Meet My Main Character: Jake Sheppard (SEEING)

The inspiration for this blog came from fellow author Ina Schroders-Zeeders (Amor, Veritas), who brought this "Meet My Main Character" blog tour to her fellow Geese (what some of us have dubbed the authors at Winter Goose Publishing). I was very intrigued by the idea and thought what an awesome way to get people to know about my upcoming young adult novel, and more importantly the main character, before Seeing is published next month.

The rundown:
The extraordinary is all around us.

After enduring a difficult year that began with his father unexpectedly walking out on the family, thirteen-year-old Jake Sheppard finds himself at a loss for hope. When his live-in grandfather shares a deeply personal and rather unbelievable bedtime story, the impossibility of the tale’s events sparks an interest in Jake to determine its authenticity.

Embarking on a personal journey for the truth leads Jake to a discovery that will not only change his life, but the way he sees the world, forever.

Jake Sheppard, as illustrated by Christopher Wright

Here are my answers to the questions on this blog tour:

1. What is the name of your main character? Is he/she fictional or a historical person?
My main character is a thirteen-year-old named Jake Sheppard. Jake is a fictional character who is a very likeable, ordinary boy; he has no superpowers, no heightened abilities, and he doesn't come from another world or realm. Jake is very much your average young person.

2. When and where is the story set?
The novel takes place in the fictional town of Serling Oaks. While there are comparisons to be made between Oaks and my own hometown of Binghamton (and is also an obvious homage to the creator of The Twilight Zone, one of my writing idols), I wanted to have an original setting for my stories and characters that was unique to them and didn't have to be confined to the geography of a real locale. The story occurs in the present, however there are very few mentions or uses of the latest technology (no one wields an iPhone, for instance) that would pin this novel in 2014, with the one exception of a SmartBoard.

Jake, as shown in the recent live-action book trailer

3. What should we know about Jake?
The last year in Jake's life has been rough. Without warning or reason, Jake's father up and left early one morning and this abandonment has caused Jake to struggle with many issues. His best friend, Jamie, has gone through a similar circumstance in his own family, and while you'd think such an awful thing would bring the boys closer together, their separate responses to the tragedies at home has caused a rift between them, sending them in separate directions. When we first meet Jake he is at a low-point.

4. What is Jake's main conflict?
Jake faces an abundance of conflict - internal and external - throughout, but if I had to choose which is his main conflict, I would say it's dealing with growing up. As we all have moved on from childhood to young adulthood we have learned many of life's harsher truths. And that there are many things in this world beyond our control. These are things Jake is just beginning to understand because there was a time when nothing terrible happened to him.

5. What is Jake's personal goal?
What Jake is ultimately after is hope. Hope that beyond all the disappointments and the hurt he's had to face there is something - some sign - that will reinforce the notion that things always get better, wounds heal, and someone is always watching out for him.



6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
The early title was Run to Me, which didn't even last until the end of the first draft before I retitled the book Seeing. I thought the second title just fit perfectly.

You can always read more about the book on my site (www.josephfalank.com), my publisher's site (www.wintergoosepublishing.com), as well as my Twitter (www.twitter.com/JosephFalank), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorJosephFalank) feeds.

7. When can we expect the book to be published?
Seeing is scheduled for a June release. It'll be available in both print and eBook on Amazon and B&N.com.


I want to thank Ina for bringing to my attention this blog tour. It was a lot of fun to divulge a bit more about my story and its main character than I've been allowing myself (I like to be quite secretive). And thank you all for visiting!