Jonathan Goodman
September Character Interview
Patricia Parrington ~ September 15, 2026
Hello my lovely readers and fellow booklovers! For those of you new here, I, your inquisitive host Patricia Parrington, have the pleasure of interviewing characters from books all over the world.
Today Jonathan Goodman is here with us from the adult upmarket contemporary fiction novel A Thousand Wings of Light by Cynthia Beach. Cynthia is the author of The Surface of Water (IVP), sequel, A Thousand Wings of Light, and writing book, Creative Juices for Writers. She was a long-time writing professor and is now serving as writer in residence in Scotland.
Meet Jonathan
Welcome to Fable Features!
[Patricia sets a plate of rice Krispy treats on the coffee table.]
These are from my sister. Help yourself!
Thanks, Patricia. I love food.
[Jonathan grabs one.]
[Patricia selects one and settles back against the checkered couch pillows.]
Do you have any family? What are they like?
Dad’s a pastor—a Mega Dude, Mom’s a homecoming queen for life. Oh. I shouldn’t say that. Mom’s changing, I think. I can finally see into her eyes. Brother Luke? Ain’t a brother. But Aggrey—my roomie in Kenya—now there’s a brother.
I’m sensing a little tension in your answers. Family isn’t always easy to get along with, huh?
[Patricia fiddles with one of the pillows.]
What do you do to calm yourself after waking up from a nightmare?
Well. Sometimes you don’t get to wake up out of your nightmare.
Sometimes you get a phone call on a Saturday when you’re just showing the Kenyan kiddos a devil’s flower mantis and you know. You just know. The nightmare’s started. Dad found in Lake Michigan over a mile from shore?
I don’t get to wake up from this one.
[Patricia’s green eyes widen.]
That’s awful. Is he okay? Do you know any details about what happened?
Yeah. No.
[Jonathan cracks a knuckle.]
Dad’s in an induced coma—and Trish’s nowhere to be found. So, ah, we don’t know. We just don’t know a thing.
I’m sorry. That must be really hard.
[Patricia surreptitiously places a box of tissues on the coffee table.]
Let’s focus back on you. What are you skilled at?
Oh, right.
[Jonathan starts to crack his knuckles again and stops.]
Right. I’m good on Indian motorbikes. I’m good with women. Well, not anymore. Out of practice. With Trish gone now. Doc Beechum—Doctor Beechum, I mean—is challenging me. He’d say I’m smart. Very smart. Oh, hmm. I’m good with kiddos like Tim-Tim. And I’d like to get good at flying Jack’s Cessna.
Very cool!
[Patricia’s eyes soften.]
I can hear in your voice when you mentioned Tim-Tim that you also care a lot for the kiddos. Do you get to work with many kids?
[She pauses and taps her chin.]
You know, I don’t think I asked yet what you do for a living.
I teach at Hope Valley School in Kenya—for orphans. We all live in the same compound so it’s—well—cool. Real cool. It’s the kiddos, right? It’s the kiddos.
Definitely! What a cool opportunity to help others and pour into the kids.
What’s something hard you faced recently?
[Jonathan slouches.]
The Goodman Empire—crumbling.
Oh that’s right—I heard about that on the news. That must be so difficult to see your family go through that.
I can tell this is a hard topic for you, so we won’t linger. Switching gears, what seemingly insignificant memory sticks with you?
Dad. Do you know what he told me? He’s still in the hospital and isn’t talking ’cause he aspirated some water, near drowned. You heard about it. Big news in Chicago. But yeah, last April, he told me he used to measure my foot with his thumb. Couldn’t fathom it. My dad being a dad? Almost like he liked being one. Did not know!
That must’ve been so powerful to hear! Sometimes there’s a side of people we never really get to know if we don’t ask.
On a lighter note, what’s your favorite summer activity?
Well, a month ago I’d of said staring at Trish Card. But yeah, okay, ah, motorbiking. Got two Indians. Classics. Think I already said it. Did I? Not sleeping much ’cause of Dad.
Motorbiking sounds like a lot of fun. And don’t worry about repeating things. You’re going through a stressful time right now and the readers will understand.
[Patricia leans forward suddenly with a grin.]
So. You keep mentioning this Trish Card. Who is she? What first caught your eye about her?
Trish. Yeah. Dad’s admin assistant.
[Jonathan rubs his eyes.]
She’s something, you know? Smart. Knows everything about birds. Street smart too—she grew up in Parkfield. I’ve seen where, the Trentwood Apartments—with Andres’s family. His mom? Incredible. Poor as all get out and they took Trish in when her mom died. She was just a kid.
Yeah, I met her during my surprise visit back to Chicago last April—for Gramp’s, well, never mind—and fell for her like a loon. But it’s complicated now. Um, real complicated.
She sounds like an amazing woman. I hope things get a little less complicated between you two!
What’s a sound you’ll never forget?
[Jonathan shifts and scowls.]
Oh, alright, I’ll tell you: that awful whoosh-thump-thump of Dad’s ventilator.
That is a hard sound to forget.
[Patricia considers him quietly for a moment.]
I’d like to wrap up with one last question if that’s okay. If you got the opportunity to go back and change one thing in your past, would you do it? What would that be?
Told Dad I loved him more often. That’s all. Just that.
I think that’s a great way to use the opportunity to change something in your past.
[Patricia smiles and stands.]
Thank you so much for chatting with me today, Jonathan. I hope things get a little better with your family and that your dad makes a full recovery.
End of interview.
Want to Read More?
Jonathan’s author, Cynthia Beach, can be found on her website, www.CynthiaBeach.com. You can purchase A Thousand Wings of Light on US Amazon, UK Amazon, and at Barnes & Noble.
man on motorcycle & book cover: A Thousand Wings of Light 
author: Cynthia Beach
See Ya Next Time
Aaand that's all the time we have today. Thank you, readers, for coming. And thank you, Jonathan, for letting us get to know you! See y'all next time.
If you would like to submit a character to be interviewed for a future issue of Fable Features, please send an email to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Fable Features.
Please note that erotica and content with excessive vulgar language will not be accepted.
If you have questions you'd like Patricia Parrington to ask in a future interview, please submit them to linnae.writer@gmail.com with the subject line: Interview Questions.
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