Chautona

Since I like to call my characters my “imaginary friends,” I thought it’d be a good idea to introduce you to a few… help you get to know them… make you want to welcome them into your home.  *cough*  So, here they are.  I’m adding them alphabetically and I’ll point out the books you can find them in.  Please note:  Not all of these books are available yet.  However, I’m adding them anyway because my stories overlap.  If you meet a character in one book, it’s very likely that you’ll meet them again in another.

Aggie–  Aggie Milliken is a breath of fresh air.  Young, determined, a little quirky, and completely green in the whole mothering department.  Appointed guardian of her sister’s eight children at the ripe old age of twenty-two, she has a lot to learn.  Thanks to an unlimited “P-mail” account and an arsenal of hymns, she tackles each task with grit and determination.  You’ll find Aggie in Ready or Not (available), For Keeps (Coming Christmas 2010), and Past Forward (available to read online at Fairburytales.com)

Alexa-  Not your average murder mystery writer, Alexa Hartfield writes  murder thrillers in her little Fairbury cottage all while sipping tea and wearing a Regency Era inspired gown… or maybe a 40′s swing dress… or possibly an Edwardian afternoon gown.  Then again, she might be having fun confusing her neighbor and wearing a pair of jeans, long sweater, and newsboy cap.  Regardless of what she wears, it’ll be incongruous with whatever she’s writing.  She’s eccentric, fiercely independent, and deeply committed to her faith– three things that keep her neighbors, readers, and fellow  Christians all scratching their heads.  Alexa, possibly due to her status as a famous author, seems to find her way into most of my books.  She debuts in the Hartfield Mysteries.  The first is Manuscript for Murder (queued for publication), followed by Crime of Fashion (in process), and Final Straw (rough draft).  You’ll also find her in Argosy Junction (available), and Past Forward (available to read online at Fairburytales.com), From the Cinders and others.

Grace– Grace Buscher is living her childhood dream. While friends and family watch concerned and amazed, she pinches pennies into dollars as the most successful (and only) house-spinster in the greater Rockland area.  Grace is the star of Noble Pursuits (available).  Find her also in Hope 101 (queued for publication), Thirty Days Hath… (queued for publication), and I think she makes a brief appearance in Past Forward (available to read online at Fairburytales.com)

Hope–  Fun, loyal, and living up to her name, Hope Senior meets the right man at exactly the right time for him and the wrong time for her.  Torn between the desire to show him the love of Christ and knowing that a friendship with an unbelieving man will likely end in disappointment, or worse, pain, Hope turns to the source of true Hope for wisdom, guidance, and direction to the desires of her heart.  Hope gets around.  Find her in Hope 101 (queued for publication), of course, but she also appears in Argosy Junction (available), and Past Forward (available to read online at Fairburytales.com).  I know she’ll be in several other books.  She just refuses to stay out of the limelight.

Lane–  Still wounded from the barbs of a cult, Lane Argosy wants nothing to do with Christianity, Christians, or Christ.  She struggles as a man from the inner city introduces her to the simple concept that Christianity is a relationship rather than a list of rules.  Lane’s story is Argosy Junction (available), but you will also find her in Past Forward (available to read online at Fairburytales.com).  There is a blog post about Argosy Junction at my Paradoxology blog.

As I have time, I’ll add other characters for you to get to know.  Do tell me if any of them grab you and make you want to know more “yesterday”.  It’ll help me choose which book to publish next!