Do you know what it feels like to find the next piece in a puzzle, to figure out a mystery moments before it’s revealed, to anticipate someone’s response just before they fulfill your expectation? That’s what writing All In Good Time felt like. I don’t do a lot of plotting ahead of time, although I do have a general picture of the characters and the direction toward the end. The journey to that end is somewhat a mystery along the way, which is why I enjoy writing as much as I do. I’m like the very first reader of the story.
When I started writing All In Good Time, I knew my hero’s backstory and little else. I’d been reading an account of a man who held up a couple of stagecoaches out west. He chose the perfect spot, in a narrow canyon high up in the mountains where the coach could easily be stopped. He placed sturdy sticks, carved to look like rifles, high enough above so even the sharpest eye couldn’t tell those weren’t really rifles at all. Then, entirely by himself, he stopped the coach and robbed the unlucky travelers.
He was clever and never harmed anyone, although he obviously stole what didn’t belong to him—in other words, a perfect hero candidate. One in need of redemption.
I decided to start the story several years after Henry’s impatient beginning. When I wrote the first scene with Henry in it—knowing his secret, that he’s built up an impressive reputation and successful bank (he loves money, after all)—I knew he needed a protective wall around his life. One leak about his past could shatter everything he has. Most of the book is a tug of war with Henry, how he wants to hang on to his lonely but comfortable life, yet his growing tenderness for Dessa won’t be ignored. Henry is, so far, my favorite hero. A bit of Scrooge in him, but like Scrooge, not beyond hope.
And what kind of heroine would be best for dear Henry? Perhaps someone with a secret of her own, but why not have her secret something that made her a better person, rather than a brittle, distrustful one? And so Dessa was born, a woman with a generous heart for prostitutes or other women in dire straights.
It was fun to see how my two main characters had so much in common underneath everything, how the paths they’d taken since their mistakes had formed them so differently. All the way through I kept thinking if only they could trust each other, they’d be better people together than they are apart! And that’s when I knew I had a successful romance. 🙂
It’s what I hope every time I go to a wedding, that the couple will be better together than apart.
I hope readers of All In Good Time will be reminded that even though mistakes can change our lives, change us, no mistake is too big for God’s grace.
I’m happy to announce that All In Good Time is already available in some stores online, and if it isn’t already in your local bookstore it should be soon. I’ll provide a couple of links below; Amazon is already shipping, and if the others aren’t yet, they will be soon!
Deeper Shopping (Great price!)
One last note: please check back in early April for a fun contest I’ll be hosting to celebrate this release!
As always, Happy Reading!
I loved this book and have posted reviews on my blog, amazon, and goodreads. I have Bees in the Butterfly Garden and can’t wait to read it. Thanks so much for writing such wonderful books!
Thanks so much, Debbie! I really appreciate your encouragement and reviews!
You’re welcome! Can’t wait to read more books by you.