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SEPTEMBER
2009
Love’s
Pursuit
has officially been out for three months now. Thanks so much for having
helped make it my bestseller!
Visit
Relz Reviews
to find out more about the story’s characters and see the faces I
pictured as I wrote the book. Surf over to
Window to my World
to explore the realities of the Puritan lifestyle and themes in the
book.
To find out
more about the Puritans, their faith, and their culture, read through
some of the books I used in my research:
Worldly
Saints – The Puritans As They Really Were
by Leland Ryken;
Good Wives
by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich;
The Seasons
of America Past
by Eric Sloane;
Home Life in
Colonial Days
by Alice Morse Earle.
&
A Novel
Approach to the World
This is
the third installment of my look at life from a novelist’s point of
view. Many of the things that make a good novel also make a good life. I
thought it would be interesting to look at the major elements of the
novel and see how they apply to real life. I’ve analyzed character
development and plot. This time, I thought I’d take a look at setting.
Setting is sometimes overlooked as an element in fiction because, if
utilized poorly, it’s just a fuzzy, out-of-focus scaffolding on which to
hang the action of the novel. If used properly, however, a setting can
interact with the characters as if it were a dynamic, living, breathing
person. It can influence the plot, challenge the characters, even change
the ending of a novel.
Setting is most obvious in man-against-nature types of novels.
Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Scott O’Dell’s Island of
the Blue Dolphins; the movies Twister and Armageddon.
But most of the time, in books and in life, the use of setting is more
subtle. Settings include the physical location of a story, the
psychological and emotional impact those physical locations on the
characters, and also the historical, political, and cultural backdrop of
the time period.
Many times, our setting can seem like a difficult thing to change.
Because it’s not just a setting. It’s a job. It’s a family. It’s not
just a life style….it’s a whole entire life. I changed my setting
once in a very drastic way. I was walking to work one day and I thought,
‘What am I doing? I should be enjoying life. Why am I not enjoying
this!?’ That was the day I decided to change jobs. The money was very
nice, of course, but it had come at too high a price.
Not everyone can quit a job or buy a new house or adopt themselves out
to a new family, but it’s important to think about how the settings in
your life are effecting your own personal story. This is a checklist
I’ve develop to help me hone in on the settings in my manuscripts. Maybe
it can help you analyze your own settings.
How did you come to be in this setting? Was it by choice?
What do you see?
What do you smell?
What do you hear?
What do you taste?
What can you touch?
Are there any particular colors associated with this place?
Is this setting a place of shadow or of light?
Is there any particular music you associate with this place?
Do you like this place? If so, why?
Do the people in your life like this place? If so, why?
Do you take advantage of the full setting or do you move about in only a
portion of it? (i.e. some people with porches and decks never actually
use them)
Are there any special memories attached to this place?
What sort of emotions does this place evoke? For someone familiar with
it? For someone new to it?
What is the best part of the day in this place?
What else can be seen from this setting?
Does this place look or seem like any other place, does it remind you of
a different location?
What effect do the seasons have on this setting?
What is the average weather in this setting?
What things never change about this setting no matter the time of year?
What things never change about this setting no matter the number of
years which have passed?
What things about this setting bother you?
If you were to imagine this setting in a dream, what things would appear
larger-than-life? What things would come to life?
Has your relationships with this setting changed over the course of your
life? Why?
Are you better or worse for having been in this setting?
What kinds of people are there in this setting? Do those people make the
setting better or worse for your character(s)?
Were any of your answers illuminating? Did you learn anything about
yourself that you didn’t know? Is it time to make some changes? Any
well-written novel takes advantage of its settings to add depth and
texture to the story. Understanding your settings will help you make
sure they’re work for you…and not against you!
&
What’s New
I just turned around my edits for next spring’s release, She Walks in
Beauty. It’s already listed on Amazon.com for pre-orders. Set in
high society circles of New York City in the 1890s, it provides a
glimpse of love and longing amidst the glittering backdrop of a debut.
You can look forward to a smile and sigh-inducing, happily-ever-after
ending. I promise!
It was fascinating to research this late-Victorian era. Among disturbing
practices such as tight-laced corseting and tonic guzzling were many
whimsical activities that were peculiar to the time. Victorian women
were very into being industrious and creatively decorating their homes.
Many of their handicrafts are still practiced today, but others, like
twisting human hair into art or sculpting busts from wax are relics of
that by-gone era.
One such craft is highlighted in She Walks in Beauty. The first 3
readers to identify what kind of skeletons Victorians used in their
crafts will receive either an Advanced Reader Copy of She Walks in
Beauty or be placed on my influencer list to receive a copy straight
off the press.
&
Earlier this summer, I signed a new contract with my publisher, Bethany
House, for three historical novels. They’ll be released each spring,
beginning in 2011. This month, I’ll begin writing the first of those
books. I’m going to try something new and my fingers are itching to
start typing, but first I need to read a few more books for research and
work out some plotting issues…
Keep
an eye out for my friend Ginger Garrett’s latest release,
In the Arms of Immortals.
Ever wonder what life was really like in plague-era Europe? Ginger’s
book provides an evocative look at that troubling time.
Happy reading!
Siri
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