Character Interview: LUCKY 13's Enrique Santiago

Characters step up to introduce themselves all the time. But once in  while I get lucky enough to meet a character who immediately grabs a hold of my heart and refuses to let go. Enrique "Ricky" Santiago is one of those characters. I loved him from his first grin! 

If you've already met him in LUCKY 13, here's a little more to love. If you haven't, find out what you're missing! 

 

 

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MK: Thanks for stopping by Ricky. The girls from my fan page have come up with these questions. I hope you’re up for this.

RS: I’m up for anything, Morgan.

MK: Okay, here we go. First question: Boxers or Briefs?

RS: *barks out a laugh* Boy, they aren’t gonna cut me any slack are they? I’m a boxer-brief kinda guy. Ya know, the best of both worlds.

MK: If you could portray a character in any book, who would it be?

RS: Seriously, Morgan. You know I don’t read.

MK: *smirks* The question isn’t whether or not you read.

RS: *shakes his head* I don’t know. *frowns* Oh good grief. Um… *smiles like a jack-o-lantern* It’d be kinda cool to be a teacher at Hogwarts.

MK: Did you actually read the Harry Potter series?

RS: Nope. But the movies were awesome! 

MK: Okay, let's get serious. After finding out what happened to Shayne, how did you handle the anger?

RS: Let’s get one thing straight, I wasn’t angry at Shayne.

 

MK: You weren’t?

RS: Not for what happened to her, but for her not telling me about it. My first gut reaction was to put my fist though the wall. I learned a long time ago that reacting while angry never ended well. So even though I felt violent, I took some deep breaths and focused on my family. My wife and son have a way of chilling me like nothin’ else.

MK: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?

RS: Back in the day, I would say wearing my heart on my sleeve. Now, though, I’m pretty damned happy to be such a sap. It got me the girl. *flashes big cheesy smile*

MK: Speaking of falling in love, if you had a daughter and she fell in love when she was sixteen, what would you say or do?

RS: *hands form fists* I, ah, I’m kinda protective… *nods* Yeah, I don’t like the idea of her getting her heart broken, but isn’t that what happens when you fall in love at sixteen? I guess what I’d do is patiently wait to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and tell her he wasn’t worth her. Yeah, I know that sounds cliché. But it’s the truth. Nobody’s worthy of my baby girl. And then I’d lock Matt in his room to keep him from beating the crap out of the kid.

MK: You love Matt, huh?

RS: *sports a duh! expression*

MK: What if you had to choose between Matt and baseball.

RS: No contest. Matt. *shakes his head* You had to know that one.

MK: I did. Truth is, so did the person who asked, but I wanted to put it out there anyway.

RS: *rolls his eyes*

MK: Next question: What is the best piece of advice you would give Shayne’s son?

RS: Our son.

MK: *smiles* I knew you’d correct that. What’s the best piece of advice you could give Matt?

RS: To follow his heart. That doesn’t always mean happy-happy-joy-joy, but regret is damn hard to live with. Be honorable. Tell the truth. And love with everything you are.

MK: Your family’s very lucky to have you.

RS: I’m the lucky one, Morgan. But you already knew that, too.

MK: Yeah, I did.

Matt: Come on, Da-…Oh, hey, Morgan. We were gonna grab a burger. Wanna join us?

MK: Yeah, can I bring…

Matt: No way, you need to leave your notebook in the car. Hurry. I’m starving clear to death. *races out of the room, slaps the door jamb*

RS: We’d better hurry before he starts eating the upholstery. 

LUCKY 13 is currently available 

via KINDLE, NOOK, other EBOOK and in Paperback.