Many reviewers have fallen in love with my insecure angel, Guy. This came as a surprise to me as he is one of the co-stars in my first novel, Drama Queens with Love Scenes. Yet bloggers have called him the ‘emotional anchor’ of the first book, while one critic was disappointed with his love interest in the second, Drama Queens and Adult Themes. So I had to sit down with my most loved character and ask him what he thought of his fans.
Q: Why do you think people warm to you?
I’m not sure if they warm to me. Maybe they’re just fascinated with the fact I’m an angel. Humans seem to make too much of a deal about it, and I never understand why.
Q: You’re playing your popularity down. One blogger wrote that she put in a request to the Afterlife for her own personal Guy as her guardian angel.
That’s sweet. I’m touched by that, honestly. Most of my life people haven’t really warmed to me. No, that’s not true. They’ve tried to, but somehow I haven’t really connected. Well, not before I met Allan, anyway.
Q: I’ll ask about Allan later. Why don’t you think you’ve connected with the friendships that were open to you in the past?
Shyness, I guess. Everyone around me seemed to have their heads screwed on, even though it was my job to help them work through their issues. And that’s where I succeed. No one’s ever confronted by my humble personality. But when it comes to them extending that friendship past my help, I freeze.
Q: Why?
I don’t know if I can answer that?
Q: Why not?
Not because I don’t want to, because I’m not sure why. Maybe deep down I never thought I was good enough. Maybe because I didn’t know my parents, somehow it affected me on a deeper level.
Q: So how did Allan break down your friendship walls?
I’m almost too embarrassed to say this. It’s because he’s just as screwed up as I am. I mean, he showed up here in the Afterlife, pining over his best friend. He had years to tell Warwick how he felt, but he kept it to himself.
Plus he took time out to help me grow. He tried to help me pick up a one night stand on the dance floor. He got me drunk, time and time again. We talked endlessly about our feelings. For the first time I met someone who I felt equal with. Is that bad? Am I really that insecure?
Q: As an angel, what’s the most important thing you’d like to share with us mortals?
You only regret the things you’ve never done. It’s true. I get so many souls here in the Afterlife with unfinished business, and I try to get them to continue what they’ve started, or at least take the first step in the direction they should have when they were alive.
Again, take Allan for example. He was in love with Warwick. They were soulmates. But Allan never got around to telling his friend how he felt. So Maudi and I were stuck sorting out their overdue romance.
Q: You’ve brought Allan up for a second time. Why is that?
Have I?
Yes.
Oh. Okay, he’s a bit of a favourite of mine. With all the years I’ve been doing this job, he was the first one to care about my problems. But I’m repeating myself.
Q: There’s no other reason?
None that I’m aware of.
Q: The importance of a true friend, I guess. You said you help lost souls all day. Can you elaborate?
It’s my job. Here in the Afterlife I welcome the new arrivals and sort out their issues so they have a pleasant stay. That’s why we go to the trouble of giving them accommodation full of belongings that are a carbon copy of what they had on earth.
Sounds a bit like the old television show Fantasy Island.
I guess. Ha ha. The only difference is we bring them to a certain time here in the Afterlife. A time where the right individuals from any era in history are there to help them move forward. It’s better than therapy. And cheaper!
Well I look forward to my stay in the Afterlife. Thanks so much for talking with us today, Guy.
My pleasure. Just don’t arrive with too much baggage. See you when you get here.
kevin klehr 