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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

When Authors Blow It (nearly, anyway)

by Chautona Havig · 8 Comments

Sometimes authors blow it--or nearly so. Sometimes without thinking about it, you put in a character o take one out, and bam! Instant mess. via @chautonahavig

Picture the scene. There I was, blithely editing Past Forward (I think volume 3), when I saw the date.  February 14.  It was supposed to a big deal–a huge day in the lives of characters from a related book coming out soon.  Just one problem.

A year before, on that day, almost all the characters in that book, Ready or Not, had experienced the worst that life has to offer–the death of a daughter, a son, a sister, a brother-in-law, a mother, a father.  Eight children orphaned on February 14.

And I’d planned a party for the one-year anniversary.

Oops.

authors blow it

Note: all links in this post should be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I wish I could say it was the last time I ever blew it (or almost).

*crickets*

Oh, you wanted to hear about those?  You want to mortify me?  Well, fine. It’s probably good for that pride eradication program I keep swearing I’m going to join.  So here goes.

Discovering Hope.  Chad is in that book.  I um… *gulp* didn’t realize I’d put someone by his name in that book in the same town where… you guessed it. He grew up.  It had to be Chad.  Two Chads in the same church/town/time frame? Oy. Had to change his last name, of course.  Ahem.

And, because Hope does tend to create lots of work for me as an author as I shared in THIS post, I should probably admit that in a coming book which has been mentioned in several like Tarnished Silver and a few others, one of the characters in that book has a mom wanting to set him up with Hope.  Except she’s met Jay.  And this is what he gets for dawdling around.  The problem is that I had hoped (no pun intended, of course) to have Blessing Bentley take place a year before it does.  Now I can’t.  The timing would be all off whack.  Again.  Oops. Yeah.  Authors sometimes blow it.

And that timing thing?

It’s a bit of a nightmare, too.  You see, I don’t write these books in chronological order.  I write about the characters who interest me most.  So I wrote about Aggie first in Ready or Not. But Noble Pursuits begins about six months before the first chapter in Ready or Not.  And then I did the Hartfield Mysteries.  But those take place before Chad meets Willow–while he’s a rookie. But I published the most recent one in that series just last fall, after half a dozen years have passed in the timeline of Rockland.

BIG Mistake. HUGE.  (Name that movie that I should not be admitting I’ve seen.  Oh, wait. You’d have to admit to having seen it, too!  mmmwwaaahahah!)  Okay, it really wasn’t a mistake, but it could have been if people didn’t know about my Suggested Reading Order (which I need to update. Again).

I’m working on a printable timeline.  Seriously.  I am. Why’d you say thank you? Ooooh… you thought it was for you. Yeah! Let’s go with that!  It’ll save that pride we tried to demolish a bit ago.  Snort.

But it’s not always frustrating when authors blow it.

My favorite near-mistake was in Not a Word. Here I was. In Brant’s Corners!  I had this perfect opportunity to show Luke before he ever met Aggie. Not only that, I had a chance to show what the town thought of this family coming in.  I had lots of exciting opportunities to show little tidbits I’d never been able to before and…

He wasn’t in the plan.  Anywhere.

But there I was, writing along one day, and bam!  Luke’s out at Uncle Zeke’s farm!  What???  Mac and he took to one another.  They talked.  They became friends.  And because of that friendship, Mac learned to trust the Lord.

For more about the writing of that book, this week’s “Book Chat” over on YouTube is about Not a Word.  Check it out!

Sometimes, when authors blow it, it’s a catch-22.

No, really.  I did a whole blog post about how sometimes you create these wonderful backstories for your minor characters or your subplots and they really enrich the book you created them for!  And… sometimes that means you kill a chance to tell their stories sometimes in the future.  OOPS!  Would I do it over?  Would I change Mason’s story in The Matchmakers of Holly Circle? No. That blog post explains why.  I won’t bore those who’ve read it and rehash it here.

Do I create these issues for myself?

Someone asked me once if I created more problems for myself with my “willy nilly” style of writing and publishing.  Probably. But on the other hand, if I hadn’t… if I hadn’t published book one of the Aggie Series, published a couple of Past Forwards, and then worked on book three of Aggie.  If editing that Past Forward hadn’t come right when it did, I strongly suspect that I would have gone to print with a huge celebration on a rather sad day in a family who wouldn’t find that redemptive but hurtful.

Valentine’s Day isn’t happy for the Stuart-Sullivan clan.

 

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Aggie's Inheritance

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Comments

  1. Florence Wright says

    April 10, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    All artists make mistakes!!! We are all human. Sometimes they are serendiPITY … and sometimes they are just … a PITY. BUT all in all most times they are not NEARLY as noticeable to others as they are to the one who created them. Thanks for your openness and your transparency. It really helps me as I am getting closer and closer to diving into the big world of letting people see all of my creativity … flaws and all.
    Hugs to you, dear friend!!

    Reply
  2. Lydia Garner says

    February 14, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    Shared on fb and would live to gift it to an American girlfriend. I jabber about you all the time. 😉

    Reply
  3. Need Anap says

    February 14, 2017 at 4:19 pm

    I shared on Facebook. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Emma Filbrun says

    February 14, 2017 at 11:11 am

    I shared on Facebook.

    Reply
  5. April says

    February 14, 2017 at 5:31 am

    I love the Aggie Series. I’ve read it 3 times! I shared this on Facebook.

    Reply
  6. Rebekah says

    February 14, 2017 at 4:27 am

    I love your stuff.I shared the Facebook post. I would love to send this to my mother-in-law, since I have all these.

    Reply
  7. Olivia says

    February 14, 2017 at 3:06 am

    Loved the post 🙂 Ohh the Aggie Inheritance series are some of my favorite books! I haven’t read the fourth one yet, but hope to soon! I may just splurge and by the three on sale, but we’ll have to see 🙂 I pinned Ready or Not on Pinterest and I already follow you!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 14, 2017 at 3:18 am

      Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. The longer it’s been since WRITING IT… the more I think the fourth book is my favorite. Before that, the first, for sure.

      Reply

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Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
byChautona Havig

Nothing says good, Southern women’s fiction like a feisty granny or a family secret, and Robin W. Pearson’s got you covered on both fronts. Stir in a pot of faith, and well… you’re bound to find a story you’ll never forget. And isn’t that a blessing? Award-winning, bestselling, and aspiring yodler on the other side of the Rockies, Robin writes stories of faith, family, and it sounds like some seriously delicious food.

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What’s Better Than a Great Women’s Fiction Novel on a Summer’s Day?

New-to-me (or she was!) women’s fiction author, Robin W. Pearson writes God-centered, family-focused fiction. Robin is a delightful homeschooling mom of seven and if that wasn’t job enough, her debut novel won a Christy award! I mean, that takes some serious skills! Not to mention, it has a killer kick-off synopsis on Amazon. I was hooked from the first paragraph.

Robin says she wants people to see love in her books–how to love well even when we don’t know how. How to see each other as God does.  I think that sounds pretty amazing.

Her debut novel, A Long Time Coming, is more than just a great-sounding book, it really deals with family issues and I’ll just say I fell in love with the narrator of the audio.

The next book, Till I Want No More, rips your heart out with the synopsis, stomps on it, and says, “There. Now what’ll you do about that?  Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, other than read it of course!

And her latest novel?  Oh, my gravy. It released just last week and it’s amazing.  Well, the part I’ve read already is. Walking in Tall Weeds promises to keep your heart on tenterhooks as it takes you through a family’s pain and trauma.  And what more could you want?

Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson

From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.

Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.

McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.

Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.

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