Today the spotlight shines on…………………………………………………….Ben Dillinger
I don’t read many Love Inspired books but I love Cheryl Wyatt’s 🙂 Action, romance and great characters all add up to engaging reading. I am looking forward to getting into Ready-Made Family when it arrives, especially after reading the insight Cheryl has provided into Ben!
Over to you, Cheryl:~
Brief physical description:
Extraordinarily tall for an Asian man. Military haircut, black and shaved above his ears. Tallest Asian man the heroine has ever seen. Due to Ben’s career as a US Air Force Pararescue Jumper, he is in top physical form and uses all those magnificant muscles to rescue people from dangerous places. Mostly he rescues downed allied pilots, but his team also takes part in rescues during natural disasters.
Resembles actor Ben Affleck…only an Asian version. His mother is Asian, his father Caucasian. Ben resembles an Asian Ben Affleck.
Rel: I morphed Ben Affleck and Lost actor, Daniel Dae Kim for this photo of Ben ~ so what do you think, Cheryl ?!
Strengths:
Generous. Giving. Compassionate. Strong. Man of his word.
Ben is generous and giving of his time and his friendship which is how he met the single-mom heroine and her daughter. Ben has a brother with Mosaic Down Syndrome who he takes in for a period in order to enable his parents to do a stint of world-travel they’d always dreamed of.
Sometimes his generosity and compassion causes him to overcommit and he struggles with balancing responsibilities. But he does so with a good heart.
Quirk:
He is Asian who cannot stand to eat Asian cuisine and he’s addicted to NASCAR racing.
My inspiration for this character:
With all the NASCAR races I go to, I brought my author friend Camy Tang to one, who pointed out how few Asians there were in the crowds. So, because I love flipping stereotypes on their heads, I thought it would be fun to create an Asian character who loves NASCAR.
I met a woman at Disney World in Florida who inspired the story. As we sat by the pool, she talked about how she once passed out from an electrolyte imbalance while alone with her children and how terrifying that was. She determined after that to start taking better care of herself health-wise. So that sparked an idea, which I shared with her over the next hours as we chatted, about a single mom who happened to get the flu while traveling from one state to the other (different scenario completely from my poolside pal). Basically the heroine is at a pharmacy and, while pulling away with her young daughter in the car, she passes out at the wheel and crashes her car into a light pole. The woman’s daughter rushes out and finds the hero (Ben) who runs over to help. He realizes the young mother and her daughter have fallen on hard times and determines to help them through out the book. In the process, he receives the blessing of romance and a ready-made family.
I also attend a multi-ethnic church that values people of all colors, shapes, sizes and socio-economic status. So that inspired me to write an interracial romance. Heroine is Caucasian and Ben is half-Asian. The book handles delicately the subject of prejudice as well, but it’s mostly an action-and-emotion-driven romance.
Fantastic, Cheryl! Loved this insight 🙂 Can’t wait to read how the story pans out.
On Monday, I will be spotlighting Sally Stevens from Patti Lacy’s What the Bayou Saw, a contemporary tale about a woman struggling with her past secrets.
Relz Reviewz Extras
Reviews of A Soldier’s Promise and A Soldier’s Family
Interview with Cheryl
Visit Cheryl’s website and blog
Buy Cheryl’s books at Amazon or Koorong
Open Giveaway
Cheryl will be signing a copy of Ready-Made Family for one of my readers!
To enter, post a comment by Sunday 26th April, 2009 leaving contact details and telling me how many people their are in your immediate family! We stand at five ~ hubby, three girls and me!
Today the spotlight shines on…………………………………………………….Ben Dillinger
Brief physical description:
Quirk:
April 17, 2009 at 1:48 am
WOW! That picture of Ben is SO freaky similar to how I imagined him! WOW! How did you do that? LOLOL!
And we stand at 5 too! 3 girls as well!
Uh…don’t enter me for the drawing though. Snicker. LOL!
THANK YOU for featuring my hero/this book!
Hugs
Cheryl
April 17, 2009 at 2:01 am
http://www.morphthing.com/
It’s a bit of fun 🙂
Glad you liked Ben!!!
April 17, 2009 at 2:09 am
How clever are you! 🙂
We are only two of us in my house! 🙂
Blessings Rel!
April 17, 2009 at 7:02 am
there are 5 of us too! my parents and 3 girls! (although soon it will be two…:)
lol an Asian who likes Nascar: me!!
and that pic i was like..before i read the description, that looks like Ben…wait that looks like Daniel Dae Kim. hilarious!
April 17, 2009 at 8:33 am
I imagine that this book should come with a tissue rating. How scary to have serious health problems like that while you’re alone with your kids.
We have five here too….me, dh plus the kids ~ 2 girls and a boy.
April 17, 2009 at 10:37 am
We stand at 9. 7 kids, 2 parents.
However if you add in-laws and nieces and nephews…. 😀
April 17, 2009 at 10:39 am
Oh, and please enter me 🙂
joyfuljewelz (at) gmail.com
April 17, 2009 at 6:10 pm
There are four of us in our house.
mce1011[at]aol[dot]com
April 18, 2009 at 3:56 am
I can’t wait to check that morph thing out. Thanks for providing the link, Rel!
Thanks everyone for stopping by and for your interest in the book. I’m giddy over it!
Have a great night/day (depending on where you are) all!
Cheryl
April 18, 2009 at 7:43 am
Sounds good to me. Total of 7 in my family 🙂 5 kids 2 parents. Pls enter me. Thnx heapz
April 18, 2009 at 10:28 am
Pop me in please as I would enjoy this book. 4 in our family, unless your girls are over.
April 18, 2009 at 10:36 am
We have a total of 6 here – 2 boys and 2 girls, plus hubby and I. Please enter me in the draw Rel – sounds good. Thanks again!!
April 19, 2009 at 3:31 am
just had to say love the book dont enter me.
right now there is me only!
my mum is now in the nursing home so im all alone.
April 19, 2009 at 6:00 am
This is such an intriguing idea for a story – can’t wait to read how it pans out.
Just me and DH in our house =)
April 20, 2009 at 3:41 pm
There are only 3 of us 🙂 1 boy and hubby and me….but more in the future 🙂
mkshriver (at) gmail (dot) com
April 21, 2009 at 6:50 am
Hi Rel, This is my first time on your blog, I have my sister Angela staying with me who suggested this site to me. I have a wonderful Hubby and 2 children.
ronishome2(at)gmail(dot)com
April 21, 2009 at 6:54 am
Hi Rel, soon I'll have all my family onto your blog!!!!
My immediate family consist of 2 kids & 1 husband (thankgoodness).
Do you really want me to post my address since you already know it?
April 21, 2009 at 6:58 am
Hey Gals – thanks for posting! Wish you could all win 😉
Angela – I know where you live…cue spooky music…so no need to leave your addy! Maybe you can be my publicity person – LOL!
Julie – nice to “meet” you! hope you enjoy the blog.
April 21, 2009 at 7:43 am
This sounds like a lovely little story. We are 4 in our house. hubby and 1 boy and 1 girl.
April 21, 2009 at 10:25 pm
We have six in our family. Three girls and three boys.
April 22, 2009 at 5:10 am
Please enter me in the draw too! There are 5 of us who live in our house, my husband & I, our two sons and a daughter. But I would count our other daughter's family as being part of our immediate family too even though they don't live under our roof, so added to the ones who live in this house there is one more daughter, her husband and our cute little 10 month old grandson!
April 23, 2009 at 11:42 pm
In my house it is just me. Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
Debbie
debdesk9(at)verizon.net
April 24, 2009 at 11:21 pm
One in my household. ME!!!
April 25, 2009 at 11:05 am
I'd love it!! (I love Nascar and local racing too!)
We have 4 family members -me, hubby, 2 sons but 1's in college & the other in med school so we're enjoying the empty nest!!
mj,coward[at]gmail.com