Author Spotlight: Romance Author Jana Richards Is Here!

I’m so happy to welcome my fellow Word Wrangler, Jana Richards to the Spotlight today!

When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily-ever-after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal.

When not writing up a storm or dealing with dust bunnies, Jana can be found pursuing hobbies such as golf (which she plays very badly) or reading (which she does much better).

Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren and a senior calico cat named Layla. You can reach her through her website at http://www.janarichards.com

Her newest novel, I’ll Be Seeing You is book 1 in her Twice in A Lifetime Series–a WWII, time travel, second-chance-at-love romance.

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Secondary Characters in the Twice in a Lifetime Series

I’ve populated the three books of the Twice in a Lifetime series with a bevy of secondary characters. But even though they’re labeled as secondary, I like to believe they are interesting, fully formed individuals who have important contributions to make to the stories being told.

Take, for instance, Ellen Arnason. She’s the mother of Gabriel Daniels, the series’ main character. Ellen is vibrant, creative and a little eccentric. She’s also bipolar, and though Gabriel doesn’t suffer from the same disease, it affected him every day growing up. Even as an adult, Gabriel is constantly alert for any sign that Ellen’s hard-won normalcy may be slipping away. Here’s a scene from I’ll Be Seeing You where we first meet Ellen:

The door to his office burst open, crashing against the wall. His mother swept in. She wore a flowing caftan in a colorful print, her long, graying hair in a messy top-knot. As she limped toward him, Gabriel realized the heel of one of her shoes was broken.

His heart lurched. Was she off her meds? She’d been doing so well for so long. If she was having a manic episode, anything could happen. She could have been hit by a bus, or mugged, or taken advantage of in a hundred different ways.

“Hello, sweetheart!” she said, embracing him. “It’s so good to see you.”

He held her tightly. She felt like a tiny bird fluttering in his arms. Had she lost weight since the last time he’d seen her?

Though he’s now an adult, Gabriel can’t let go of his experiences from childhood when he’d been thrust into adult roles he wasn’t ready for. He loves his mother and fiercely wants to protect her, but a part of him resents her, too:

He remembered times when her illness had overwhelmed her, and she’d embarrassed him as a teenager. Like the time he forgot his lunch and she showed up at his school at noon with a huge bag of food containing an entire loaf of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Even worse, she smelled bad. When in the grip of one of her manic episodes, she’d paint without stopping, sometimes going days without sleeping or bathing. The kids had teased him mercilessly. It wasn’t fair, he’d thought then. He was just a kid. She was supposed to look after him, not the other way around.

Gabriel has been looking after his mother’s affairs for so long that he’s forgotten she has opinions and ideas. When he hires Sloane to arrange a gallery opening for her artwork, she asks Ellen what she wants:

“Tell me your thoughts about the gallery opening, Ellen. What sort of event do you want it to be?”

His mother looked surprised to be asked. He’d done all the planning for the opening so far, informing her of details once they were confirmed, but not really thinking about what she wanted. For years, since before he’d been in his teens, he’d looked after his mother’s affairs – paying bills, arranging her medical care – because she was often unable to do it for herself. It hadn’t occurred to him to take her wishes for the gala opening into consideration.

Gabriel has a lot of lessons to learn in this series. His mother is one of the people who will help him learn those lessons.

I’ll Be Seeing You

When apprentice angel Gabriel takes Frank back in time for a second chance at love, they both learn lessons about trust.

Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniel’s first assignment in his quest to become a full-fledged angel is to give WW2 veteran, Frank Brennan, a second chance at love. With help from his mentor, senior angel Thomas, Gabriel takes Frank back to 1944 to Plymouth, England. There, Frank made his biggest mistake with love. He fell in love with Claire Cartwright, but when he found her kissing another man, he ended their relationship, despite Claire’s insistence that things weren’t as they appeared. This time around, Gabriel’s task is to convince Frank to trust in Claire’s love and fidelity, despite the evidence against her.

At the same time, Thomas takes Gabriel on a journey through his relationship with Sloane, the love of his mortal life. For the first time, Gabriel sees how his jealousy and distrust tainted their love.

Unless Gabriel persuades Frank to trust Claire, his goal of becoming a citizen of Heaven is doomed, along with his desire to watch over his mother and brother back on Earth. Frank has a complicated history that Gabriel must help him confront before either of them gets what they need.

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Excerpt 

            “There you are, walking across the dance floor toward Claire.”

“We’re so young,” Frank whispered. “And she’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” Gabriel agreed. “You look very handsome in your uniform, too. See how all the young women stare at you as you walk across the dance floor? But you don’t seem to notice any of them. You only have eyes for Claire.”

Frank sagged against his pillow. “Yes.”

“Do you remember what you said to her that night?”

“No.”

“Listen.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Frank’s younger self asked as they danced.

Claire smiled up at him, her eyes shining with amusement. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“You do now,” young Frank said with a cocky grin.

Claire laughed. “You’ve decided that, have you? All on your own? Do I get any say in the matter?”

Frank gazed into Claire’s eyes. “No, none at all.”

“You dated a lot of girls before the war, didn’t you, Frank?” Visions of Frank with a succession of young women raced through Gabriel’s mind. “You were a good-looking kid and girls gravitated to you. But you’d never experienced anything like this before, did you? Like you’d die if you couldn’t hold her in your arms and kiss her. Like you’d cease to exist if she turned you away.”

On the screen, Claire shook her head. “What an arrogant Yank you are.” But she continued to dance with Frank, smiling up into his eyes.

“You fell in love with Claire that night on the dance floor, and your world changed forever.”