One Sunny Day
Chapter 1 On this Sunny Day, we meet…
ON THIS SUNNY DAY, WE MEET…
Ollie Chiles – Glasgow-born actor who shot to world-wide stardom when he landed the lead role, playing a Scottish warrior in The Clansman, an American TV spin-off of the movie franchise of the same name, watched by millions across the globe.
Co-founder and investor in the Moira Chiles Academy of Drama and Music in Glasgow, a free performing arts school for underprivileged kids, named after the single mum who brought him up.
Stevie Dixon – Ollie’s girlfriend of a year.
A fan of her beloved namesake, Stevie Nicks, she has the blonde hair and the throaty voice, but not the wild ways and the rock and roll lifestyle.
Born and brought up in Ireland, she came to university in Glasgow and stayed.
Now a radiographer in the Emergency Department at Glasgow Central Hospital.
Moira Chiles – Ollie’s mum, a former pub crooner and cabaret singer on cruise ships.
Now manages the Academy her son named after her, an honour that she deeply appreciated, even though her faced burned with the mortification of it for a month.
Now happily shacked up with her first love, Nick, after re-uniting during a holiday to Hong Kong the previous year.
Calvin Fraser – Moira and Ollie’s former entertainment manager, prides himself on his grooming standards, his patience and his ability to survive almost forty years in the shark-infested waters of the film and TV industry.
Now retired, he co-founded the Academy with Ollie, in a bid to nurture the next generation of stars.
Netta McGonigle – Widow, since the death of her husband, Fergus, two years ago, mum to Blair and Mandy, granny to four-year-old Lyle and canteen supervisor at the Moira Chiles Academy. Also has a part-time voluntary job doling out advice and care on the Family Listening Line.
Blair McGonigle – Netta’s son and dad to Lyle, divorced, an electrician who is dealing with the breakdown of his marriage by working round the clock to build his business.
Kiki Strang – Teaching assistant with a second job working in a boutique. Devoted mother to sixteen-year-old Ava. Never married and perennially irritated by the lack of commitment from her daughter’s father. Has been in love with the same guy since she was sixteen, but it’s complicated.
Ava Strang – Kiki’s teenage daughter, a budding performer at the Academy, desperate to be an actress and singer – if she can just get over her nerves, her worries and her sadness that her dad has a habit of letting her down.
Ginny Canavan – Jobbing actress and drama coach at the Moira Chiles Academy. On the verge of the break that she’s dreamt of since she was getting grounded for tap dancing on her mother’s coffee table.
Caden Church – Ginny’s aesthetically blessed boyfriend, an established theatre actor who plays the lead role in the touring production of Judas – The Traitor, a smash hit rock opera inspired by the iconic Jesus Christ Superstar.
Alyssa Canavan – Ginny’s sister (technically half-sister, but they choose to ignore the half). Owner of the Once Upon A Time Café in the village of Weirbridge, she loves her business, her customers and her family. Although Ginny makes her roll her eyes a lot.
Hugo Canavan – Ginny and Alyssa’s grandfather who – together with his late wife, Effie – played a huge part in raising the girls. A former carpenter, he now works part-time in the café, and even if she married Channing Tatum, Hugo would still be Ginny’s very favourite man.
Jessie McLean – Owner of the building that houses the Copper Curls hair salon and the Once Upon A Time Café.
Very forgiving wife of Stan (Alyssa’s biological father, thanks to an illicit one-night stand between Stan and Alyssa’s mother, Dorinda, over two decades before), mother of two hairdressers, Georgie and Grant, pillar of the community with a fondness for tea, cake and her army of pals.
Georgie Dern – Jessie and Stan’s daughter, shares a father with Alyssa…
which makes her Ginny’s half-sister’s half-sister.
Ginny prefers to just call her a pal – it’s much easier to explain.
Brought up in the salon, Georgie spends most of the year on TV sets in her role as Ollie Chiles’ personal hairdresser.
Currently expecting a baby with her London-based love, Lachlan Morden.