When developing the idea for a novel, one of the areas I must consider carefully is the job of the hero and the heroine. Sounds superficial and unimportant, perhaps… after all, we are not our jobs; we are much more besides. But the job of a character is important for two reasons

First, the career helps convey the identity of the character. For example, Coral in Burning Embers is a freelance photographer, and this tells us much about her character. That she takes photos for a living tells us that she is creative and interested in the world around and in different perspectives – and possibly also that she feels comfortable being a spectator rather than feeling the need to be an actor, in the centre of a drama. That she is photographing animals tells us that she cares about wildlife and respects the creatures that are native to Kenya. And that she is freelance, rather than employed, says much about her independence and her courage in following her own course.

Rafe, the hero, is also self-employed – running a successful sisal plantation and a nightclub. The nightclub element shows us that he has a sensual side with which he is very much in tune. And of course his independence and success in business make him attractive as a love match.

The second important element of career choice comes down to compatibility. Interestingly, a recent survey has found that you are most compatible with someone from a different career to your own (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2195922/Women-teachers-likely-firemen-How-career-affects-date.html). According to the survey, the following couples are most compatible: banker and teacher or doctor, and teacher and fireman. That may be so, but I believe there needs to be some common ground – some similar values when it comes to career.

Do a freelance photographer and a self-employed businessman as in Burning Embers have enough in common? Will each understand the other’s career, support it, respect it, value it? Do their careers allow for mutual balance; equilibrium, so one is not carrying the other? Yes, I think so. Each gives the other a chance to see them at work, and each finds their love deepened by getting to know this facet of the other. And as Sigmund Freud put it, ‘Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.’