Characters

Meet Those Who are Mentioned in Rowan's Journals.

Rowan Hawthorn Stevens - She is the character who writes in the journals.

      Rowan is delightful with her long, dark brown, wavy hair that flows past her slim waist. Emerald green eyes peer out from dark, lush lashes and only a slight smile emerges from her lips when she is amused. Her heart, spirit and physical body has been shattered, but she figures out what she needs to heal herself, by leaving behind her familiar surroundings and obtaining a strange new place to live.

      She has been within the Roman Catholic Church since the first breath she took right after being born. The priest stepped forward before she was even given to the nurse, raising his hand and sprinkling holy water to the crown of her head. She never missed Mass except when she was in the hospital after the accident.  

     Rowan came from a wonderful family that followed the Roman Catholic faith, mixed with the mystical folklore of her Scotland heritage on her mother’s side.  Her father was a medical doctor and thought of all of his patients as real people with feelings. He allowed them to have his home phone number and it was not unusual for him to go to their homes in the middle of the night, because of an illness or an emergency of any sort. He was dedicated to his patients, his wife and his children.

      Rowan's mother was a delightful person who went to church every Sunday, made loaves of blessing bread to give to friends, made magical cookies, talked to the Moon, read fairy tales before bed every evening, taught her children to believe in making wishes and most importantly, believing in themselves. She waited to have children until they had enough money to purchase a home, have a nice savings and could actually afford for her to stay home. She was an interior designer for many local and very wealthy people. She called her work designing but in reality, it was an artful way of decorating and she loved it. She was thirty-seven years old when Shawn was born and then six years later at the age of forty-three, they received an unexpected gift and it was Rowan.

      Rowan was quiet, but not because she was shy. She had a love for knowledge. Curiosity pulsed through her veins with every breath she took. She had an inner respect for all living things and a gentle heart when she was a child and it never went away as she grew older. Her slim body which only stood five feet and four inches gave her a dainty look about her and of course, her creamy, light skin, dark hair and sweet nature, made her very attractive to all who met her. 

      Sadly, her parents have long passed away from natural causes, her husband and unborn daughter died in an accident and all she has left is her brother Shawn, who helped her to try and live again. 

Shawn Hawthorn - Shawn is Rowan's brother.

      Shawn has always lived his life on the go and has had plenty of woman in his life.  His shoulder length, dark hair, flirty smile, charm, extremely good looks  and polite manners, has made most people take notice of him. 

      While Shawn and Rowan were children his favourite pastime was teasing her endlessly. He would pull her hair, tickle her, put her favourite stuffed animal high in a tree and whatever else he could think of to get a reaction from her. With her being six years younger than him, he thought when his parents brought her home from the hospital, she was his personal squeak toy.

      He left his parents and Rowan behind to fulfil his dreams of becoming a interior architect and have a full social life. But, when Rowan was in a car accident he dropped everything and flew to the hospital where she was in critical condition. He knew she would need him with Mark, her husband dead and then loosing their baby too. He could not bear the thought of loosing his baby sister after loosing his parents just a few years earlier to natural causes. The doctors felt confident her physical body would heal, but her emotional injuries may never heal and he was determined to help her through it all one way or another. He put his life on hold to help Rowan live her's once again. 

Dana Collinsworth Davidson - She owns a bookstore named Journeys.

      Dana is very Gothic with the way she dresses and her jewelry screams it in every way. She has jet black, short hair with feather bangs which frame her pale skin. Her big, chocolate brown eyes lined with heavy, black makeup and bright red lips make her stand out from everyone.

      Her book store is warm and friendly and she keeps it well stocked. She loves her shop and likes to think of it as a social hot spot for everyone who walks through its door. She has only one brother, Parker and a younger sister named Sage, who passed away two years ago. 

      Dana is forty-six years old and enjoys her life in Eureka Springs and has lived there all of her life. She is very close to her mother, Elisabeth Collinsworth and her brother, but her sister was her close friend and they did many things together. 

Parker Collinsworth - He is Dana's brother and he is an artist.

      Parker is one of the most talented oil painting artists in the area. He left his home town to spread his  to new York. He opened a art studio while there and became very successful, but after ten years her decided he wanted to return to his home town. He hired someone to be keep the studio open in New York and he invested money to open one in Eureka Springs for other artists to display their work. He was married to a wonderful lady and they had two daughters before she encountered cancer and passed away.

      Woman are drawn to him, because of his carefree, but loyal ways. His shoulder length black hair, light brown eyes, tattooed arms, T-shirt and blue jeans attire by day and dress slacks, open sports coat, over a tie-less, long sleeve shirt by night makes him attractive and shows diversity. He is close to his mother, sister and daughters, but has little interest in dating,  unless it is someone who wants more than just a fling and of course, he has to be attracted to them. So far, he has not found anyone he has been interested in. He spends his time painting, promoting the art studio and evenings with his daughters, Nan and Christy ages six and eight. Dana and his mother help him with the care of his daughters while he is working and they are a very close family. 

Crystal Patterson - She Owns a mystical store called Mystic Moons.

      Crystal came to Eureka Springs to visit and fell in love with the area. She moved from Lafayette Louisiana to open a store in Eureka Springs and has never been sorry that she did. Her store offers herbs, oils, candles, incense, stones and anything mystical she can find to stock it properly, for those who need something for their mystical path. She is beautiful with long, red, curly hair, cream colored skin and a  small nose with a few freckles sprinkled on it. She isn't too over weight, just a little plump with curves that enhance the long and flowing outfits she loves to wear. She teaches, walks, practices, breathes and lives within the mystical things and ways of life. She has never been married, but has been in love several times, but has never wanted to give up her freedom to do all that she wishes to do. She is very good friends with the Collinsworth family and becomes a good friend to Rowan and helps her along the way of understanding the mystical side of life. 

Stormy Kline - Owns a hat shop called Kaleidoscopes. 

      Stormy is full of life with short, blond hair, light grey eyes, a dazzling smile, and a personality to match. She is of medium height, slim and loves dressing like Stevie Nicks. It is not unusual to see her in fringe shawls, high heeled boots and sometimes, hooded capes. Her laughter is more like a loud giggle and she is always moving about doing something. She does not only like dressing like Stevie Nicks, she also plays all of the Fleetwood Mac tunes in her store. What is really unique is the way she resembles Stevie Nicks too. She has been in love with Parker Collinsworth since the day she ever saw him, but no one knows this, not even Parker.

Melinda Edwards - She works at the Blue Moon antiques store.

      Melinda was brought up in a very loving family with high morels. She married a man who was kind hearted, but was afraid of being a father an obligations. She did not know that about him until she found out they were going to have a child. When she was four months pregnant, he left her and she struggled with the reality of raising her baby without a father while being determined to give him his freedom as he wanted. She was divorced one month before her child came into the world. 

      With her parents help, she moved to Eureka Springs from Iowa, got a job and purchased a little home for her and her daughter near town. She does not have much extra money but they have all that they need. She does not date anyone and her free time is going to the parks, library, parades, school activities and sight seeing with her daughter Sandy. 

      With her shoulder length, light brown hair, turned up nose, hazel eyes and dainty smile, she is very attractive in a wholesome sort of way. She never wears makeup of any kind and loves nature and all of the simple things life offers. 

Sandy Edwards - She is Melinda's eight year old daughter.

      Sandy is a very polite little girl with grey eyes, light brown hair that swirls to her waist and a bright smile with a delightful way of laughing. She is small for her age. She loves listening to fairy tales, playing with imaginary friends, blowing bubbles on a warm summer day. Dragonflies and fireflies are her favourite things to watch. Even without a father in her life she is happy and full of curiosity about everything in life. She loves Rowan. adores Shawn and loves her imaginary friends including the fairies that come to play and visit with her.

Jim Dodson - He is Rowan's neighbour.

      Jim is a very passive and laid back sort of person. He works hard in a insurance agency, is a friend, as well as the husband to Becky. They own a home just down the road from Rowan. He is very much into politics, having a garden for fresh vegetables and going to his Baptist church every chance he gets. He enjoys the fellowship the congregation offers. jim and his wife are very active within the community.

Becky Dodson - She is Rowan's neighbour and is married to Jim Dodson.

      Becky has a gentle heart, tender spirit and a serious attitude about most everything in life. She loves the domestic things in life offers such as baking and cooking all sorts of gourmet foods. Even though, she is over weight, her personality bubbles with happiness and contentment in her life. She is an animal lover and raises gorgeous calico cats. Several of her cats are what they call "Show Cats". She owns a animal shelter for those lost, stray and thrown away animals who are gentle. She refuses to take any animal that is mean or aggressive in anyway. She feels those sort of animals needs to go to the humane society. She is a devoted wife, loving neighbour and a friend to most everyone she knows.

Helen Norton - She writes children's books.

      Helen is a sweet, talented lady. She is sixty-three years old with pure white hair that she wears in a beautiful French Twist style with little ringlets cascading below each ear. She is always happy and inspiring even though, she is confined to a wheel chair from her crippling arthritis which has left her feet and hands in painful, deformed curled up balls. She is a writer of children's books and many of her creations are still being published. She has beauty inside and outside. Just a very classy and very understanding lady, who never gives up even when life is at its worst. 

Edward Norton - He owns a flyer advertising company and is married to Helen.

      Edward owns his own advertising company and it is very successful with the local businesses. He has always done most of the work himself, but found he wanted more time with his wife and decided to hire someone to work in the field to go to all of the local businesses to update their advertising needs or to create new fliers. He does not want just anyone for the job and felt the day he would do so, would be when he found a special someone to fill his place. That is not so easy for him, but he finds that special someone in Rowan. He is a dynamite person, very intelligent, grumpy at times and adores his wife of fifty-two years of marriage. Even though, his hair is thinning and his dark eyes are not as bright, he still holds a prestige look about him and a inner youth.  

Elisabeth Collinsworth - She is a witch.

      Elisabeth Collinsworth is forty-seven years old, with long, chestnut color, fly away hair which glides to the middle of her back and is quite stunning with a mysterious presence about her. She is quiet, with few words unless she really knows and trusts you.  She comes from a long line of females who practiced the "old ways" of folklore and handed down for many centuries to the females from generation to generation. The elements are her friends and Mother Earth's gifts such as herbs, stones, trees, fire and many other items are used by her for healing the body, mind and sometimes... life. She lives by a wide flowing creek in a two bedroom, log cabin and owns Raven's Nest, the home and land which has been in her family for three hundred years. One thing about Elisabeth that the whole community knows; if you need help, she is who you go to see and you never should cross her, even though, she is good, she just has too much knowledge of the unseen things to take a chance of... making her mad. She wants Rowan at Raven's Nest even if it means she has to purchase it. Why? Rowan soon finds out as she continues to write in her Journal and tells everyone the many secrets that Elisabeth holds deep within herself. Elisabeth teaches and guides Rowan to open up and bring forth her gifts of the mystical ways she was given at birth.  

Sage Collinsworth - She is a ghost.

      Sage loved life. In fact, she loved every bit of it, except she did not believe in a God or anything else that was not of this material place named Earth. She was a preschool teacher and her joy over flowed by being with all of those children; seeing their smiles, hearing their laughter, their giggles and their trusting hearts. They were special to her, just as she was to them.  She was loyal, dependable and trustworthy to a fault with her family and friends. But, her life ended just twenty-nine years after she came into this world. How she died is a hushed, unspoken, mysterious taboo among everyone who knew and loved her.

      A picture of a cute female with a sweet smile, hazel eyes and strawberry blond hair, looking at her own reflection from a sparkling blue pond of water, hangs above her crypt with the words "Where are you now, my darling daughter, sister and friend."  

Jazyk Wentworth - He is a Vampire.

      Jazyk hates the fact that he is over two hundred years... dead. It is his secret and no one knows he is a vampire, not anyone. He is sophisticated, well mannered, quiet, a thinker and analyses everything right down to the smallest speck before acting on any decision.

      Lucky for him, he is the sole owner of a massive blood laboratory for scientific studies, which allows him to get his supply of blood for his feedings, without too much question. One thing is for certain, if you ever meet or even just get a glance at Jazyk Wentworth, you never forget him, not ever. His perfect posture, deep golden eyes, heavy eyelashes and mysterious smile, from a perfectly shaped handsome face is not something a person can forget very easily. His whole stance and manner leaves an impression of a man of power, prestige and great wealth. A man you never want to come into conflict with, because the saying of "Still waters run deep" is a understatement, because Jazyk, is extremely calm, cool and collect in every way.  

      He has never found a female, who he felt attracted too or even felt anything, one way another about them. They were amusing to watch when they first laid eyes on him. They became instantly giddy, nervous, calculating and he could hear their hearts, as they bumped faster within their chests, whenever there was eye contact between them. 

      Being a vampire had its advantages and he did not dislike who he was, not in the least bit. His thoughts were, he had a forever presents on this earth, could move faster than a flash of lightning, could read people's feelings, along with their motives and intentions. Being strong enough to stop a car in full speed, was another plus of being a so called vampire. 

      But, when he met Rowan Stevens, he sensed how different she was and the only words he could come up with to describe her was... a special kind of different. She caught his eye, his interest and his heart, that could never pump blood into his veins. For the first time... he wanted to be just a normal human being. He wanted to know how it would feel, to kiss her lips tenderly, to put his arms around her, or feel her soft hair between his fingers.But the most tantalizing thought that ran through his mind was... to experience how it would feel, to be loved by her. 

Thurston Maddox - He is a Lawyer and a Christian Bible thumper.

      If there really is a devil or demon in the bowels of earth, well... he escaped form that pit of Hell and walking among us as, Thurston Maddox! Evil drips from his inner soul and if he ever stuck out his forked tongue, it would be two hissing snakes ready to strike the jugular vein instantly, swiftly and without warning.

      Being a lawyer gave him open doorways to power and a way to harm anyone who did not believe or comply to his thoughts or ways. If you did not have a religion were you could be as a sheep following a Shepherd to slaughter or do as he wishes, well you will wish you had by the time he gets done making you feel as if you are Jesus Christ, nailed to a cross with swords stabbed into your very heart and he makes it continue to pump just so the pain... will always torture you with great sadness and worry. 

      No one in the community will stand up to Thurston Maddox, not even God, as most people think and feel. But then, Rowan moves into the community and has a friend who is much more powerful than Thurston can ever be and for the first time in his life he experiences what terror really is. 

Justice Jacobson - A little boy thrown away, lost, unloved and abused. 

      Justice came into this life at only four pounds and six ounces, crying constantly. He cried not because he wanted milk, to be cuddled or to even have his diaper changed. He came into this world needing drugs. Drugs that his mother consumed long before he was even thought of and in her system the whole time she was pregnant with him.  

      He spent the first four years of his life not knowing what a real home was and abuse, well... he did not know anything other than physical, mental and sexual abuse. He thought going to bed met curling up in a chair or crawling into the back seat of a car and saying "How long will we be able to sleep, mommy? Will someone take the car before we wake up" A plate of real food was unknown to him. He thought a candy bar was breakfast, chips were lunch and a bag of peanuts was dinner, because those things were so much easier for his mother to provide for him.

      Then one day, his world changes and he finds people who love him, feed him and tuck him into a real bed at night and say prayers with him to Mother Moon and Father Sun, to bless all things on this Earth.

      He finds himself in the devils claws, ripping him from the people he loves and most importantly, the ones who love him. People who kept him safe, protected and all of the sharing of hugs and the words of "I love you" and really meaning those words from the heart.  

Blanche Jacobson - Justice's mother. 

      Blanche is little, at four foot and ten inches in height with her shoes on. She has a delightful personality that goes with a pretty face and a dynamite smile.  She makes friends with everyone, but friendship is only a means to get whatever she wants. She is a user of people and she does not let go of those friends until she is finished using them. Some say she reminds them of a King Cobra snake. It sways,just as she does, making you think it is in a trance by swaying to your music, letting you think you are charming it to do as you wish, just before it finds the opportunity to strike venom into your tender neck. 

      She finds what it is like to be stalked, running in fear of her own life and meeting the keeper of the balancing scales of bad and good deeds. She realises she will and must, reap what she has sown on others... pure venom, three fold.

Sam Raintree  - A Native American, full blooded Indian.

      Sam Raintree,  is very wise with Mother Nature's medicine and natural healing. He also walks in the ancient ways of his ancestors, with the knowledge of the mystical and medicinal properties of everything on earth. He believes that the Mother brings forth messages to him through natural signs. He knows of Sister Wind, Brother Sky, Father Sun, Mother Moon and the Grandmother of Time. He is superstitious, believes in the messages hidden within folklore and knows the ways of the Medicine Man of his people. His is a healer and when hope of living is lost, people go to him for a cure. 

      You know Sam, by the leather bag hanging from his neck, a feather stuck behind his ear and his hand-sown moccasins covering his feet, as he walks silently without notice on light feet. If he gives you a stone, clear brown in color, you know you are special within his heart, because he claims it is a stone that represents the tears of his people of long ago. It is called an Apache Tear Drop. 

      Sam has never told those he has given the stone to, the meaning of the Apache Tear Drop. He keeps the story hidden within his heart. His grandfather told him many moons before he made the great pass-over to the Great Spirit the following story.

Tamra - Owns a old fashion Ice-cream shop. 

      Tamra just moved to Eureka Springs from Oregon, to fulfil her life’s dream of owning and opening her own ice-cream shop. She wanted it to have a very old fashioned look and the atmosphere to be friendly, fun and relaxing. She chose to have her shop in Eureka Springs, because the town set the mood for what she was looking for, not to mention the constant tourist traffic. She is friendly as a shop owner, but for the most part she is a loner. She lives above her store in a cute, two bedroom apartment with her cat named Township. 

Java Bean - Rowan's cat.

      Java Bean is a twenty-five pound, fluffy, calico cat. She is the joy in Rowan's life and helps fill a void in her heart. Java Bean has an imaginary friend, a invisible dragon which chases her all through the house, under chairs and up and down the winding stairs. Her favourite pastime is on the window seat in Rowan's bedroom, watching the big red bird eat seeds from the feeder or a squirrel scamper up the oak tree just outside the window, flipping its tail as if to say, "Ha, Ha! You can't reach me!"  Java Bean loves to cuddle in Rowan's lap whenever there is a good book she is reading or a special movie flashing on the screen. It is even more to her delight when Rowan has a cup of that raspberry hot chocolate and leaves it uncovered, while she goes into the kitchen to pop popcorn. She loves seeing Rowan's reaction when she returns, finding that her cup is now empty and a cat is licking it's paw and rubbing at it's whiskers in pure, satisfied, contentment and not to mention...a full belly. Java Bean also has a few mystical ways that Rowan finds out unexpectedly. 

Lycan - A big black dog.

      Lycan, is a two hundred and seventy-five pound, black fur dog, whom is massive in every way. He likes no one and lets everyone know just how much he doesn't like them. He is intelligent and thinks as a human. He is all knowing and to kill, does not leave him with any remorse, only satisfaction of his own survival and strength. He has a "Don't mess with me" attitude and is not afraid to prove it to anyone. He has never feared anyone or anything until...Jazyk Wentworth was summons.

Raindrop and Buttercup  - They are tiny fairies.

These little fairies are best friends and frolic in Rowan's garden, unseen.  Sometimes they go into her house and leave little gifts for her under her pillow, in the fruit basket and other fun places. But, when they find a bottle of bubbles on the kitchen counter, is when Rowan finds she cannot believe her eyes and what magic bubbles can bring.

Edison - He is a smart, well educated, mystical owl.  

      A pure white owl who is not only a messenger of news to Rowan, but a messenger of knowledge too. Through Edison life becomes a delightful adventure where you normally only go to... in dreams. 

Author's Note

All feedback is welcome.

Reviews

[ba_mcfarlane]

I'm not much of a critic, that puts the stipulation out of the way. A lot of these characters grabbed me, their outlines alone pulled me in. Something tells me that you have a lot of the main theme scoped out. I can hardly wait to read it!