Years ago (and still applies today), the experts were telling fiction writers that in order to really know their main character, they must come up with a character profile sheet for them and definitely applies to all your characters as well. This is a good practice because once you know all the ins and outs of all your characters, the book flows better and allows the author to get inside the head of each of their characters.
We decided to ask authors if they would like to come up with a character sketch of their main character, throwing in a few unique questions to make it really fun!
Today we have Maria J. Andrade stopping by on her blog tour with a character sketch of her main character, Eva. Enjoy!
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Learn more about Eva!
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Name of Character: Eva
Alisio
Age: 18
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Auburn
Birthplace: Ecuador,
South America
Marital Status: Single
Children: two
Place of Residence: Guayaquil, Ecuador
Description of Home: Two story home with five bedrooms
Dominant Character Trait:
Brave
Best Friend: Marta
Enemies and Why: Society, culture, religion of the early 20th
Century
determined and limited women’s roles and their future. A
time of oppression for females around the world. Even in the 21st
Century many of those oppressive perspectives still exist which makes Eva’s
story as pertinent today as it was 100 years ago!
Temperament: Fiery
Ambition: To determine
her future and find greater freedom for her daughters.
Educational Background:
High School – women in that time of history were not offered higher education
because their goal was marriage.
Philosophy of Life: Women
must stand up to injustice and have their voices heard to change the
misogynistic, racist, socially elitist, and economic disparity, which limits
their lives and their future.
Bad Habits: Impulsive
Talents: Independent
thinker, good at articulating her ideas, inspirational and fun- loving, a good
dancer
Hobby or Hobbies: Tango dancer, reading
Why is Character Likeable?
Eva is a strong female character with a
funny sense of humor, mischievous, intelligent, and brave. Even though she is
an adolescent she makes her own counter-culture decisions and redeems herself
and her future.
Favorite Pig Out Food:
Not a focus in this novel
Character
Mini-Interview:
Every New Year’s I resolve to: Do one more thing to stand up to
restrictive views of how women ought to live.
Nobody knows I am: A very passionate and romantic woman obsessed
with Eduardo Velasquez. I am willing to face scandal and even be catapulted out
of high society for the love of this man!
I wish: I had the freedom to choose to keep my baby even though it
will be born out of wedlock, without facing scandal, disgrace, and abandonment.
The worse part of my life is:
The shame and the rejection I endure because of loving someone who I
cannot forget. This started when I was sixteen!
I want to teach my children that: They have the right to choose their own path in life. I
want them to believe in themselves.
A good time for me is:
Was when my sister, best friend, and I, made our plans to go to America to find
new opportunities for women!
The worse advice my father gave me is: My father died when I was an infant. My
grandfather who raised me, tells my sister Victoria and I, that life is like a
roller coaster ride. Sometimes things are great, and you feel the joy of the
heights. Sometimes, you will also face overwhelming downturns. “Hold on tight
because everything passes.” This will be a hard lesson for us to learn.
My sister and I, and our lifelong friend, Marta, will be challenged by love,
passion, scandal, and the loss of fortune, before we can attain our hard-earned
freedom.
When I feel sorry for myself I: Pray that God will help guide me and forgive me for my poor
judgments. I fantasize about a better world in the future.
My friends like me because:
I am courageous and inspire them to
stand up to injustice.
My major accomplishment is:
I become a woman who has the integrity and independence to determine my own
life and my daughters will have an equally redeemable future!
My most humbling experience was: When I was rejected and seen by my family, friends, and
society, as a pariah, someone who was disgraceful and to be avoided.
Meet the Author
Maria J. Andrade was born in Ecuador, South America, and raised in New York and California. She has a bachelor of arts degree in English literature and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. As a licensed therapist and writer, Maria has been diving into other people’s minds and her own, through dreams, poetry, and books for over three decades. She traveled with the Four Winds Society where she studied and was initiated into Andean shamanism in 1990.
Before Maria retired as a therapist, she specialized in women’s issues and founded the Wise Women’s Circle a ritualistic and transpersonal study group that continues today. The women support each other through life’s challenges and in the growth of mind, body, and spirit.
Maria Andrade’s books for children and adults is found in a variety of genres. This is an unforgettable first novel that reflects her imagination and creative storytelling.
Defiance and Redemption is her latest release.
Visit her website at www.booksasfriends.com or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
Inside the Book
Title: DEFIANCE AND REDEMPTION: A LIFETIME OF UNBROKEN BONDS
Author: Maria J. Andrade
Publisher: Clara Publishing
Pages: 250
Based on a true story, Defiance and Redemption, A Lifetime of Unbroken Bonds, brings to life the joys, dramas, and triumphs of two sisters, Eva and Victoria Alisio and their loyal friend Marta. The sisters are raised by their atheist Grandfather Marcus and religious Grandmother Maria Luisa. Eva, a proud and strong-willed young woman defies her family, society, and culture, faces scandal and disgrace, for her forbidden love affair. Victoria finds herself in the center of a multigenerational conflict as her benefactor bestows a great inheritance on her excluding the rightful heirs. Marta, loyal to the childhood bond with the Alisio sisters, brings humor and support to their twists and turns of fortune. The young women’s bond of love, and perseverance, carries them through ordinary and extraordinary losses, triumphs, and ultimately to their destiny in the United States.
An important novel about 20th Century women, Defiance and Redemption, is an absorbing epic that moves through decades and destinies. It blends personal and historical events into a collective tale of self-determination, love, and sisterhood.
PRAISE
“This book is an engrossing page turner which will pull you in and keep you cheering for your favorite actors until the very end! Defiance and Redemption is a unique book that tells a story that is both particular to a given time in Ecuador, but also universal in its themes of love, betrayal and survival.” – Nancy Mintie, Founder of Uncommon Good
“Reading Defiance and Redemption reminded me of a distant time when I read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Like these writers, Maria Andrade took me through a captivating journey of love and deep passion. Being gripped by the strong emotions that the characters possess and what they did in the end moved me profoundly.” – Maria Donovan, Retired Verizon Executive
“In Defiance and Redemption, Maria Andrade weaves together history, biography, and fiction into a romantic love and a story of three women that defy the ability of patriarchal culture to define them. We see the young women grow up to rise above the shame that tries to silence and limit them. They learn to find their voices and make sacrifices to be true to themselves as women. They leave behind all that they knew to make a better life for themselves and their daughters. This is a book to remind women of all ages where we came from, and what it took to break out and thrive nearly a century ago. Women like these paved the way for all who came after and have the rights we have today.” – Nancy Poitou, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Defiance and Redemption: A Lifetime of Unbroken Bonds is available at:
B&N: https://bit.ly/3BLZYS9
Draft2Digital: https://bit.ly/3EQFud3
Want a signed copy? www.booksasfriends.com
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