Character Reading: Jane Renard

My friend and fellow writer, J.L. Wilson, has been here before. She writes mysteries with a touch of gray and definitely love too. I had the opportunity to do a reading for one of her characters, Jane Renard. Jane is also a writer who uses the pen name of Phire Fox. She’s a Capricorn with a January 3 birthday and shares my birth year of 1961.

Here’s a bit about the book: Professor Jane Renard’s estranged husband was murdered in front of a thousand Z.Z. Top fans at the Minnesota State Fair — while Jane sat in the crowd. Marcus Sloan, a security guard, is her alibi and is soon her ally when she’s briefly suspected of murder.

That’s not her only problem. Jane has a ‘secret’ life as an erotic author and she’s up for a job promotion at college. If they find out about her novels, she’s sunk. Plus her best friend is being threatened by a vengeful ex, Jane’s getting disturbing fan mail to her alter ego and a guy keeps calling and talking dirty on the phone.

Jane’s biggest problem, though, is her inexperience with men. Marcus might be the man to help her add some interesting firsthand facts to her novels. Maybe she can also discover if happily ever after only happens in books.

By the way, if you want to learn how to use the Tarot for creating characters, take an online class with me. If you just want to dive into the Tarot and learn how to read for yourself and others, I’m also doing a class for that online.

Don’t miss the contest at the end! Now for the reading.

1. How do you see the people around you?

The Moon is a card that can indicate some delusion. You may see the people around you in one way but they are really quite another matter.

There is some deception going on here. What you see in the moonlight looks very different in the sunlight. This card makes me think that you are being deceived or that you are being deceptive.

Jane’s Response:

I have a great deal of respect for the supernatural (my family background is unique, to say the least) and I must say, your interpretation of this card is, well, just perfect.

I was terribly deceived in my past by my ex-husband. Well, I thought he was my ex. As it turns out, there might have been a mix-up with the divorce papers and then when Toby turned up dead, things got totally messed up.

Am I being deceptive? Perhaps, a little. I write those erotic novels and it’s true, I have very little, um, experience in that area. Of course, not that situation is being rectified in a most competent and enthusiastic way by my lover (oh, I enjoy saying that word!), Marcus Sloan.

2. How are you seen by the people around you?

The Seeker of Wands is someone who is always on the move. Always has some project going. Your co-workers and friends see you as someone who stays busy but sometimes your busy seems to be you hiding from something.

This seeker is someone is passionate and on fire. He carries a flaming staff that he holds just a little too close to the hot end. You may be seen as someone who burns the candle at both ends. Do your friends know that you play with fire? J

Jane’s Response:

This interpretation leaves me breathless. Truly.

How did you know that’s my name? My pen name is “Phire Fox,” which is a play on my real name. My real name, of course, is Jane Phyre Renard. ‘Phyre’ is Rom for “burning brightly” and since I have red hair it’s very appropriate. And ‘Renard’ is French for fox, so it seemed natural to use that as my pen name.

And of course I have a project underway. I have two jobs: one as a college professor and one as an author of, ahem, erotic novels. So I’m always busy. Always.

I’m not hiding from anything. Perhaps I was, before I met Marcus, but…now? I don’t know. Perhaps he needs to answer that more completely.

3. What is your most important goal?

The Fool is a great card for a goal. You seem to have set your mind to trying different things out. That’s an unusual goal for a Capricorn, Jane, but maybe you have gotten a bit tired of always fitting into a pattern?

This card tells me that you want to take some chances and risks. Now these would be calculated risks. No need to risk the bank account or the reputation—is there?

Or is there? With this tendency towards leaping, who knows!

Jane’s Response:

I’ve taken quite a few risks in my life, but none as big as the one I decided to take with Marcus. There I was, content in my spinsterhood, a 50-something school teacher with a comfortable position at a small college.

And then he walked into my life. A security guard, an ex-cop, and an experienced man who knows his way around the world.

I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. Oh, I could trust him with my life. But I wasn’t sure if I could trust him with my heart. After all, there was that lost love in his past, and was he comparing me to her? I wasn’t sure.

Well, that was a big leap for me, I’m telling you! And a few years earlier, I leapt into the world of erotic writing. I hadn’t read a single ‘hot’ book and suddenly I was writing them—and having a great time doing so!

Oh, my life has changed, hasn’t it?

4. Where do you get your strength from?

Seer of Wands is a companion to the Seeker. In most Tarot decks this is the Page which indicates a younger person. There may be a passionate person inside you who gives you strength. Perhaps your Capricorn self has an inner Sagittarian child who is just dying to get out and shake it loose a little.

This card also represents a pretty good sex life (or fantasy maybe) that shows you know how to use passion to find strength. And maybe a bit of a travel bug as well.

Jane’s Response:

My family is my strength, I suppose. A Rom family (Gypsy, to you non-Roms) can be a trial sometimes, but they are my base and I can always count on them for help. Sometimes they help just a little too much, like when my brother Robbie decided he needed to intervene because he wasn’t sure if I could handle myself. Or my sister and her daughters, who were ready to descend on me with Julia Roberts DVDs in hand, anxious to beat up anyone who harmed me or my friends.

As to the sex life…well, I won’t tell. But I will say that nothing beats a warm man in bed compared to a fictional man in your head. I’m just saying.

5. Why do you want to be remembered?

And here is where your Capricorn peeks out. The Seeker of Pentacles (Knight of Coins) is careful and traditional. This is the card that shows off your budgeting skills and planning ability.

You want to be remembered as the one who got the job done no matter what. You knew how to see what was ready to be harvested and what still needed work. You do not want to be known as the one who didn’t prepare.

Jane’s Response:

I feel I’ve done very well for myself in my life. I’ve made a happy life as a teacher and as an author, I have a pleasant home, I have friends and family, and I have Marcus now (I think I have him, at least. One never knows with men, does one?)

I would like to be remembered as the woman who helped put my best friend’s horrid ex-husband in jail for life and who made sure my best friend was happy. If my brother benefited from that happiness, then that’s perfect. I hope it works out the way I planned. I’m not really a matchmaker or a meddler. Reall, I’m not. It’s just that I would do anything I could to make sure Maggie didn’t have to suffer from that psychotic monster again. My plan was fool-proof.

Of course, I didn’t count on a sufficiently persistent fool intervening…

Enjoy an excerpt from PhDs, Pornography, & Premeditated Murder by J.L. Wilson.

Buy the book here.

CONTEST!!!!!!!

And there’s a contest too! YOu can win a print copy of PhDs, Pornography, & Premeditated Murder by leaving a comment for J.L. or Arwen. Make it a meaningful one please. Five extra entries if you Twitter/Facebook/blog it! You mustleave the link in a comment so I know you did it. International? No worries! J.L. will give you a digital copy!