Character spotlight ~ Janice Hanna's Belinda Bauer & Georg Kaufman

Today the spotlight shines on............................Belinda Bauer & Georg Kaufman


Janice Hanna, who also writes as Janice Thompson, is an author for all tastes! Writing contemporary and historical fiction, always flavoured with humour, her books are enjoyable and entertaining.

Enjoy this look into her characters from Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas.

Over to you , Janice:~

Brief physical description

Belinda Bauer is tall blonde with a nice figure. She doesn’t see herself a beautiful, but others do.

Think Drew Barrymore

Georg Kaufman is tall with dark wavy hair and a dark mustache. Because he’s the town barber, he keeps himself very tidy/well-groomed.

Think Zachary Quinto.

Strengths and weaknesses

Belinda sometimes gets ahead of the Lord. She’s got her heart set on bringing brides to the town of Poetry and tries to pair up the incoming ladies with the town’s men, but she often gets it wrong!

Georg’s most obvious weakness would be that he can’t see what’s right in front of him. He works on one side of the street, Belinda on the other. He needs to “cross the Jordan” to get to the Promised Land. And he needs to be courageous enough to tell her that he’s not looking to be matched up with a potential/incoming bride because he’s already in love. . .with her!

Quirk (if any)

Belinda is the best arm wrestler in the county

Georg is a poet (but doesn’t know it)!

Your inspiration for the character/s.

I’d always wanted to write a bumbling matchmaker story, so coming up with Belinda’s character just came naturally. I saw her as someone with a great heart and pure motives, but someone who (often) jumped out ahead of the Lord!

As for Georg, I needed a leading man who was a little on the “shy” side. Georg, the town barber, just fit the bill. One of the things that inspired me with both of these characters was a trip I took to a small town called Wimberly, Texas. While there, I went to visit a little “ghost-town” (think Universal Studios). The photos from that visit were the inspiration for the town, which (in turn) inspired me to craft the perfect characters!

To see the photos, visit my book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJYzbwQeZ18

Background to the story

The way this story came to be written is actually kind of funny/quirky. I was in a terrible accident in 2007 (shattered my ankle, which required two surgeries and lots of metal plates/screws)! While recovering I had a lot of free time on my hands. (I couldn’t really go anywhere, so I had plenty of time to write!) At that time, I put together the proposal for this story (originally titled Mis-Matchmaker), which I submitted to another publisher. I was sure they would pick it up, and when they did not, I was devastated!

Shortly thereafter, I was put in touch with Rachel Meisel, editor at Summerside, (which was a brand new line at that time). When I saw that she was looking for a story set in Poetry, Texas, I replied, “Oh! I have a story that will work for that town!” I pulled out my Mis-Matchmaker proposal and dusted it off, tweaking the story to work with the poetic theme. And because I’m a native Texan, setting it so near my home was icing on the cake! Rachel loved the story idea. . .and the rest is history!

Great background to the story, Janice - thanks for sharing :)

On Thursday, I will be spotlighting Maureen Lang's Juliette Toussaint and Charles Lassone from Look to the East. You will get to see some pictures from Maureen's research trip to France.

Relz Reviewz Extras

Visit Janice's website

Character spotlight on Janice's Bella & DJ from Fools Rush In

Visit Summerside Press' Love Finds You website

Buy Janice's books at Amazon or Koorong