Do you have a favorite book of mine? Can you tell me why? As I begin another novel, I’d love to incorporate your ideas into my writing to make the story stronger. Your thoughts mean so much.
Heartfelt thanks!
I just posted this on my Facebook author page if you’d like to join in the discussion there…Laura FrantzAuthor
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Courting Morrow Little. Because it went past the wedding. 🙂
Sally, I think you’ve hit on Morrow’s secret appeal – life after I DO :). Truly, that is so rare in the CBA oftentimes. Also the children being born, too. There’s something about a book with babies/kids that makes it extra special. The Facebook comments are so interesting – I think everyone is going over there so am glad you’ve chimed in here! I treasure your thoughts. Thank you.
YES!! YES!! YES!!!!!
Romance does not end at ‘I do’!!
SO glad you think so, too :)!! I’m in the process of finishing a story about another married couple. It’s been a joy to explore that theme again – although, sniff, the hero doesn’t remotely resemble RS! But YOU did name this new hero, after all, and I’m eternally grateful for your quick mind, my friend! SMO, it is :)!
Ahhhh, my SMO!! I am SO looking forward to meeting ‘my’ hero. HA! Mine…
As for my quick mind? Thank you, Laura, that’s a sweet compliment.
You have the wit I don’t and have always longed for. But enjoying it secondhand through you is a true blessing :)!
Courting Morrow Little just because of how much faith and heart she had to have to love Red Shirt. In a time when their marriage would have been frowned upon. And to think if marriages like theirs hadn’t happen in real life most of us wouldn’t be here today.
Carissa, I remember every word you’ve said about Morrow and CML when faced with those who’ve said Morrow is weak. Can you imagine the kind of story CML would be if Morrow had been strong from the start instead of a gradual unfolding of stamina and the “faith and heart” you speak of here? You really understand the heart of that story and I’m so grateful for you. Your ongoing faithfulness in many areas of your life (and not just my books) is an ongoing example to me!!
CML!!! 🙂 for every reason I wrote to you the other day. It is the best ever!
Eva, I treasure your support of CML in an age when there are SO many books that come and go and are quickly forgotten. You restore my faith in books that last for whatever reason the Lord allows. I had such a struggle writing Morrow’s story – once it was done I threw out half of it and rewrote it before I sent it in to my editor. Lots of angst and uncertainty in the writer which must have come across to the reader in those pages, hopefully in a good way. So your endorsement means all the more when I think of how it almost didn’t come to be :). I’m so thankful you’re in my life.
I’m gonna need a cup of tea for this…
Okay, here we go…
I LOVED TCL and LR, because the levels of adversity over which each character must overcome were gripping, and real. Both Cass and Silas were MEN, aye, manly, swarthy MEN. None of this milquetoasty, pasty white, don’t get my breeches muddy, poofy haired, frothy silk waist-coated girly boys. They are MEN.
And even though Eden and Roxie are strong, there is in each an insurmountable wall that is only breachable by a man strong enough to fail in front of the woman he loves.
But seriously, you and I both know that CML is a book I go back to again and again. One of the reasons is the page by page, excruciating ruination of who Morrow was, and the emergence of who she will be. Each page is a step up her mountain, away from all that she knows, and toward what she needs.
Her world is eroding at an alarming rate, and the only constants that are safe are either useless, unable or un-willing to help her. So as it is in life, she must take the happiness offered to her before it’s too late. And what is that happiness? A man so abbhored by those around her that she is simply rent in two.
And as is in life, when the veil is torn, then the beauty is set free. Morrow knows Red Shirt loves her and will stop at nothing to keep her safe. She thinks she is weak, he knows better. She thinks she is safe, but that’s when the reader is thrown for yet another loop! It is through her greatest trial that her miracle occurs, which is also perfectly true to life as we know it.
In my mind’s eye, I can see her world as a lush forest. But only when she leaves that forest and aims for the wide open, and the deeper unknown, then the fruits of her faith come out into the full light of a prairie dawn.
Oh such a treasure trove of words! That you have a writer’s mind and soul there is little doubt :). Love, love, love your thoughts here about Eden and Roxanna and their men, real manly men, who risk everything for the women they love and nearly fail doing so.
You have read CML so many times I DO think you have an understanding of that book that outdistances mine in many respects. We each respond to a book from our own worldview and life experience and emotional depth (or the lack of) and you really, really ‘get’ this book. You make it an epic journey because you see ALL that is there, every layer and thread, every emotion. Love when you say, “she thinks she is weak, he knows better.” The other night I reread the scene in which he tells her she is not weak, that he would never have married a weak woman. Her circumstances have debilitated her in many respects but the paradox is that he, the enemy, helps her overcome her fears. But you state it so much better than I do above. And I treasure your thoughts and your faithfulness to this story. You and Carissa and Eva and others here make the agony of writing worthwhile :).
I always pray the Lord will place my books in the hands of readers who would be blessed by them and the beauty of that is that you bring such a blessing in return. THANK YOU. And now that I’ve written a novella here you can finally take a nap…!
Amber, Divine timing! Earlier today I referred someone to you for editing services :). And I’m always thrilled to help promote your books!
I really treasure your thoughts about CML. The way you describe what worked for you as a reader/author really is insightful.I have always liked the cover for CML though I have often thought the title isn’t really representative of the book. But perhaps it really is as there was definitely some courting going on, just in a very unusual way and with an unusual hero. Another reader the other day told me she would love a sequel in Red Shirt’s POV. I was charmed :).
Wishing you every joy and success as you work on Morning Glory.
I know the story will sing and have your signature style. Thanks for taking time here, too! I guess I need some editing as I can’t correct this italic!
A sequel would be awesome, Laura, but after thinking about it, I think reading CML again but through RS’s pov would be wonderous! Wishful thinking, I know.
Still thinking on my own response for this post. Have an amazing weekend.
Cindy, BLESS YOU for commenting – I know you are maxed out busy with your busy brood! Glad you think RS’s POV might be worthwhile. Trying to climb into his head after 4 years would be a challenge. I would have to reread CML over and over again and pray, pray, pray!
I hope you have an amazing weekend, too. Supposed to be sunny here. But I’d rather be in your big, beautiful yard hiding Easter eggs and such for your littles :)!
Although CML is my beloved favorite, Love’s Awakening offered something I appreciated- the transformation of the hero, Jack. You stayed true to his character but developed him in such a wonderful, believable way. I loved the twist, as he was the one to speak with Elspeth. His experience enabled him to do that, I think, and I see that as a striking way to tie this book with the previous. I didn’t expect that, just as I didnt expect the main twist in TCL! You sneaky author, you!
I can’t leave without touching on Morrow and Red Shirt. With that book, you spoke to my heart. You filled it with an sense of grandeur, even in the smallest form of detail. The love story is of epic form. The relationship between Morrow and her father breathtakingly touching to me. The life Morrow and Red Shirt have…awe inspiring. I still have to stand back and wonder how you accomplished it all. But why do I even wonder? The Lord guided your every word and THAT’S what i want in a book from you and THAT’S what you do each time. I don’t think I can pinpiont as elequently as previous commenters, but I will say this…that book shows your artistry and heart. Each book of yours does and is such a gift!!!!!
Oh Amy, Welcome, beautiful words! I’m as touched now by them as I was when I first read your review of CML shortly after it came out. And now you’ve blessed me again. Thank you. Your own “artistry and heart” is evident in these comments here as well. And you’re so right when you understand and state that the Lord guides every word! As I get ready to begin another book and try to keep it fresh and memorable and full of the wonder you mention, there’s a huge part of me that says, “Can I do it again?” I can’t but HE can. I’m always amazed at how HE works through us despite our inabilities and weaknesses and flaws. Truly miraculous :)!
And if you only knew how much your savvy insights about Jack Turlock thrill me. I wondered, as I wrote that scene between him and Elspeth, if anyone would see the meaning there. YOU DO! He was definitely the one to confront her – he even understood her – having been in the pit himself. So appreciate you saying you see that as a tie in with book 1. Yes. Glad it held a surprise for you. You’re going to find another similar twist in Wren’s story with Jack, Elspeth, and cast. I’d love to know what you think after reading that – am sure you’ll catch all those little nuances many people miss!
I’ve said it before but I’m thrilled to see you here and back online again. You’ve been missed! But certainly not forgotten!!! Thanks for taking time to tell me these heartfelt things.
Oh my, pardon MY typos. 🙂
Laura,
I love all of your books, but the books set in the Kentucky wilderness stand out the most to me. CML is amazing on so many levels and I’m not eloquent enough to explain myself as well as the others. I think your true passion shines through those novels and you can’t help but feel swept away.
Morrow’s relationship with RS was so intricately unfolded that you truly felt all the emotion she was feeling.
I thought some more on RS’s POV last night and there were certain scenes that played in my mind that were begging for his thoughts.
RS is by far my most favorite hero of any novel I’ve read. The best part is that I see so many of my husband’s characteristics in him. I love that!
I was so happy to hear that you were returning to the wilderness. I love the Ballantynes in their own way, but for me they were missing that haunting tone that I’ve come to crave from your novels. With that being said, I cant’t wait to get lost in Wren’s story.
I was touched that you would want to play easter egg hunt with my kids. You have a way of describing my life right now that makes me want to jump in and enjoy it. I guess it’s time for me to back up and try to adjust my point of view. 🙂
Cindy, I treasure your thoughts – and the “passion” you mention as well as the “haunting” quality really resonates as that is what those Kentucky books had. You are so insightful to recognize that! When I turned in my second Ballantyne book and had moved out of the 18th-century into the 19th, I told my editor that LA was the tamest story I had ever written. She didn’t understand but YOU do! Wren is a bit more Lael-like though the tension in LF, being 1850, is not the same as 1770, etc. I long to get back to the Kentucky woods where I belong :).
So interesting about Red Shirt. I’m amazed he was such a memorable character because he was so inaccessible as far as his thoughts yet he still made an impression. Only God could have done that. I remember not having that conversion scene in the first few drafts where Morrow watches from afar and sees him on his knees. I put that in later and am so glad I followed that prompting. I love that you see your husband in him, your own real-life hero!
🙂 Don’t be too hard on yourself if your life feels like one big tired blur right now. I so remember how tired I was and in need of just a few seconds alone when my boys were small. For some reason I loved Easter with them because I always made little baskets and we decorated/hid eggs. Only our dog would gobble them up oftentimes! Now they wouldn’t hunt an egg if I bribed them. Sniff! In fact, I’m not quite sure what we’re even doing that day other than going to church…
Have a blessed weekend. Thanks SO much for your thoughts here. They mean so much.
I, too, really enjoyed Courting Morrow Little.It’s a lovely story with a romance that tenderly blossoms. I also agree with the readers saying that it’s special because it shows life after the wedding.
Ganise, I’m so happy you read CML and find RS a worthy hero. You read a lot of books and meet a lot of them! Thanks for your thoughts. They really help me as I begin another book :). Have a blessed Easter!
Guess I’m in the minority, but “The Colonel’s Lady” is my favorite. Colonel Cassius McLinn is the perfect hero because he was willing to lay aside his love and desire for Roxanna for her own safety and well being. Even though there were times she thought the worst of him, he remained steadfast in his feelings for her even though it broke his own heart. Sounds kind of like our ultimate “HERO” whose resurrection we’ll be celebrating this weekend, huh??
Amy, You’re not alone in your TCL comments – at least over on Facebook! Cass is a special character to me, too, and I love your insights here. You really understand his heart and motives and his gentlemanly, Christlike actions. SO thankful we have the ultimate hero to celebrate this weekend! So well said. Thank you :). I pray your Easter is especially blessed. You’ve sure blessed me with your comments here!
Guess I’m in the minority, but “The Colonel’s Lady” is my favorite. Colonel Cassius McLinn is the perfect picture of a hero. He was willing to put aside his love and desire for Roxanna, to ensure her safety and wellbeing. Even though there were times she thought the worst of him, his feelings for her remained steadfast.