Building Character with Victoria from Victoria and the Ghost

Welcome to my blog feature, Building Character, in which you get to meet a character from a book. Talking to a character outside of their book is fun! Huge. Amounts. Of fun. 

This week Strands of Thought is host to Victoria Peterson from Victoria and the Ghost. Welcome, Victoria. Tell us a little about yourself and what your life is like.

My name is Victoria Peterson. My life isn’t fair. I never thought that when I was fifteen-years-old, I would end up away from my mother, my friends, and Dallas.  Dad got this really dumb idea to move my seventeen-year-old sister, Marcy and me away from civilization. He even expects me to tend chickens. Can you believe that? Why, my nail job won’t last a month, at this rate.

Now, Mom, well, I’m her favorite. We both love…love….love shopping. This spring we missed few shops in Dallas before Mom’s beautiful wedding. After she and Sam left on their honeymoon to the Caribbean, well, of course, I had to move in with Dad. I totally understood. It’s only temporary until Mom returns and settles into her new life.

You can read my story in a book called, Victoria and the Ghost.

I moved across the country when I was fifteen, but I was excited to. I’m sorry you aren’t. I don’t suppose you can give it a bit more time…see if it grows on you?

I need to find a way to get back to Dallas. I’m a good city slicker. (That’s what Brad & Shelley call me.) But a lousy country girl. And, that’s the truth.

Okay, I get it. You don’t like the country life. How long until your mom is settled into her new life?

Just between you and me, I act all citified and sure of myself. I tell everyone I’ll be going back to Dallas soon, but Mom doesn’t want me, and I don’t want anyone to know that my own mother rejected me. Don’t tell anyone. Okay?

Oh, Victoria, that I truly am sorry to hear. That must have upset you very much. So, I guess you have to make it work with your dad. What about friends? Have you made any new friends?

The first girl my age that I met in the country was Shelley Halverson. Some friend she turned out to be. She stabbed me in the back with gossip. After I follow her advice about how to ride a horse, the horse gets hurt, and she blames me. Can you believe it? Then she acts all friendly and gives me a “welcome to the country” party. At least, she did introduce me to a really, hot cowboy. Giggle Then she tried to break us up when he found me better looking than her.

Let’s learn more about you. Is there anything about you that people are always giving you a hard time about? How do you feel about it?

 Strange things happen in Clara Cemetery, okay? I can’t talk about it, but they do happen nearly every time I go there. When I say something, people think I’m crazy, or else they think I’m a poor little city girl who made up an invisible friend because I’m lonely. Come to think of it, that’s a good idea, but that’s beside the point. I just can’t tell anyone. If I told my dad, he’d have a fit. Christians don’t believe in ghosts, you know.

What are your three favorite leisure activities?

Shopping, wearing new clothes, and shopping again. Giggle

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Well, I believe Mom is the most sophisticated, beautiful woman. This divorce business was all Dad. He ignored her and so pushed her into the arms of a man who appreciated her value. That’s what I think. Oh, and I believe in God. Did I tell you that? And…I believe Dallas is the most wonderful city to live in and one day I’ll be a highly successful clothes buyer at the market there and in NYC. That’s about it.

What words of wisdom would you like to share with our readers?

I had two rules when my story started.

1. Owning the best stuff causes people to like you.

2. Mom is a queen, and I’m just like her.

What I know now is:

1.      Owning the best stuff causes people to hate you.

2.      Mom is selfish.

3.       Dad and my sister, Marcy, aren’t all bad. Just partly. Giggle.

Thanks for visiting with us, Victoria. Here is more about her story, Victoria and the Ghost:

At fifteen, Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and copes with country isolation, no friends and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.

When her mother leaves the family to become a Dallas trophy wife, Victoria’s dad moves her and her sister to a North Texas farm to herd cattle and raise chickens. Refusing to believe this is more than a temporary set-back, Victoria tries to make new friends which isn’t an easy task. The first one stabs her in the back with gossip and a sharp tongue. Meanwhile, her new stepsister takes Victoria’s place in her mother’s heart. Rejection and anger stalk Victoria like a rattlesnake in the cemetery. Good thing she makes friends with a ghost and through him, a good-looking teenaged cowboy.

Victoria and the Ghost can be purchased through these two links.

4RV Publishing Catalogue Book Store

http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/janet-brown.php

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Ghost-Janet-K-Brown/dp/0983801878/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358978796&sr=1-1&keywords=Janet+K.+Brown

About Victoria’s author:

Janet K. Brown lives in Wichita Falls, Texas with her husband, Charles. She began writing while her three daughters were kids but did not study the craft or submit her work until she retired in October, 2005. Writing became a second career.

     

4RV Publishing released Janet’s debut novel, an inspirational young adult, Victoria and the Ghost, July, 2012. Janet studies her three grandchildren for help with teen expressions and actions.

     

Pen-L Publishing released Janet’s non-fiction book, Divine Dining Dec. 3, 2012. It’s a 365 devotion book to guide you to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness.

     

She and her husband love to travel with their RV, visit with family, and work in their church.

Contact Janet at:

Website: http://www.janetkbrown.com

E-mail: Janet.hope@att.net

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Janet-K-Brown-Author/143915285641707

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx

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If you have a character from a children’s, tween or young adult book that you’d like to see interviewed on Building Character, please contact kaistrand at yahoo dot com.