Meet the Characters

When I write a full-length novel, each character has a history and traits that may or may not appear in the book. In order to make a character come to life in the pages, I have to know about their life outside of my books. Would you like to know more and meet the characters who live between the pages of my stories? Read on... 

Heroine: Lacy Dahl

Age: 43

Description: Lacy's eyes are a remarkable light green shade. Her hair is ebony and falls below her shoulder blades. She's 5'7" and weighs 135 pounds. She is half Hopi Indian and half Austrian.

Characteristics and Personality Traits: She has a habit of lifting a tendril of hair and brushing it along her chin when she's deep in thought. Her preference is for "real" things such as ceramic over paper, real stones and metals in her jewelry and leather over plastic. She is happy, self-assured, independent and responsible.

Background (not all of this is in the book): She was born in Flagstaff, Arizona. An airplane crash killed both her parents when she was a few months old. Her foster parents eventually adopted her, and she was raised in Phoenix. Her childhood was normal. In high school, she excelled academically and was Homecoming Queen two years in a row. Her college degree was earned at the University of California in San Francisco where she met her husband. She married and had two children. At the time of her husband's death, three years before the story opens, she was a pharmacist, and he was a surgeon. She left her profession after he died and bought a coffee cafe, naming it the Lacy Latte. Her love life has been non-existent, too busy taking care of her sick mother and the cafe.

Additional Information: She drives a crimson red BMW Z4, convertible. She runs every morning then changes into jeans and filmy blouses and expensive shoes before going to the cafe. She has a special closet just for shoes. She practices yoga twice a week and has recently talked her friend Phoebe into going to the classes with her. Her son is at a chef school in Paris, and her daughter owns an art gallery in Tucson, Arizona. Lacy worries about her because she is going through a divorce.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: She has a special closet just for shoes. She practices yoga twice a week and has recently talked her friend Phoebe into going to the classes with her.

Hero: Sheriff Chance Meadowlark

Age: 41

Description: Chance is 5’11” and weighs 205 pounds. He is ¼ Hopi and ¾ mixed Caucasian heritage. His hair is dark brown with very subtle streaks of gold, and long enough to do a ponytail with Indian type binding.

Characteristics and Personality Traits: He’s soft spoken with a serious demeanor. There is a scar on his chin. He sees himself as a protector, but always uses words first. Has the ability to calm people with his voice.

Background (not all of this is in the book): His family owns a ranch in Chino Valley, but he didn’t want to ranch much to the chagrin of his father. His twin brother, Mason, runs the ranch with their father. When he attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, he decided to major in law enforcement and became a policeman. He married a woman from Flagstaff when he was only twenty-one and had one daughter.  

Additional Information: When he’s not in uniform, he favors Tee shirts and jeans with cowboy boots or sandals. He owns a black and silver Harley Davidson motorcycle. He has one daughter in college.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: He’s concerned about the next election and the man who will run against him. (Note: I figured he had enough problems without bringing this into the story.)

Heroine: Phoebe Anderson

Age: 39

Description: Phoebe has cobalt blue eyes, very long blonde hair that is laced with gray. She normally wears her hair in a braid. She’s not slim at 145 pounds and 5’5”. Her Norwegian heritage makes her very fair.

Characteristics and Personality: Her favorite exclamation is Judas Priest. She’s constantly on the move to the point of being fidgety. She’s extremely artistic, outgoing, and funny. A tattoo of a hummingbird adorns the area above her right breast.

Background (not all of this is in the book): Born in Rochester, MN, she decided to get out of the cold her second year at the University of Minnesota and transferred to Arizona State University. She married one of her professors but divorced him after one year because he was a chronic cheater. She has no children. Her breakout novel was a book that killed off her husband. Her parents were hippies that met at Woodstock.

Additional Information: Phoebe favors long flowing skirts, gauzy tops, and lots of jewelry.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: The hummingbird was tattooed by a man she dated. The name of the pure essential oil she wears is Holland and Barrett Lavender. She practiced yoga with her best friend Lacy until Lacy moved away. It was the only exercise she did. She loves sweets and dates artsy types.

Hero: Mason Meadowlark

Age: 42

Description: His eyes are coppery brown, his hair short and blond. He’s 5’11”, weighs 205. He’s big, although not well-defined muscles but solid.

Characteristics and Personality: Mason has a good sense of humor and always has a smile for you. He appears much easier going than his twin brother, Chance. He walks with a swagger. Ranching is everything to him.

Background (not all of this is in the book): He attended college for three years in Prescott, AZ, but was more interested in getting back to hands on ranching, especially since his brother Chance (from book one-see his profile) didn’t come back to ranching. He married his high school sweetheart.

Additional Information: He’s a modern cowboy who relies more on his truck and ATV than his horse. He has a playboy reputation to cover his hurt from his failed marriage. His mother died of cancer. He’d be happy if his father and Margie married.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: He always placed first or second in his competition at the local rodeos, but lost interest when his marriage collapsed. He spent more time in bars and partying. He’s dated every crowned Rodeo Queen since. He’s an avid reader.

Heroine: August Myer

Age: 23

Description: August is ¼ Hopi, ¼ Austrian, and from her father she is a mix of German, French, and English. She has strange brown eyes. The brown iris is enclosed in a ring of green. She has dark brown hair that just touches her shoulders with the lower ends tipped lighter. At 5’6”, she is fit, small chested, round hips with great calves. Her skin tone is medium. She usually wears several necklaces, has two earrings on her left ear and three on the right. She likes to mix her stones. She prefers layered T shirts, goes braless, with short denim skirts and leather sandals. 

Characteristics and Personality: She has a crooked smile. She’s a tough, young woman who like to get edgy and try dangerous things.

Background (not all of this is in the book): August is Lacy Dahl’s daughter. Her father is dead and when her adoptive grandparents died, she encouraged her mother to seek out information about her birth grandparents. She doesn’t trust authority, especially cops. As a teen, she was arrested for drug possession (first time to try marijuana) and a cop with attitude scared. She’s newly divorced from an unscrupulous husband that could’ve cost her the art gallery she owns in Tucson, Arizona. 

Additional Information: Her father called her unusual eye color (brown with a ring of green around the iris) a ring of fire she got from her mother who has startling green eyes. She smells like honey.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: Her mother thinks the night of her arrest was the one and only time she smoked marijuana. It was her first time, but after that night, she indulged more often. She was prepared to blackmail her husband if he wouldn’t give up all rights to the art gallery when they divorced. Besides not wearing a bra, she often skips undies too.

Hero: Inspector Tobias Wolf

Age: 39

Description: Tobias is 6’1”, weighs 200, and is ruggedly muscular. His hair is brown, full, and longish over the tops of his ears. His eyes are the color of toasted almonds. His skin tone if between medium and dark. He wears finely cut suits when working, but even when not working he is stylish if not a bit formal.

Characteristics and Personality: When August compares him to Sean Connery’s James Bond, she nailed it, except for his attitude toward women. He’s thoughtful and monogamous to a fault

Background (not all of this is in the book): Tobias has been too busy to marry. Although he had a couple of almost serious relationships, his work always came first. His job as inspector is busy, but it’s his passion to stomp out neo-Nazism that consumes all his spare time. His grandfather was a Nazi, and he is appalled at that heritage. He won’t live in his parents’ castle estate because he feels it is tainted by his grandfather’s actions. If he can even the score, he might consider joining them there again.  

Additional Information: His aftershave smells like sandalwood and cardamom. His drink of choice is Remy Martin X.O.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: He was an athlete in college who played hockey. He has a playboy reputation which is unfounded if you know him. The townspeople assume this because he is often seen at big affairs, making the newspaper, with beautiful women, but he does not live the life. He attends these functions because it is a necessity due to his status in the community.

Heroine: Penny Sparks…Real Name: Jianna Ricci…Nickname: the Black Fairy

Age: If you know her as Penny, she’s 33. But, in truth, Jianna is 30.

Description: Penny is Italian. She has very dark brown eyes and shoulder-length dyed black hair. Her natural hair color is a dark auburn. She’s 5’2” and leans toward the thin side. Her skin tone is olive. Her top lip turns up a bit, giving her a vulnerable and innocent appearance. She favors black and white clothes.

Characteristics and Personality: This feisty survivor is extremely independent. She is blessed with a photographic memory, although she thinks it’s sometimes a curse. Her favorite saying is “get over it.”

Background (not all of this is in the book): When she was 18, her parents, Myah and Larenz Ricci and her brother, John, were murdered. Her father was senior counsel in the legal department and a senior VP for Westingly, Inc. They lived in Red Rock, NV. Jianna was doing an internship at Westingly, Inc. when her supervisor, Angie Blanton discovered some inconsistencies. This led to Blanton’s disappearance and her family’s murders. Jianna went on the run and has been hiding in Flagstaff, Arizona for thirteen years.

Additional Information: She doesn’t normally wear perfume, but does occasionally use sweet grass oil (native American) in her bath water. The scent is somewhere between flowery and woodsy. She drives a 2000 Dodge Neon. (deep cranberry pearl) which Jake calls it eggplant.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: When she went into hiding, she bought a car from a lot her father specified that would take cash without questions. It was used and had a coconut air freshener hanging from the mirror that made her nauseous. Scared she might never see her parents again, or worse yet they were dead, she put the radio station on a country station to distract her by making fun of the lyrics. In Flagstaff, she checked into the hotel that she would one day work at as the night manager.

Hero: Jake Winters
Age: 39
Description: Jake’s eyes are smoky gray. He sports a closely cropped beard that is dark auburn like his hair. Slightly longish, his hair tends to curl on the ends. He’s 5’10”, solidly built but not overly muscular. He possesses long legs for his height and a nice round bottom. His complexion is fair. His style of dress is jeans, T shirts, and Doc Martin boots.
Characteristics and Personality: As if listening to a song in his head,  he taps his thumbs when idle. When amused, he throws his head to the right with a wide smile. Not prone to swearing, he does use the word “bugger” often. He’s a peaceful man, even somewhat wholesome, who got off on the wrong path when he became caught up in near fame as a rock and roll star.
Background (not all of this is in the book): He was busted for possession of cocaine while on tour along the east coast of the United States. He was placed in a rehab facility for six months and he’s now been out for six months. The last year of his rock career, his manager robbed the band blind while Jake was high on drugs and alcohol. The band was spiraling downward anyway. His best friend and drummer in the band, Ian, was also an addict. After he got out of rehab, he got into construction setting tile, but his boss isn’t paying on time. He hasn’t had contact with his parents in three years. His sister Mandy had been in touch but when she turned her back on him, he turned to rehab.

Additional Information: His sister, Mandy, has always been his best friend. His drink of choice during his rock days was Chopin Vodka. He learned his tile setting skills from his father during summer breaks in high school.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: The attention he received as a rock and roll star scared him more than fed his ego. He didn’t know how to handle it. His best friend, Ian, was his accomplice in all things wild. They fed the worst in each other. But Ian wasn’t there when he was arrested. He’s worried about his friend, but through counseling, knows he needs to stay away from him until he is firmly secure in his sobriety. He fears Ian is not sober.

Heroine: Laura Jane Katz

Age: 26

Description: Laura’s eyes are grass green. They are wide set giving her a vulnerable appearance. Her hair is blonde and falls onto her shoulders. She's 5'4", petite and slender with shapely legs. She’s fair-skinned.

Characteristics and Personality Traits: Laura is fiercely independent. She’s quick to anger and tends to be on the defensive. She comes off as easy-going because she has an excellent sense of humor, and she’s easy to talk to.

Background (not all of this is in the book): She was born in Long Beach, California and never knew her father. Her mother was most likely a drug user when Laura was young, although Laura never actually saw her using. During her childhood, her mother had a string of worthless boyfriends. One of them finally stuck. Harmon was an alcoholic and abusive. He enjoyed spanking Laura. Her mother turned a blind eye; he paid the bills and was dominating. She took up running to stay gone from the house. One day, when she was seventeen, he hit her and she struck back. When her mother told her to leave Harmon alone, Laura left. She lived with a friend until she graduated. She received a scholarship to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. While there, she met Clark Katz and became pregnant. She dropped out of school, married Clark, and had a miscarriage. She went to work. Clark turned out to be a cheating loser. He embarked on a life of crime and drugs. He plays a part in book one along these lines. She divorced him and left Flagstaff when he was due to get out of prison.

Additional Information: It’s spring so she wears sleeveless tight Tee shirts, or button-up cotton sleeveless shirts and tailored shorts. No jewelry. She will wear cotton skirts if the event requires a dress.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: She had to make her own breakfast and get herself to school from the time she was in first grade. Frugal to the point of stinginess, she saves most of her money and spends very little on herself. With others she is much more generous. Her favorite color is white. 

Hero: Randall Raphael Silva (Randy)

Age: 41

Description: Randy is 6’4” and weighs 220. He has light brown eyes and hair, cropped short, that could be called chestnut. His eyes are moss green. His complexion looks perpetually tan.

Characteristics and Personality Traits: He’s soft spoken and keeps his emotions close. There is no doubt he is strong both physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Background (not all of this is in the book): He was born and raised in Argentina to a Gaucho (Argentine cowboy) and an American woman. His mother had been a tourist in Argentina, met his father, and never went home. When he was fifteen, his father was thrown from a horse at a rodeo and died. His mother, brother, and sister moved back to Arizona. His brother was only seven at the time and his sister was ten. They were so young they didn’t have the strong tie to ranching and horses that Randy did. They still live in Tucson, Arizona. He went to Northern Arizona University for a degree in wildlife management. After two summers working for the Meadowlarks on their ranch, he quit school to ranch fulltime. He became their foreman. He married a cowgirl who died four years into their marriage. He’s been a loner ever since. He eventually bought Margie’s (from book two and this one) ranch.  

Additional Information: He’s cowboy all the way wearing jeans, boots, and western shirts. He occasionally trades his boots and jeans for sandals and shorts.

What Definitely Isn’t In The Book: As a teen, he had a hot temper. His father’s death was very hard on him. He and his father were the closest of the children. As a boy, he’d rather be with his father than other children. Horses and ranching were his form of play. When his mother moved him to Tucson and the city, he had trouble adapting. Fist fights were not uncommon to his nature. By the time he graduated high school, he’d mellowed some, and had a few close friends. His good looks and bad boy ways made him popular with the girls.