I’m currently reading book 3 in The Ballantyne Legacy aloud. All 97,000 words, my shortest novel to date! I can nearly hear my editors sigh with relief! My longest was The Frontiersman’s Daughter which weighed in at a whopping 124,000 words. This next story is due to my publisher September 1. I’ve been editing and rewriting and polishing madly since I finished writing the book last April. It’s been so interesting covering 3 generations in one family. After spending so much time with them I feel like they’re my own!
The collage above gives you a peek at a few of the character templates I had in mind while writing Love’s Reckoning, Love’s Awakening, and what I’ve come to call Love’s Enduring. The novel dates are 1784, 1822, and 1850.
You have Eden and Silas at left, Ellie and Jack in the middle, and the not-to-be-named couple at far right in book 3. No spoilers for you!
One of the oddest things about being an author is that you’ve already moved on to another book and another story world while your readers are getting ready to immerse themselves in one you’ve left behind…
Do you “picture” characters as you’re reading a novel? Do you have certain time periods that are favorites for you?
*Image of Eden by Brandon Hill; other images Pinterest