When Waves Break by Allison Wells

Character Interview for When Waves Break

Allison Wells – www.allisonwellswrites.com

facebook.com/allisonwellswrites

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Featuring main characters Juliette and Eve Nicholas

Interviewer:  Welcome everyone! Today we’re talking to twins Juliette and Eve Nicholas from the novel When Waves Break. Now, you two are twins, but definitely not identical. Who do you look like?

Eve: I look more like my dad’s side, though I don’t think anybody has red hair.

Juliette: I definitely look more like Mom with the dark, wild curls.

I: How do you feel about that summer of 1968?

J: It was awful for me. I wish I could go back and erase it from happenings, but then I wouldn’t have met Booker the way I did. I think God would have had us find each other eventually, but I’m glad it happened how it did.

E: Same. I was so naive. There are definitely things I wish were different, but then, my life wouldn’t have taken the path it did. Without the mistakes of that summer, I wouldn’t have the blessings I have now.

I: Explain those blessings to me.

E: I thought I was in love. Well, I was in love, but the man I loved didn’t love me the way he should have. He lied to me and took advantage of my feelings for him. And while I wish I had been wiser at that time in my life, without Jesse, Willow wouldn’t be here. And I wouldn’t have met my husband.

J: Well, I knew I wasn’t in love. I was hardly in like. I was assaulted on my first date with someone from church, which led to some severe depression and anxiety. I didn’t know how to handle life after that and that was a season when Eve was so happy, it just compounded my sadness. But that was also the summer I met Booker and learned what it means to lean on God for all things.

I: You both came to faith after the events of that summer, right? What did that look like?

J: Like I said, I really struggled with how to recover and cope with the trauma I had experienced. But it was in a conversation with Booker that he explained things in a way I had never understood before. That God loves me for who I am, flaws and all. Of course, I had heard that my whole life, but it was that one moment that it all sank in for me. Booker helped me pray and the relief that flooded over me was amazing. It gave me the courage to overcome what had happened and turn my life around.

E: Right. Our dad is a pastor, so we were raised in the church. I thought I was a good Christian girl, but when everything happened with Jesse and I was left alone and pregnant, I seriously doubted that He cared for me. It took some convincing and some prayer, but I realized that nothing that happened was a surprise to God and that He could use our sins for His own glory. Willow is a perfect example of that.

I: How so?

E: She was conceived out of a lie. But she was born into a family of love. Because of her, I got to know Patrick McKenzie, who I had met before but was her pediatrician. I recall being in a restaurant one day with Patrick, Willow asleep in his arms, and an older lady told me to enjoy my child and husband. It was then I realized we might have a future together. And we certainly did! All because I made a teenage mistake.

I: Juliette, you were brave enough to testify against the man who hurt you. Where is he now?

J: I try not to think about him, so I really don’t know. But I stayed in touch with some of the other girls who survived his attacks. We have a close bond.

I: Your parents were accepting of you dating and marrying outside your own race in a time when that was frowned upon. Why do you think they were so open?

J: Mom and Dad always taught us that color doesn’t matter. We were taught to look at the person under the skin. I’m proud that my niece and my own children identify as Black and I think a lot of that has to do with our parents accepting them as they are, and helping us to accept people from different cultures as valuable and vital members of the community. God is love and He loves us all. Red, yellow, black, and white, we are all precious in His sight.

E: Yep. What she said.

I: I think that’s all the time we have for today. If you haven’t read the story of Eve and Juliette Nicholas, pick up their book, When Waves Break by Allison Wells, at a retailer near you.

Allison Wells is a wife, mother, and sweet tea addict. She writes what she calls “gritty Christian fiction,” books that show the hard truths of life but ultimately are stories of redemption in the end. She loves to bring a word of hope to readers world-wide. Her motto is, “Life is short, eat the Oreos.” Visit her website at www.allisonwellswrites.com.