I don’t always remember character names.

I’m more likely to remember the novel or their character than their actual name. As such, I don’t necessarily have any names I can think of as particular favourites.

But I can think of two, for different reasons:

In The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate, the narrator rents a house from Iola Anne Poole. Unfortunately, the first scene shows the narrator finding ninety-one-yar-old Mrs Poole’s body lying on her bed, as though she’d laid down for a nap and didn’t wake up. For obvious reasons, I like that name 🙂

Another name I remember is Paul Ingatius Greatorex from the After the Fire series by English author John Lockley, written in the 1990s. The novels are set in England, and tell the story of a group of misfits brought together after they are some of the few survivors of a global pandemic that kills more than 99% of the world’s population in under a week. Paul’s name stuck with me because of the initials – PIG, which he used to get teased about at school – and because I once saw a book review for After the Fire written by a Paul Ingatius Greatorex, who read the book when he realised he had the same name as one of the main characters.

Those are the only two characters I can think of by name (nothing like being put on the spot to have all the books and character names escape my memory).

What about you? What are your favourite fictional character names, and why?

I know many Christians who don’t drink alcohol. I know some who don’t drink tea or coffee or any other drink containing caffeine. These Christians believe there is a Biblical mandate not to drink, so they follow their beliefs and don’t drink.

But other Christians do drink alcohol. They give the example of Jesus turning water into wine, or quote Paul’s instructions to Timothy. It’s one of many topics that the Bible isn’t as clear on as some of us might like.

So should characters in Christian fiction drink alcohol?

Personally, it doesn’t bother me as long as they drink in moderation, and the drinking is either consistent with the character (if the character doesn’t have an issue with alcohol) or clearly presented as wrong (if they characters do have an issue with alcohol, or if they are under the legal drinking age).

What I don’t like is characters acting out of character.

I recently read a Christian novel where one of the Christian characters downed three strong cocktails in less than an hour, with predictable side-effects. I didn’t think this was necessary to the plot, and it left me wondering about the character. Was she really that stupid? Why did she accept the first drink, let alone the second and third?

It made a difference that the character was Christian—a churchgoing Christian who should have known better. My reaction might have been more charitable if the character hadn’t been a Christian (or hadn’t been a Christian yet).

I accept that drinking alcohol may sometimes be needed as a plot point. If so, fine. Just don’t add a drinking scene to be “hip” or “relevant”, the way some general market authors add sex scenes. Make the scene mean something. Make sure it has a point, and that drinking alcohol is the only or best way of making that point.

What do you think? What’s your view of characters drinking alcohol in Christian fiction?

Most of the romance novels I read feature couples in their twenties or thirties.

I have to say I prefer slightly older characters, characters who are mature enough to know what they want out of life.

But romances with characters over the age of forty are rare. Part of the reason (problem?) is that there has to be a reason why older characters are unattached and looking for love. There are only three possible ways this can happen:

1. One or more of the characters are single, and have never married or had any significant relationships in their past. That raises a question: Why? Why are they  still single? What circumstances or catastrophes have led to their singleness? There needs to be a reason … because otherwise we might (mis)judge the character.
2. The character is divorced, or has previous significant relationships akin to marriage. This raises a different question: What went wrong? Why did their previous relationship fail? Was it their fault, in part or in whole? Knowing the answer helps us know whether we’re going to like or dislike the character.
3. The character has been married before, but their spouse died. Well, that’s a fun plot, isn’t it? I know the novel starts well after they are over their grief, but it’s still in the background. And there is also the awkwardness of how many fictional Christian marriages end in an untimely death for one spouse because the author needs a widowed character …

I worry about the fictional marriages where the characters do get their happy-ever-after in their twenties, because reading Christian fiction tells me one of them is going to face a horrible death in the next ten years …

So while I don’t mind romance novels featuring older characters and I certainly have no problem with the over-forties finding love, I wouldn’t want to read too many of them … because every forty-something happy-ever-after is a twenty-something relationship that ended tragically.

What about you ? Do you like romance novels featuring older couples?