As I’m writing stories of hardship and deprivation like this one, the desire to keep everything as realistic as possible is what weighs on my mind. I don’t want to overdo it, yet I certainly love to push characters to the limit. The Stampers, and particularly Wallis Ann, have been through some extraordinary difficult times with plenty of suffering and tremendous losses. They did get a reprieve, and were able to gather their strength. That was a good thing, because it’s apparent as I moved towards the end of the book, I’d decided I wasn’t done with these poor characters just yet.
Chapter Twenty Six
We only bothered putting up one tent, and I placed my cot in with Momma and Papa’s, a way to combine our body heat.
Publishers Lunch BUZZ BOOK Fall/Winter 2017, and a SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Trio Pick for 2018, THE ROAD TO BITTERSWEET releases December 26th, 2017.
***I’m using #FirstSentenceFridays on Twitter and tagging @Kensington Publishing Corporation. Follow along and tweet out/share if you’d like!***
Great post, Donna! Putting your characters through even more suffering and losses must be super challenging. You need to teach me how to do that… <3 <3 <3
Thank you, Lilac. It wasn’t – not really! (what does that say about me…hmmmm.) Seriously, I just try to figure out what could really happen and what would seem impossible, or downright crazy. It’s a fine line, for sure. <3 <3 <3
As a reader if I’m not a little tortured, I feel cheated. BITTERSWEET is a perfect balance of suffering and reward.
Thank you for that, Eldonna! I’m the same way, I want to cringe, gasp, suffer right along with them. When I’m done reading a tough story, it’s like walking out of a dark movie theater into the bright hot sunlight, with that feeling of, “phew, I’m glad that didn’t happen to me!” 😉
You can send Wallis Ann over here. It was only 42 degrees last night -in FLORIDA! I had to wear SOCKS!
Plus I’ll make her cocoa. And after everything you’ve done to the poor girl, she probably needs some…
I could have sworn I hit the reply button…but no, there’s my response to you down there in the regular comment area. More coffee needed!
Our high tomorrow is going to be somewhere near your low. Ick. It was supposed to be 36 a few days ago, and thank heaven they’ve adjusted it. I would have thought you didn’t own any socks. (!) And yes, poor Miss Wallis Ann…she’d love you for that, and want to stay with you. She started flipping me the bird about 1/3 of the way through the book. 😉