Reader Guide: Rainbows and Lollipops

Jake's life is upended when his partner Tom dies suddenly in a car accident. Struggling with grief and guilt, Jake faces hostility from Tom's sister Rona, who blames him for the accident and demands he vacate their shared flat. Meanwhile, across Birmingham, senior law partner Vicky Harper navigates professional challenges and personal isolation when a mysterious threatening message disrupts her carefully controlled life.

KEY SCENES:

• Jake receiving the devastating news about Tom's death

• Vicky's strained interactions at her law firm's partner meeting

• Jake's confrontation with Rona at her Edwardian home

• Vicky's volunteer work at the LGBTQ+ Outreach Centre

• Jake learning about Rona's husband's connection to an evangelical church with far-right ties

AUTHOR NOTE: "The opening episode establishes our protagonists in their separate worlds before they collide. I wanted to show Jake and Vicky at moments of crisis - Jake losing the foundation of his life, and Vicky realizing how fragile her professional armor really is. The contrast between Jake's messy, emotional grief and Vicky's controlled, isolated existence creates the perfect conditions for an unlikely friendship."

As Jake's friends worry about his mental health, they suggest a silent retreat might help him process his grief. Vicky, receiving increasingly threatening messages and feeling trapped by work pressures, impulsively books the same retreat. Both arrive at the run-down Serenity Retreat expecting peace but finding anything but tranquility. Their paths cross over a dismal dinner, leading to a late-night garden conversation that breaks all the retreat's rules.

KEY SCENES:

• Fred suggesting the silent retreat to Jake

• Vicky receiving a second threatening message

• The retreat's teenage facilitator Bryn revealing the establishment's behind-the-scenes chaos

• Jake and Vicky's midnight adventure to a local convenience store

• Vicky's abrupt departure after receiving another threatening text

AUTHOR NOTE: "The Serenity Retreat represents everything these characters don't need - forced quiet when they actually need genuine connection. The contrast between the retreat's promises and its reality mirrors how both Jake and Vicky have been living - presenting polished exteriors while falling apart inside. Their rebellious late-night escape shows the first cracks in their respective coping mechanisms."

Jake remains at the retreat, struggling with memories of Tom and uncertainty about his future. Lucy arrives in the middle of the night, fleeing her own engagement party after discovering her fiancé's betrayal. As three strangers find themselves thrown together in this unlikely sanctuary, the first tentative bonds of friendship begin to form.

KEY SCENES:

• Lucy's dramatic middle-of-the-night arrival

• Jake's growing connection to both Lucy and the absent Vicky

• Flashbacks to critical moments in each character's past

• Bryn's unexpected wisdom as he navigates the adults' chaos

• The retreat owner's attempts to maintain the illusion of serenity

AUTHOR NOTE: "Episode Three introduces our final protagonist and completes our unlikely trio. Lucy has always been 'the golden girl,' but behind her perfect exterior lies someone suffocating under expectations. Her arrival - soaking wet, emotionally devastated - creates the perfect storm that forces all three characters to see beyond their initial impressions of each other."

Vicky returns to Birmingham haunted by the threatening messages, while Jake and Lucy form an unexpected alliance at the retreat. As Vicky investigates who might be targeting her, Jake receives news about Tom's funeral arrangements that forces him to confront Rona again. Lucy struggles with the aftermath of her broken engagement and her controlling father's demands.

KEY SCENES:

• Vicky's paranoid search of her apartment

• Jake and Lucy's heart-to-heart conversation about expectations versus reality

• Gerald Penrose's reaction to Lucy's canceled engagement

• Rona's attempts to exclude Jake from Tom's funeral

• The three protagonists' individual breaking points

AUTHOR NOTE: "This episode explores how we respond when pushed to our limits. Each character faces a moment where their established coping mechanisms fail them completely. It's at these breaking points that authentic connections become not just desirable but necessary for survival."

As Tom's funeral approaches, Jake finds unexpected support from Lucy and Vicky, who offers legal advice about his rights. Vicky finally discovers the source of the threatening messages, forcing her to confront both professional and personal vulnerabilities. Lucy stands up to her father for the first time, rejecting his narrative about her failed relationship.

KEY SCENES:

• Vicky using her legal expertise to help Jake

• Lucy's confrontation with her father

• The revelation about who has been threatening Vicky

• Jake preparing for Tom's funeral with his new friends' support

• The trio strategizing how to face their respective adversaries

AUTHOR NOTE: "Episode Five explores how chosen family empowers us to face conflicts we might otherwise avoid. Jake, Vicky, and Lucy find strength in their newfound connection, allowing them to confront the people and situations that previously intimidated them. This episode deliberately mirrors how traditional 'found family' narratives build toward resolution."

In the final episode, Jake attends Tom's funeral with Vicky and Lucy by his side, finally gaining closure despite Rona's hostility. Vicky makes a bold professional decision that prioritizes her values over advancement. Lucy begins rebuilding her life on her own terms, free from others' expectations. As summer ends, the three friends face the future together, bound by the family they've chosen.

KEY SCENES:

• The emotional funeral scene where Jake finally says goodbye to Tom

• Vicky's confrontation with her firm's partners

• Lucy's fresh start

• The trio's celebration of their unlikely friendship

• A final scene suggesting their story is just beginning

AUTHOR NOTE: "The conclusion brings our three protagonists full circle - not by resolving all their problems, but by showing how connection transforms our relationship to those problems. The 'troubled British summer' is ending, but their chosen family remains. I wanted to avoid a neat, tidy ending in favor of showing how friendship creates resilience in an ongoing way."

JAKE

A compassionate, somewhat anxious man in his early forties who has built his life around his relationship with Tom. Jake works in customer service at Horizon Seeking Holidays but finds himself adrift after Tom's sudden death. His grief is complicated by Tom's sister Rona, who blames him for the accident and wants to evict him from their shared flat. Jake's journey involves not just processing his loss but finding his voice and building a new kind of family.

INSPIRATION NOTE: "Jake embodies how grief can simultaneously devastate us and open us to new connections. His character explores how loss forces us to reevaluate who we are when a central relationship is gone. I wanted to show a gay character whose challenges aren't primarily about his sexuality, but about universal experiences of loss and rebuilding."

VICKY

A high-achieving Black trans woman who has built her identity around professional success. As a senior partner at Walker, Haynes & Dobson law firm, Vicky maintains a carefully controlled exterior while keeping everyone at arm's length. When mysterious threatening messages disrupt her ordered life, she's forced to confront her isolation and reassess what really matters. Beneath her "Ice Queen" reputation lies someone longing for genuine connection.

INSPIRATION NOTE: "Vicky's character explores how marginalized people often feel pressured to be exceptional just to be accepted. Her journey isn't about her transition (which is part of her backstory rather than her central narrative) but about learning to let people in after years of self-protection. The professional armor she's built becomes both her strength and her prison."

LUCY

Described as "the golden girl," Lucy has spent her life performing perfection for others, particularly her controlling father Gerald. When she discovers her fiancé's betrayal just before their wedding, her carefully curated life collapses. Her arrival at the Serenity Retreat marks her first real act of rebellion. Lucy's journey involves breaking free from others' expectations and discovering who she really is beneath the perfect exterior.

INSPIRATION NOTE: "Lucy represents how conforming to expectations can become its own kind of prison. While Jake and Vicky have faced external prejudice, Lucy has internalized societal pressures to the point of losing herself. Her journey is about reclaiming her authentic voice and desires after years of performing for others' approval."

CHOSEN FAMILY

The novel's central theme explores how people create meaningful family connections beyond biological ties. When traditional support systems fail or prove insufficient, the characters build a chosen family that provides acceptance, understanding, and strength.

AUTHOR NOTE: "The concept of chosen family has always resonated deeply with me. Many LGBTQ+ people know what it means to create family bonds that transcend biological connection. I wanted to explore how three very different people might form this kind of bond in response to crisis, and how those connections can become as meaningful—sometimes more so—than conventional family ties."

GRIEF AND RESILIENCE

Through Jake's story particularly, the novel explores grief not as something to "get over" but as an experience that transforms us. His journey shows how loss can lead to new connections and unexpected growth.

AUTHOR NOTE: "I deliberately avoided portraying grief as a neat, linear process with a tidy resolution. Jake's experience reflects the messy reality of loss—how it comes in waves, how it changes over time but never completely disappears, and how new connections don't replace what's lost but create space for a different kind of healing."

AUTHENTICITY VERSUS EXPECTATION

All three protagonists struggle with the gap between who they really are and who others expect them to be. Their friendship provides the first space where they can be fully authentic without performance or pretense.

AUTHOR NOTE: "Each character has adapted to others' expectations in different ways—Jake by prioritizing Tom's needs over his own, Vicky by creating a perfect professional persona that keeps everyone at a distance, and Lucy by becoming exactly who her father wants her to be. Their journey together involves shedding these adaptive selves and discovering who they might be when truly seen and accepted."

"Rainbows and Lollipops" is set in Birmingham during the summer of 2024, with the city serving as more than just a backdrop. From the bustling city center where Vicky works to the suburban streets of Jake's childhood home, Birmingham's diverse neighborhoods reflect the characters' different worlds.

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LOCATION NOTES:

• Manbury House - Vicky's sleek, minimalist high-rise apartment with its "active" residents' association represents her aspirational but ultimately hollow professional success

• Bäckerei Bretzel - The Austrian-style café where Jake and Emma meet became a symbol of comfort and connection amid grief

• Serenity Retreat - Located in Clent, this run-down Victorian country house promised peace but delivered chaos, becoming the unlikely crucible for friendship

• Edgbaston - Rona's imposing Edwardian townhouse in this affluent suburb represents the privilege and power that intimidates Jake

• Havercroft Lane - Jake's childhood home, where he temporarily returns, represents both regression and the comfort of familial love

AUTHOR NOTE: "Birmingham is my home, and I wanted to capture its contradictions, its beauty, and its challenges. The city has transformed dramatically in recent years, yet maintains connections to its industrial past. This tension between transformation and tradition mirrors the characters' journeys as they honor their histories while creating new futures."

THE GENESIS OF THE NOVEL

"Rainbows and Lollipops" began with a simple question: What happens when the family we're born into isn't enough? This evolved into exploring how three strangers might form connections that transcend conventional relationships during a time of personal and societal upheaval.

AUTHOR NOTE: "The story came together faster than anything I've ever attempted to write before. Somehow, I found myself with a first draft within weeks rather than months, and smugly figured I was special—until my editor showed me how much work remained! The characters of Jake, Vicky, and Lucy arrived nearly fully-formed in my imagination, each representing different aspects of the struggle for authentic connection in an increasingly disconnected world."

THE SCREENPLAY FORMAT DECISION

The novel's unique structure, with screenplay-style scene headings and episodic format, wasn't just a stylistic choice but reflected how the story first appeared in my imagination.

AUTHOR NOTE: "I initially saw this story playing out like a streaming series I wanted to binge-watch. The visual language of screenplays—INT. and EXT. markers, time indicators, scene transitions—helped me create a rhythm that moved between characters and timelines while maintaining clarity. My editor thought I'd lost the plot (literally), but somehow it worked!"

The novel is set during "the troubled British summer of 2024," with references to societal tensions and political unrest providing context for the characters' personal struggles.

AUTHOR NOTE: "While writing, I imagined a near-future where existing tensions had escalated—far-right activity increasing, climate instability creating unpredictable weather, economic pressures intensifying. These external pressures mirror the internal crises the characters face, creating a world where finding your tribe becomes not just desirable but necessary for survival."