Character Spotlight ~ Serena Miller's Rachel Troyer & Joe Matthews

Rachel & Joe

Serena Miller has intrigued me with the description of her characters in an obviously Amish novel. You will soon see her characters are not of the bonnet set! I'm looking forward to seeing where her story leads and hope you are, too!

Over to you, Serena:~

Brief physical description

Sugarcreek police officer, Rachel Troyer, never wanted to be anything except a cop—just like her dad. She’s a straight-talking, athletic woman who wears her hair pulled back in no-nonsense pony tail while watching over the inhabitants of the town she is sworn to protect.

Here is a link to the picture of “Rachel” that was my inspiration.

Copyright ~ Tyson Crosbie

Strengths and weaknesses

A beating she took while trying to protect a mother and child from a domestic violence situation, put her into the hospital for several weeks. When the story opens, she’s still trying to get her nerve back--while trying to pretend all is well. She’s an interesting mix of bravado, fear-- and absolute bravery when she has to protect someone she loves.

Quirk

She admires and longs for the social network of the Amish, the tight knit religious order which her father left, but she can’t imagine giving up her car or her gun. Like so many non-Amish people in the Sugarcreek area, she always feels like she’s on the outside looking in.

Your inspiration for the character

When I went to do research in the village of Sugarcreek, Ohio, there was a woman police officers taking care of the miniscule police station. She was kind enough to talk with me about her job and some of the interesting situations in which she had found herself when dealing with the local Amish.

Physical description of Joe Matthews

Picture Russell Crowe with wild hair to his shoulders and a full beard, dressed in deliberately tattered clothes.

To Rachel, Joe is obviously on the run. The question is, from whom? When his truck breaks down in Sugarcreek, he’s forced to beg shelter for himself and his four-year-old son within an Amish Inn, which is owned by Rachel’s three elderly Amish aunts. Rachel is suspicious of this penniless stranger, whose cultured voice and good manners are at odds with his scruffy, homeless appearance.

Strengths and weakness

Joe's wife was a recent murder victim of an unknown assailant. His little boy, his only child, has become Joe’s whole life. The desire to protect his son has propelled Joe on a cross-country trek that is wearing both of them out. His fierce love for his son worries Rachel, because she wonders to what lengths Joe would go to care for him. Would it include robbing the elderly Amish aunts she adores?

Quirk

Joe uses his fork and knife in a style usually practiced only by Europeans. This is noted by Rachel, who wonders where the man is truly from.

My inspiration for the character

Strangely enough, Elvis Presley. The image of him renting out an amusement park so he could take his little girl on the rides without having to deal with fans, has always haunted me. It seemed such a lonely, joyless experience. Joe Matthews turns out to be a very famous man who is being hounded by the press and his own fans. He’s chosen to hit the back roads of the country to try to hide—growing a beard and moving constantly.

Background to the story

I took that thought—the way our country hounds anyone who has the slightest bit of fame—and ran with it. I also saw parallels between what they have to deal with and the constant curiosity and rude questions the Amish deal with daily. I threw in a suspense element to keep people turning pages.

Serena ~ thanks for sharing about your characters. It's been great to have you here at Relz Reviewz :)

On Monday the spotlight shines on Julie Lessman's Katie O'Connor and Cluny McGee with a signed and personalised copy of one of Julie's books up for grabs!

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