Character Spotlight ~ Trish Perry's Jeremy Beckett & Tiffany LeBoeuf

Today the spotlight shines on.........................Jeremy Beckett & Tiffany LeBeouf

Trish Perry writes with wit, compassion and lots of savvy! After featuring in The Guy I'm Not Dating and Too Good to be True, readers wanted to know what happened to Jeremy and Tiff, and Beach Dreams was born. Look for Trish's latest, Sunset Beach, in June, 2009.

Over to you, Trish:~

Brief physical description:

Jeremy Beckett:

Several times in Beach Dreams, as well as in The Guy I’m Not Dating and Too Good to Be True, other characters compared Jeremy’s looks to those of actor Jude Law. Jeremy’s a bit younger, with less curl in his hair, but he has those striking blue eyes, the cleft in the chin, and the ready smile. I always had Jude Law’s appearance in mind when writing Jeremy, although Jeremy’s a sweetheart and not a slick ladies’ man.

Tiffany LeBoeuf:

When I initially created Tiffany two books ago, she was the bad guy, and I wanted her to look sexy but hard. Since then she’s softened considerably, but in order to be true to the character as she was created, I had to stick with the actress I had in mind when I first wrote Tiffany. That would be Carmen Electra. Tiff has light auburn hair and ocean-blue eyes. She’s shapely but not so ready to show that off, now that she’s a good girl.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Jeremy is hungry for a loving relationship and has flitted from relationship to relationship in that search. In the book’s opening, he has a girlfriend, and he’s loyal and faithful to her. He’s a gentleman. But he’s a little clueless, sometimes, with regard to women (he is a guy, after all). He’s too trusting with pretty women and sometimes doesn’t zero in on certain circumstances that might be easily discerned by more socially savvy men. But you’ve got to love his naïveté.

Tiff has come from experience as a conniving, manipulative woman, so she’s quicker than Jeremy to suspect foul play. Her struggle is in trying to be true to her new, Christian self, trusting in God, and leaning on His guidance and protection. She struggles to avoid the lascivious ways of the old Tiff. She needs help from her friends to remember she’s a new creation, loved by Christ and worthy of the love of a good man.

Quirk (if any):

Tiff occasionally reads the lips of strangers in public places, which Jeremy thinks is great fun.

Your inspiration for the characters:

Way back when I wrote The Guy I’m Not Dating, I wanted my heroine to have a small group of good friends with whom she would get together socially and work out her “issues.” All of the friends were women, except for one guy. I wanted him to be attractive, heterosexual, and genuinely interested in discussing the lives of his female friends (and vice versa). I thought Jeremy’s input would be a nice balance to all the female banter. At the time I didn’t imagine him as a future lead. It wasn’t until Too Good to Be True, when a critique partner suggested Jeremy as a possible romantic distraction for that book’s heroine, that he became a lot more interesting!

Tiff was similar, in that she was simply a vehicle for conflict at first. But she developed into a more complex character as the first story developed. Eventually I was so eager to write a book with her in the lead.

Background to the story:

While I worked on Too Good to Be True, I became enamored of Jeremy’s genuine charm and kindness. I thought about all of my secondary characters from my first two books and wondered if there might be a future love in there for him. Tiffany popped right out when I considered her. Other than the fact that she was physically attractive, she seemed completely opposite to what Jeremy liked in a woman. I loved the challenge of how those two might grow together. I felt only God could make them work out, so I went back into Too Good to Be True and brought our girl to Christ. Tiff and Jeremy’s relationship was one of my favorite to engineer!

Thanks Trish ~ everyone is looking forward to hitting that beach house again in June!

On Thursday, I am spotlighting T L Higley's Tessa, from the brilliant Shadow of Colossus - don't miss it!

Relz Reviewz Extras

Review of Beach Dreams

Visit Trish's website

Buy Trish's books at Amazon or Koorong