I'm going to start this year off with a little different approach to help you understand your characters...an interview with them. I love doing these, so today, you will meet Jenna Kastle from "Unanticipated Consequence - a Second Chance".
I’m Jenna Kastle, owner and Marketing Director
of a New York Advertising company, First & Foremost. When we first meet,
I’m on my way to give a presentation to a Boston based architectural firm that’s
looking for a new marketing campaign.
Ten years ago, I became engaged to my college
sweetheart. He enlisted in the Air Force after graduation where his first tour
was Afghanistan. He was a fighter pilot. I hadn’t heard from him for six weeks
when he called, broke our engagement… no reason given. He shattered my heart. I left Boston for New
York where I started my own marketing company and here I am returning to Boston
for the first time to give this presentation.
I think you should know that I’m tough but have a soft heart. The other thing you should know is that I don’t think I ever stopped loving him.
2. What do you think about the author? Tell us everything. We want to know.
What I love about Judi is that she writes like a painter. By
that I mean, you can see and feel everything around you as you read my story. She
lets you see Boston at Christmas and Vermont with its iced over lake. Someone
once said, you are actually in her character’s shoes. She knows and understands
her characters inside and out. She places me in an untenable situation where I unexpectedly
come face to face with the man who broke my heart. She of course creates him
as irresistible as ever even ten years later – tall, dark and handsome as they say. Throughout
this book, she creates a whirlwind of situations, which drive me crazy - loving
him, hating him and loving him again. She forces us together even though I
fight her at every step. Nevertheless, she wins because she’s the author. When
you experience her story, you will never want to put this book down. You and I
will know each other very well. I overheard
someone tell her it was her best story yet. I loved being her main female
character.
What’s truly amazing about Judi is her background; her degrees are in mathematics and physics with advanced degree in Computer Engineering, not fiction writing. But she has studied her craft well at FAU and worked with author Heidi Jon Schmidt at 24 PEARL STREET, Provincetown, MA. She does that with everything she tackles.
3. What are your feelings about this story?
As I said earlier, this is a story that you don’t want to put down and you also don’t want it to end. My character is challenging because I try to stay away from Brett but Judi throws us together constantly. She tosses in a little intrigue with a new character who seems interested in me but also seems interested in Brett’s business. Of course, he has a character interested in him, a French woman. I’m not happy about that situation. The many twists and turns, up and downs, keep you turning pages for sure.
4. How do you feel about being a character in this book?
As I said earlier, I loved being Jenna in this story. I’m multi-faceted, tough, soft, smart, crafty… all the things a reader wants to see and feel in a character. And I love the face-off with Brett. And Judi also has another male character, Luke, my current boyfriend… well, maybe you should read that part.
5. What do you see in
your future? (No spoilers please!)
Will I get back with Brett? That’s a very hard decision for me to make because trust has been broken. Can I ever trust him again? I don’t know.
6. Is there Sequel
/another book in the future? Will you be part of it?
There will be no sequel. When this story ends, it’s over. BUT, I do know Judi has just finished the draft of a new story with a new character, Sabrina. Now she would make an interesting interview… or maybe her ancestor would too.
7. Say a movie
producer comes knocking. What actor/actress would you want to play you and why?
Well, I’m hoping that a movie producer comes knocking. I
originally was in the published novella, Broken Christmas Promise. A producer
was interested in my and Brett’s character interaction but the novella didn’t
really tell our entire story. Their guidance was to write a more involved story
so Judi wrote this book in order to tell our entire story.
Who would I want to play me? I would really have to have
guidance with that. There are so many wonderful young female actors who could
take on my part – Hailee Steinfeld, Chloe Moretz, Sophie Turner… I can’t wait
to see who plays me!
Thank you Jenna. I enjoyed this time together very much.
Thank you...so did I.
Let me know if you enjoyed this interview and I'll do another...maybe Sabrina from my new novel, "Treacherous Waters".
Again - Happy and healthy new year.
Till, Judi
