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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

If You Want to Make Genuine Connections, Use Words

by Chautona Havig · 6 Comments

For me, it all began in a little bookstore in Ventura, California. It was a friend’s birthday. Odd, but I can’t remember which friend! That’s an unusual thing because I rarely had more than one or maybe two. I suspect it was the pastor’s daughter, but I wouldn’t put a lot of money on that.

Mom and I went into a new little bookstore near Newberry’s and asked what the owner suggested for girls of my age. She gave us Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster. After reading the back, I decided that they were perfect… and that I’d read them before the party.

Ahem.

I suppose now is when I should tell you that I also learned to wrap gifts properly that day. In the bookstore. By the owner herself.

Such a kind woman. I forgave her eventually—sometime after I’d saved enough to buy those books for myself.

I’d never read an epistolary novel before, but those opened a new world to me. There were the Screwtape Letters, of course, and a couple of years ago, a book written in 1888—Wired Love. That was a delightful book recommended by some of my readers. Epistolary by telegraph. Oh… and right now it’s free.  No idea for how long. Since then Ella Minnow Pea has also been recommended, I think by the same person.

I’ll be reading it soon.

Last year, I read Dear, Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. An excellent mash-up of Austen’s Emma and the aforementioned Daddy Long Legs. I reviewed that HERE. 

Then there was the ever-so-popular The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book that everyone had been raving about. I finally gave in and listened to it on audio. Twice. Okay, probably five times now. It’s a delightful book, and aside from a very few scattered words that I didn’t appreciate (but were never gratuitous), clean.

I couldn’t help but wonder why people find these books so intriguing. Is it our naturally curious natures? Maybe because we’re gossips at heart? Why are epistolary novels so riveting (when they are, anyway?)

I posit that they foster a unique connection.

You see, one of the arguments in favor of first-person writing is that you have a deeper emotional connection to the book and its primary character. I can see that… sometimes. It’s also one of the biggest drawbacks. First person POV also tends to lend itself to a lot of navel-gazing. Excellent authors can avoid these and other pitfalls, of course.

However, epistolary novels, which are written in first-person, of course, have a unique advantage. The character self-censors him or herself. Let’s face it. No matter how close we are with a friend or loved one, when we write to them, we don’t vomit every thought we’ve had on the page. That isn’t always true of first-person novels.

There’s something else, though. Epistolary novels also demonstrate another oft-ignored truth.

If You Want to Make Genuine Connections, Use Words

Note: links are likely affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

If You Want to Make Genuine Connections, Use Words

And the written word holds power that we tend to forget, especially in this digital age. Once upon a time, if you wanted to thank someone, you took out a piece of paper, wrote a few carefully-chosen words, and mailed it. Now we zip a text or instant message with, “Thanks.”

In fact, thank you notes have become so rare that people sometimes receive a thank you note for a thank you note! No exaggeration.

To this end, fellow author (and my dear friend) Cathe Swanson started a ministry, Love Letters, designed to encourage people through the handwritten word! She advocates taking the time to write a short note, long letter, or something in between every week. Sign up HERE: to get her weekly emails of encouragement.

I don’t want to denigrate communication in any form. I get amazing emails every week from readers who are encouraged by my books or who want to encourage me when they know I’ve hard a hard week. That’s just such a beautiful and important thing. Still, when it comes down to it… you still need to do what the kindergarten teachers say. “Use your words.” (I cannot stand that phrase, by the way. Thought you should know.)

Someone asked recently why I don’t have any epistolary novels if I love them so much.

Random Acts of Shyness CoverI can’t tell you how giddy I was to say, “But I’ve got a trilogy in the works now!”

She didn’t believe me. I’m almost sure of it because her next question was, “So, what are they about?”

I’ll tell you what I told her. The Stamped with Love series is about a new Rockland matchmaking service that you’ll actually first read about in Random Acts of Shyness. The owner of Stamped with Love thinks that modern couples have gotten lazy in their “get to know you” period because of the “instant-ness” of our society. So, she has set up a service that matches people who get to know each other through letters only.

I first came up with Isaac and Dorcas’ story in With Love, Isaac and got right to work on it. I’m about 50% done. However, as I worked, a new idea came to me. And another. Suddenly, I had a trilogy. I will stop with three. Definitely. Without a doubt. I will.

So, Dear, Juan and P.S. Marry Me? were born. I am now officially revealing the covers (although the words on P. S. Marry Me? are actually not about the book at all)

And, of course, With Love, Isaac is actually book two, so I have to write a first… first.

Aren’t they pretty?

Stamped with Love Series

Oh, and one more thing about this series. For a long time, you will only be able to get them on my website! I’m even going to do a special price for those who buy the whole series upfront, and I’ll have a referral reward thing to help you earn the next exclusive-to-my-site series. FREE. I’m excited about this new project. I hope to have the first book available in 2023, but here’s the thing. I’m not releasing the first until I can be sure that I can release all of them no more than six weeks apart. Squeee!

However, all the talk about epistolary novels got me thinking. Why hadn’t I done it before? I mean, if it’s one of my favorite styles, why on earth didn’t I do it before now?

Then it hit me. I have. Sort of.

Carol and the BellesI have a few books that are partially epistolary. Past Forward is one. Kari’s journals are a huge part of that book, and they’ll be an even bigger one when I tell her story.

Webster’s Bakery has an epistolary nature to it.  You just haven’t gotten to read that yet.  Sorry!  Soonish.

The Vintage Wren also has the blog posts every day.  That also counts as “epistolary.”

Argosy Junction, Front Window, Fine Print, and to a small degree, even Operation Posthaste in the Yesterday’s Mail collection all have epistolary elements.

There’s a little bit in Tarnished Silver (and a perfect Christmas read… just sayin’), and that’s when I remembered the most important one.  Carol and the Belles!  That book begins after two penpals write back and forth across the Atlantic for decades!  The release bonus of that book even included some of their childhood letters!  Not to mention, there’s a letter at the beginning of every chapter in Penelope’s Pursuit.

Look, if I haven’t convinced you on the importance of letter writing by now, I never will, but I’ll say it again.

If You Want to Make Genuine Connections, Use Words

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Comments

  1. twogalsandabook says

    December 26, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    Thank you for this article! 🙂

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 26, 2018 at 3:35 pm

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  2. Martie says

    December 16, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    Love!! Can hardly wait for the new series. I’m saying “why stop at three?” though. I’m currrently listening to an audibles series about mail order brides that is 23 books. It’s been so fun to “read” them and dread the end of the series.

    Reply
  3. realworldbiblestudy says

    December 15, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    What??? I’m so excited for this.

    I also recently had the thought about a friend that I’m getting to know. We take so long to do emails that it would be cooler to do snail mail…

    Reply
  4. Linda Sue says

    December 15, 2018 at 6:41 am

    Exciting news – I’m not as keen on the Madeieine books so looking forward to other releases! Your writing is always good but as everyone knows – not everyone likes everything. Anyhow – will the link to prepurchase the trilogy be in an email (I’m on your email list) or here on the blog? Wowza – fun concepts! So many interesting people inhabit your fertile imagination – woo hoo

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 15, 2018 at 8:03 am

      Both! I’ll be sharing there, here, and everywhere. And you’ll get the first two letters from each one in advance to get a feel for them.

      Reply

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Episode 438: A Chat with Margaret Philbrick
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 Oh, wow.  When I read the synopsis for House of Honor by Margaret Ann Philbrick, I knew this was going to be a fabulous book.  Forget all the endorsements and starred reviews, listen in to hear just how awesome this book is!  

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When Margaret described the story within House of Honor, I not only learned a lot of art history, but I got a taste of Italy (sadly, without pasta and gelato… sniff). I can’t wait to see what she coes up with next.

 House of Honor by Margaret Ann Philbrick

Two Italian sons, one woman, linked by a masterpiece painting, are put to a test of loyalty and honor.

At the heart of this gripping tale is Orazio Bordoni, the wayward son of a construction magnate, living a reckless life like that of his artistic hero Caravaggio. He finds himself befriended by Nicolo Giotto, the devoted son of a powerful Sicilian mafia clan, who wants to uphold the honor of his family.

As the dark underbelly of the art world and the Vatican expose their true character, Orazio finds himself in a world where his loyalty is tested, honor is at stake, and the boundaries between life, love, and art blur. He and Nicolo discover just how far they’re willing to push those boundaries, even if it means sacrificing everything.

House of Honor is a pivotal story that weaves the threads of history, the ruthless allure of the mafia, the enigmatic power of the Vatican, and the timeless brilliance of Caravaggio.

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