The Characters in ‘The Cards We’re Dealt’

Now that I’ve revealed the book cover for The Cards We’re Dealt, perhaps it’s time I tell you a little more about what’s inside the book.

Here I am, holding an actual proof copy of my book!!!

In today’s post I’m going to talk about my three main characters, Mark, Josh and Sadie Turner, and their hopes, wants, fears and flaws.

Mark

It all began with Mark Turner, and this is his story, really, which revolves around his musical dream.

At the beginning of the book, he’s a keen, talented guitarist, just eighteen, and he loves old rock and roll thanks to years spent listening to vinyl records with his father and watching him perform on stage. He’s calm, collected, and fiercely protective.

After the death of his father, Mark is driven to succeed in music, something he views as a path to a better life for him and for his brother and sister, and one that will also prove he has value to others. He struggles with his emotions and the pressure to look after Josh and Sadie.

Mark is also obsessive in his ambition, and after his father’s death he longs for control over the situation: both are aspects that set him up for conflict with his siblings.

Josh

Like many younger siblings, Josh struggles with living in his elder brother’s shadow and oscillates between wanting to emulate Mark and wanting to make him proud, hence his decision to step into the music world too.

Josh has a much shorter fuse than Mark and he was a lot of fun to write! He’s affected greatly by his father’s death, and he struggles to form anything more than surface-level relationships as he battles with the misbeliefs and fears in his head: fear of what others think of him, a fear of being inadequate, and a fear of harm coming to his loved ones.

He’s quick to defend himself, which puts him in more than a few interesting situations.

Sadie

Sadie is the baby of the family, and when her father dies she’s completely lost. She seeks a connection with someone, something, and music ultimately becomes her escape route.

She’s plagued by low self-esteem and suffers from the lack of stability in their lives. Music is her solace, as well as her best form of expression and a way of working through her emotions.

Initially, she seeks protection from her older brothers, but as her character develops throughout the story, friction points emerge.

Writing the characters in 'The Cards We're Dealt'

Writing these characters and their progression was really fun! I loved spending time with them, dreaming about them, living through their experiences almost. Seeing how their personalities, flaws, goals and characters came into conflict with one another to create tense situations or moments of love was hugely interesting. Not only that, it was really satisfying to write how they developed and what they learned from their flaws.

These three characters each have a little piece of my heart, and they’ll soon be out there in the world!

Make sure you add The Cards We're Dealt to your shelf on Goodreads!

In the future, I’ll offer blog posts on my writing process for fellow writers, with insights into how I plan and plot my characters, how I develop their character arcs, and I how I actually write them.

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