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
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Oh my! Comments aren’t working till now. So sorry for those of who who’ve tried to leave one. Hope you come back :). But thanks for reading anyway…
Great to see their templates. And this: “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…”
Oh my goodness yes. I feel like a split personality this week, half of me absorbed in Will and Neil, the other half in editing my second novel (first round of editing), which is also due around the first of September.
No wait. There’s also the WIP I’ve had to set aside to focus on the first two, but it’s still very much alive in my mind, so I’m really split three ways. I have heard that this is quite typical.
You know I meant WILLA and Neil. Sleepy fingers this morning. All three of me are still waking up. 🙂
Lori, Whose the sleepy head I wonder! I didn’t even notice :)!
So true, Lori, that we often juggle 3 or more books at once. I feel quite torn at times. I am already very sorry to let book 3 go! Wish we could just fully immerse ourselves in the moment but that just can’t be. Once you get those edits in you’ll feel freer. Like I will when this book is off my desk ;).
You were one of the first people who gave me the impetus to look around for character templates. Yours are so beautiful. I especially love the one of Tamsen!
Good Morning Laura,
I loved seeing this today. Eden and Silas are gorgeous of course, and couple #2 also. Hero #2 I remember from the TV show Felicity! Couldn’t figure out for the longest time who he was. But I have to say, Hero #3 is not as rugged as Hero 1 & 2. 🙂
And yes, always picturing the characters as I am reading…
Hope you are having a good Friday!
Georgianne
Georgianne, Love your thoughts! And you’ve solved the riddle of this very manly man in frame 2! I’ve not heard of Felecity but am very curious especially since it involves this rugged character! I had no idea where he came from. Up he popped on Pinterest awhile back with no credits. Thank you. As iron sharpens iron…! And you’re so right – hero #3 is a very different character in looks and manner than rugged Silas and Jack Turlock. I really wrestled with him while writing to try and get him right. He was quite difficult! And a consummate gentleman, at that ;)!
I think one of the best things about reading fiction is the movie that begins to play in our minds if the book comes alive as it should. I pray that keeps happening on my end for readers.
Hope you’re having a good Friday, too. Bless you for being here!
Laura,
Scott Speedman is his name and show was on from 1998 to 2002. He was much younger then.
I can’t wait the hear about the brand new project you are working on! You are such a blessing!!!
Oh my! He’s a Scotsman, I should have known! You are the blessing, Georgianne :). Thanks so much for sharing this. I went over and read his bio and watched a clip of the show. It looks very interesting and was apparently quite popular. Sometimes I wish my head wasn’t so often stuck in a book and I watched more TV and movies.
Thanks for being here and sharing some book talk. You make it all the sweeter!!
Oops!Sorry, I’ve been here for 20 minutes, making sure that photo of Gerard Butler is acceptable…and it is.
I pictured Natanii/Ta-gaid as Jay Tavare since about minute one. I could NOT find a single image that remotely came close. My friend Jo has been Sarah for a year. Thankfully, Jo has agreed to pose for my one-sheet!! And that nice Jay fellow has agreed to let me use his image on the one sheet as well, as long as he gets credit. Showing him Jo’s photo helped ALOT with the persuasion part of the discussion.
I’m not leaving the late 19th century any time soon, as I have two more books to write in that time period. Oh wait…three.
My next location will most likely be near where the Mountain Meadows Massacre happened. The story question hit me while I was…making the bed.
“Where do you run when the only safe place is in the arms of the enemy?”
Soooo, is that name that you won’t say the name I’m thinking of?
LOL, Jennifer – I needed a laugh out loud moment this morning and your first comment about dear Gerard just handed me that :). Bless you so much! I confess this is my favorite ever GB photo, though I sat for about 20 minutes on my end last night in a terrible snarl about which of my 2 favs to post!
Oh, your Jo sounds wonderful – isn’t it amazing that we JUST KNOW when we come across THE ONE template that nails it?! That happened to me in Spain with the heroine of the next book I’m working on. She was in the market square doing a pantomime with another person and I just stopped in my tracks. I have her photo on my desk to spur me on. And YES, that hero name IS indeed the one you’re thinking of if its’ SMO. You nailed it and didn’t even know him! But back to Jay. When I first saw him in his western series I just knew he’d make it into a book :). Your book. I think native history really becomes the most interesting in the 19th-c. as far as conflict and angst and the like, especially for the Plains Indians and Navajo (guessing here as I’m not the expert you are on the latter). Things really heated up out west once expansion fell into place :(…
Chuckling, too, that the one idea came to you when you were making the bed. Mine come in the shower or while walking (never have pen and paper when walking and yes, paper gets very wet)…
Can’t wait for book two and three to come out. I like variety in my time periods for books I read. I like mysteries and suspense type books too and yes I always picture what the characters look like as I read the book.
Julia, Oh, my mom would love you – she devours mysteries and suspense. I like them, too, and they’re so many great ones out there right now. Have you ever read any of Lynette Eason or Sandra Orchard? Or Dani Pettrey? I always worry I’m forgetting someone when I name authors as I don’t want to leave anyone out! You’re one of those wonderful readers who reads across genres. I tend to get stuck in a historical rut. We must have a book sharing post soon! I have a feeling you have some very good ideas for the rest of us in your stack :). Happy Friday!
I know the “split” feeling and in not even published, yet! I have two manuscripts being shopped, one I’m focusing on for pitching appointments at ACFW and a third I’m currently plotting/researching. All three are in different time periods, as well (1857, 1898 & 1917). I feel pulled by all three, but I need to focus the next few weeks on the 1898 story so it’s fresh in my mind as I talk to editors.
I love this glimpse into your characters, Laura! I also like to have a visual image of my characters as I write, but it’s not as important for me to have one while I’m reading. Sometimes I imagine what a character looks like (or a building) and even if the author describes him/her/it different, I still keep my own idea in mind! 🙂 I did that with your Roxana!! 😉 I imagined her with light hair for some reason, but when you described her with dark hair, I still kept the light hair in my mental image!
So interesting about Roxanna, Gabrielle! I know how that goes. Sometimes a character we’re reading about (or writing about) won’t budge! I think it’s most important to capture the spirit of the character as that matters so much more than the physical. The more I write the more I try to shy away from too much physical description. I’ve actually read books where there was none but that’s a little disconcerting. I need to have a little bit to go on at least :).
I’ve been thinking of you as you prepare for ACFFW. It sounds like you are so well prepared! Prayers with you all the way. Your time periods are wonderful. A great stretch which makes projects so marketable. I’ve heard early 20th-century stories are gaining traction but I’m no expert and the market is always changing. I’ve become very fond of the 1850s! Such a busy decade as I’m sure you’ve discovered like me. I covet your costumes/dress in 1898. Oh my!
I look forward to hearing more about your projects – they all sound wonderful to me – and I’m wondering if you have a favorite? Maybe we authors aren’t supposed to have favorites?
Bless you for being here and making it much more fun!
I normally don’t find real-picture people of my characters because I totally see them in my head first and it’s hard to find real people to match them. But with my WIP I knew right away who resembled my heroine–not who my heroine resembled!
I had a pretty clear image in my head for Dillan, my hero, but I couldn’t find a picture to match. So I prayed about it! I asked God to let me run across him.
About a month later I was watching Inside Combat Rescue on Natgeo, where their cameras follow an Air Force unit (actual missions in Afghanistan!) that rescues injured soldiers wherever they’re at. And this one guy–I kept thinking, “Man, he looks familiar.” 🙂 The show was amazing, so I taped the next week’s episode, saw him again, and then it hit me! He was Dillan!
So obviously I froze the screen and took a bunch of pictures so I’d have him on my computer, and I got more details to put in my book from one picture where I noticed when he was really serious he had lines across his forehead.
I’m kind of a believer now in getting pictures for characters. I’ve found pics for two of my main supporting characters, and I would love to find more. I should start praying again.
Thanks for sharing your pics! That’s always so fun to see.
Sally, I was very much that way at first with real people. Somehow it didn’t work for me at first and then bam! When you see them you really KNOW. Love that you prayed about it and then things happened :). I firmly believe in the power of prayer. God is so creative in how he deals with us and deepens our books that way. The kind of detail you mention is something that really makes a book sing (lines on forehead, etc.). I think the name Dillan is great – not common but very masculine and heroic-sounding. I can’t wait to meet him! Clever you to freeze him onscreen and go from there. That really does help.
The only drawback to sharing pics like this collage is I always worry it will intrude on the image in the reader’s head. But then we all have such different ideas of characters and hold fast to them so guess it doesn’t really matter. One of the most fun things I’ve done on PicMonkey is to put the image into an antique daguerreotype to send them back into time, so to speak. But that won’t work for you contemp writers understandably!
Praying for you as you write and pack for ACFW. My huge regret is not being able to meet you there. But I’m cheering you on all the way!!
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Laura! Sure hope we get to hang out in person some day soon. 🙂
Enjoy reading your book!
Thanks, Sally. Very thankful for reading aloud. It’s now my favorite part about that final edit. Your ears catch all kinds of things your eyes don’t :).
Congratulations on the close of book 3! That must be such a satisfying feeling to see all of that hard work come together.
Lovely photos! My favorite is Silas! It’s hard to say if I “picture” the characters. If I do, it’s probably a vague picture, unless there’s a very clear description, or a photo on the front.
I’m getting antsy for book 2! Ahhhh, it’s such a long wait! Like waiting to open that much anticipated gift . . . and your books are truly a gift!
My favorite time period is still the 1800’s, though I feel like I haven’t read a book in that time period for quite some time. Any book that feels “Dr. Quinnish” is a favorite for me. 🙂
Anyway, hope you have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
Michelle
P.S. I’m picking up the ingredients for the coconut cream pie today! 🙂
Oh, wish I was in your kitchen, Michelle! The great thing about that pie is its relatively easy and the meringue is really something. I need to go walk now, lol… We’re having fish tacos for lunch, another favorite. I can hear some of you say EW!
Your enthusiasm for this book is such a gift. Thank you. It’s wonderful thinking of you and others looking forward to reading. Will be so interesting to hear your thoughts when done. It’s so very different than Love’s Reckoning. That may have some readers celebrating and others in mourning ;).
Your favorite time period is one loved by many. I’ve heard historicals set in the 19th-century are the most popular – but don’t quote me! I love them, too.
Anyway, have a blessed weekend, my friend, and eat a piece of pie for me please!
Yay! I am excited to spend time getting to follow The Ballantyne Legacy. I am waiting eagerly for the newest glimpse into their lives! Waiting a year between each one is hard work, but so worth the wait. I would rather you have the time to fine tune than to have rush through just to appease my lack of patience! I would wait many, many years if I needed to!
I feel like I read a lot of fiction set in the Regency era. But lately, I have been really into Victorian era. I think it is due to all the Amelia Peabody books I have been reading. They start off being set in the 1880’s, I believe. It is such a fascinating period, with technology really picking up, The Great Exhibition, Queen Victoria, Spurgeon…so many interesting things and people in that era! My mom and I just started watching Larkrise to Candleford, which is set somewhere in that era as well. It is such a cute show. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it so far! Now that you said book three is set in the 1850’s, I am that much more excited for it!
Right now I am reading a book set in the Edwardian era, Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren. It really makes me wish I could travel more. I guess that is what books are for. They are airline tickets for those of us unable to travel as much as want. The Edwardians sure knew how to dress though. It may be my favorite fashion period of all time.
I hope you are doing well, my dear friend! I hope you have a little time to relax in between all the writing you are doing! Praying for you and yours! 🙂
Oh, thank you for the sneak peak at the couple in book 3. Looking forward to learning more about them. Enjoying the reading aloud, I know I will enjoying reading all 97,000 of those words. 😉
As you can see, I’ve not returned to work yet, but will be on Monday. I am sorta looking forward to it, have found out I will be sitting next to my closest friend at work. Yay!!! Also another friend, who used to work at home like me, has said she’ll feel better about being back in the office. So both of those things have made me feel really good.
I admidt I am not the most visual of readers, so I love it when authors provide templates of what the characters look like, makes the visualization much easier for me.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Book 3?! Already?! How exciting!! It’s funny, like you said, we’re anxiously awaiting book 2 and you’re already on book 3 🙂 I like the novel faces you have here, especially the guys 😉 I do always picture the characters when I’m reading. I think I picture them how the author describes them, but I don’t attach their descriptions to faces I know or have seen before. More often than not the descriptions in books are NOTHING like what you see on the covers, lol. A few books in particular that shall remain nameless had models on the cover than didn’t match what the author described at all – at least not how I read it, lol. Perhaps thats part of the reason I prefer books to movies – you become so familiar with a character, you fall in love with them, but they can be anyone you want them to be, the air of mystery I guess…
I can’t wait to read Love’s Awakening!!! Happy writing for book 3, dear Laura!! Each generation is sure to capture our hearts 🙂
Hope your weekend is blessed!!
Amanda
Amanda, So good to see you, my friend! I’ve been thinking of you so much and hope Wed. went well and you’re off to a blessed weekend. It’s always a treat when you come round. So glad you like the collage, esp. those heroes. Love the air of mystery you speak of. I so understand that. I, too, prefer books to movies every time. The book is always better, as they say ;).
I want to cringe when a cover doesn’t match what’s between the pages and there are plenty of them out there. Thankfully Revell is somewhat of a stickler with the details and have gotten my heroines right, thanks to detailed paperwork on covers and titling. I should have a new title for you regarding book 3 as it’s currently up for discussion. I do hope it stays my working title but they may well think of a better one. I cannot wait to see the cover, too, which will be shot this winter.
SO, SO happy Ellie and Jack are nearly in your hands. I haven’t rec’d my copy yet but have heard it’s left the printers.
Praying your weekend is blessed, too!
Oh my goodness! I see the people so clearly in my mind in a good book. I was reading one of Eugenia Price’s books years ago and there was a character that had TB and almost dead and I wanted to request prayer for him in our prayer service. I know it’s a little comical but I get involved in a good book!
Brenda, I’m with you about Eugenia! What pictures she painted of places and people! I’m smiling big about that prayer service :). I think the author would be very pleased with that! She was truly amazing and prolific. I have some of her books here on hand. Love your enthusiasm for reading! That’s such a delight. I wonder how people who don’t read get by. They don’t have half as much fun as you and I! Bless you for coming by and lighting up the comments here. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Laura, I hope you’re having an inspiring day,
I just wanted to ask, is there any particular reason why you chose Gerard Butler as a real-world manifestation of Silas’s appearance? (I rather think of Gerard Butler as the perfect Phantom of the Opera). And I have another question. I’ve noticed you wrote about Scottish heroes in The Frontiersman’s Daughter and the Ballantyne Legacy books (which is, in my own opinion, *amazing!*) but is there something about them or their background that inspires you to make them your protagonists? (aside from the swoon-worthy accent, that is.) I just finished Rachel Hauck’s Once Upon A Prince, which was lovely, and am returning to your books once again. If only the heat would let up so I could read outside. Anyways, have a great weekend!
Laura,
I always picture characters in my head as I read. I think that is why movies are frequently a huge disappointment because I have the character so firmly entrenched in my imagination.
As for time periods, I love colonial and early American time periods.
By the way, The Frontiersman’s Daughter was terrific, everyone of those words.
Mary
Mary, I’m so thankful you like the colonial and early American periods. I hope to have more novels in that time frame for you beginning year after next! I’m going back to 1784 for my next story and it involves a widower and an arranged marriage. I’m quite smitten with my hero already, always a good sign, or so I hope! Thrilled you enjoyed Lael’s story like you did. Every longish word! Bless you for that. I must admit my favorite era is yours which is why I keep returning to it.
Like you, I am often disappointed in movies as my ‘version’ of the characters is so vastly different. You said it so well – “firmly entrenched in my imagination.” Yes. I even hesitated to post this collage of my characters as they may not be your idea or other readers’ ideas at all!
Thanks so much for taking time here. I’m encouraged you like that early period. I do think it’s becoming more popular.
I picture the characters as I am reading a novel. That’s why I prefer not to have the hero on the cover of the book. I love picturing the hero in my mind based on the author’s words.
My favorite time periods to read are the colonial period through the founding of the country.
I also enjoy reading about the civil war period, as well as the American west. I love westerns.
I love Scottish historical fiction but so far the only author that I have found that I like for those is Liz Curtis Higgs.
I also love some Biblical fiction as long as the author stays close to Biblical facts, the main points I don’t mind secondary fictional characters.
Carissa, Love your thoughts. I agree about the hero and just forming a mental picture of him in our minds. I think that’s way more important than the heroine IMHO. I had actually requested that Silas be in profile on the back of Ballantyne book 1 but your comments make me reconsider. And that wasn’t done anyway, just the nature scene for back cover copy instead.
You remain one of the most voracious and genre-crossing readers I know. I think there is a book or two in you!! If that is so, I can’t wait to see which time period you choose :).
I love Liz’s Scottish historicals, too. I haven’t read any by Kathleen Morgan or Jennifer Hudson Taylor yet but there must be more than I’m seeing out there. I need to read more Biblical fiction and admire your standard there.
Have a wonderful weekend and get some rest from your garden and kitchen labors if you can!
I have such a hard time picturing the characters. That is why having a picture on the cover is so important to me.
Laura…cant you at least drop a few names for book 3? Talk about leaving us hanging. Id love to hear a recording of you reading the novels out loud.
Oh Cindy! I’ll be glad to tell you the hero and heroine of book 3 – Rowena Ballantyne and James Sackett. But Rowena has the sweetest nickname and I think I’ll surprise you with that :)! She’s from Kentucky and you’ll meet her in the back of book 2 coming right up as there’s a prologue and first chapter included.
You must be a visual person like I am which may be why we need or want a picture on the cover. I so agree. I love covers with scenery but it’s more important to me to have some sort of character on the cover, even if the woman is facing away. And I just have to have some clothing detail. Must be the history lover and girly part of me.
Like you, I’d love to have my books in audio. I pray that happens though I don’t know much about how those things work. Your comment reminds me that I did hear recently authors can now read their own books aloud. My southern accent is pretty thick. But being a kindred spirit that way, I don’t think you’d have any trouble with it :)!
Bless you for your very thoughtful comments.
I’m so happy to find your journal and learn even more about you and your books. I always picture the characters in my books. (sometimes an actor comes to mind) And I like all different periods of time. I can’t wait to read one of your books now…you’ve peaked my interest! Hugs!
Oh, I’m thrilled you’ve stopped by and to learn you’re a reader who crosses genres and enjoys a variety of books. You certainly have a beautiful website/blog! Thank you for being so gracious. I hope/pray that you enjoy my novels if you read them. I’d love to have you for a reader! Hugs right back to you :)!