her beloved Ohiopyle
State Park. She now lives
in NW Mississippi with her cat, Binky, who only allows her to share the apartment
because she brings home the Fancy Feast.

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