It takes a village to write a novel
Little presents from friends.
This weekend involved two special boosts for my writing.
First, Kathy Gronau hosted us at her house for a retreat. We had a wonderful time sharing our stories and where we’re at in the journey. Check out pictures from the weekend on Facebook here.
The other was a gift from Dan and Sue, dear friends from church. Dan is a model train enthusiast and has created some scenes using the same buildings in my Christmas village. These friends have been wonderful supporters of my writing – Dan gave me advice on what type of gun the hero would use – and I mentioned that I was thinking of using my little buildings to recreate some scenes from my novel-in-progress set in historic St. Joseph. Sometimes the hero and heroine need a little help getting together.
While I was driving home from Kathy’s, Dan called and said they were cleaning out and wondered if I wanted some of the village buildings. What a treat! Sue was practically humming as she wrapped up the little houses, grocery stores and churches and grinned as I walked out the door, so I think this was a true win-win situation. My Christmas village nearly doubled in size with a building boom.
New territory had to be annexed to hold the village boom!
This week, we’re sharing about heroes and heroines. It has been fun to write a love story in a historical setting because that time period seems so romantic. It’s also a challenge to figure out how men and women would have had chances to interact while keeping it historically accurate.
The plot thickens…
One of the treasures in the little village is a Pony Express rider. Here, the pony rider comes galloping in to the post office to deliver the mail. Look at the lovely lady there to meet him. Is romance about to bloom?
But wait! Who is that mysterious stranger lurking in the shadows in front of the carriage house?
This little village promises to be full of big stories!
Thanks to these friends who helped bring it together. I can’t wait to see what happens next…
~ Susan
This makes wonderful sense. I think you might want to leave your villiage up all the time. What a wonderful way to SEE what you are writing. If only you had a little church with a preacher who recited bible verses . . .
That’s exactly what I need, Kathy! I am thinking of leaving it out…. after I finish getting things put back in order from Christmas. Thanks again for a great weekend!
I LOVE the idea of a village like this…how fun, how fun!! And it makes perfect sense to be able to visualize the what and where of your hero and heroine’s journey. It WAS a fun weekend. Just too short…and too long until the next one. We’ll have to work on that.
I love this, Susie!! You even got the Pony Express rider–wonderful! I had the neatest wooden doll house that my brother helped build. Maybe that’s when all these stories started playing in my head! Thanks for sharing!
Your doll house sounds really neat, Sara. I think that’s where I started my stories, too. I agree Julane – let’s work on that!
I have a Dicken’s village that we put every Christmas. I love it so much that I keep it up until February!
*Sigh* I’ve always wished for a village. A few years ago I finally got about 5 houses and shops….and then we moved…..and now I have nowhere to display them! So I’ve never added to the collection. Maybe I should think outside the Christmas box and display them a different time of year.
Way cute, Susie. My sister has a huge village she puts up at Christmas. Most light up and it’s quite a display.