Recurring Characters - A guest post by Jennifer Joyce

If you’ve read both of my novels, A Beginner’s Guide To Salad and Everything Changes But You, you may have noticed that there are some recurring characters. Ally is the younger sister of Jared in A Beginner’s Guide, but in Everything Changes But You she has her very own story. Although A Beginner’s Guide To Salad was written and published first, Ally’s story actually came to me long before Jared’s, but it took a while until I felt able to write it. When Jared needed a family, I already had a ready-made one from Ally’s story that was murmuring in the background, regularly reminding me of its presence.

I like to use recurring characters in my books as, to me, these people are very real and I’d like to think that their lives move on even after I’ve reached The End. When I create a fictional family or set of friends, it opens up a host of possibilities of stories to discover in the future. Everyone has a story to tell if you do a little digging!

And it isn’t just the characters that reappear. The streets and buildings are mapped out (rather haphazardly, I have to admit) in my head and it’s nice to imagine my characters wandering the same paths. You only have to take a peek at any work place to see the multitude of characters, each with their own individual tales, so exploring these is a lot of fun for me.

So what is next for the Williams family? Do Freya and Jimmy have a story to tell? Or even Linda and Bob? I’m not sure yet, but I’m certainly thinking about it so don’t be surprised if they crop up again!

Jennifer Joyce is a writer of romantic comedies who lives in Manchester with her husband and their two daughters. A Beginner’s Guide To Salad and Everything Changes But You are available now

A Beginner’s Guide To Salad: Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HTMHJ8S & Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HTMHJ8S

Everything Changes But You: Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00MWAR5B8 & Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MWAR5B8

You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at

Blog: www.jenniferjoycewrites.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenniferjoycewrites

Twitter: www.twitter.com/writer_jenn