The Man Who Started It All
A common question
authors get is… do you think of a character or situation first? For me I think
it’s a combination of both. In the case of MARRY ME, it wasn’t so much the
heroine who dictated the story, but the hero, Seth Graham. My original idea
with the heroine was a cynical woman who doesn’t believe in “happily ever
after” – someone who describes herself as “allergic” to weddings – who has to
take over running a wedding planning business. I just thought the idea was
funny. I didn’t know “who” she was at first or why she’d have to run a wedding
planning business. It wasn’t until I found the character of Seth that I was
able to answer those questions.
As I thought about
who the love interest was, I knew it would have to be someone she would run
into a lot as she’s planning these weddings. Then I finally came up with a
minister. That single thought brought the story together almost instantly. Seth
Graham helped me determine what the book was really going to be about. I was
able to answer the question of why my heroine was so cynical about love and
marriage. (She grew up with parents who married and divorced multiple times so
she learned not to trust in love.) I knew why she would be compelled to run a
wedding business. (A former stepsister owns the business and she’s having a
pregnancy crisis.) I also developed an
entire fictional town, Covington. Finding Seth also took the book in an
entirely new direction. It became an inspirational romance, which wasn’t what I
set out to write. I was able to add a faith journey for this cynical woman who
didn’t believe in anything outside of herself.
With Seth I was
also able to create a character who had a strong faith, but who was also very
human and suffered the same doubts as anyone else. I was able to show a
“religious” person in a positive light. Whenever a religious character is
portrayed on TV or in movies, he or she is invariably a nasty piece of work. If
it’s a minister, the stereotype can be even worse. He’ll be cold and unfeeling
or an outright, sadistic monster. Seth is none of those things. He’s a guy who
lost his wife, and he’s just trying to figure out how to live with that. He
also carries the burden of leading his church congregation, and he feels the
weight of that responsibility heavily. He’s also doing it alone. His wife
helped ease the burden, but now she’s gone. There is no one he can talk to
about his problems. Until he meets Julia. Her innate cynicism about people and
their motivations allows her to understand what Seth is going through. While
outwardly, Julia and Seth would seem incompatible, they are actually great
compliments to each other. Seth is able to make Julia see a different type of
love that’s even more powerful than a romantic one. And he shows her how faith can help her
forgive her parents and heal from her past so she can be free to build a life
that will make her happy.
So whenever anyone
asks me what it inspired this book, I’m able to blame it all on a man…Seth
Graham.
I hope you enjoy
getting to know him.
(Excerpt: Lead
up to Julia and Seth’s first kiss)
Seth
gave a frustrated groan.
“What
now?” Julia asked.
“You
are a dangerous lady.”
“Me?”
“God,
she doesn’t even see it!” he called out to the heavens.
“Are
you praying?” she asked in bemusement.
“For
strength. You tempt me, and it’s making me crazy.”
“Are
you talking about the other night in the kitchen?”
“It
goes way beyond last night,” he said, hands gripping the railing. “Did you know
I had a wild crush on you when you used to live here?”
Julia’s
mouth dropped open. “What?”
“I
helped you build a fort.”
“You
pounded nails so you could be near me?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at
him. “What a way to court a girl.”
“It
wasn’t like I could talk to you,” Seth said, shuffling his feet. “Not without
sounding like an idiot.”
“I
didn’t think you even liked me.”
A
dry chuckle escaped from his chest. “Like and lust are two different things.
You were every teenage boy’s fantasy. Everything about you fascinated me. The
way you walked, the way you tossed your hair, even the way you smelled. It
drove me nuts for two years.”
“I
was your fantasy?”
“The
problem is now you’re back, standing there looking like some kind of screen
goddess, and you get me like no one ever has,” he said, as if she hadn’t
spoken.
Her
skin started tingling. “You think I’m beautiful?”
“You’re
so much more than beautiful.”
Jumping him right
now would be bad… Right? “This
is a little complicated.”
“You
think?” he asked, drifting closer. “You’re a guest in Grace’s house and living
about a hundred feet away. Plus, I am a minister, and it wouldn’t look good if
I grabbed you right now and kissed you senseless.”
“Not
in the job description?”
“Definitely
not.”
Buy Links:
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble:
Astraea Press:
Print Version:
About the Author:
Growing up Kristin devoured books like bags of Dove Dark Chocolate. Her
first Golden Book led to Laura
Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, C.S. Lewis and the Sweet
Valley High series. Later, she discovered romance novels and fell in love all
over again. It’s no surprise then that Kristin would one day try her hand
at writing them. She writes inspirational romance and women’s fiction
filled with love, laughter and a leap of faith. When she’s not writing her
next novel, Kristin works as an advertising copywriter. Over the 15-year
career in the ad industry, she has worked on clients that have included the
Miami Marlins, Discovery Networks, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, The Peabody
Hotel and Sea World. She also enjoys singing in the church choir and worship
team and playing flute in a community orchestra.
You can connect with Kristin
online at:
Website: www.KristinWallaceAuthor.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/KristinWallaceAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KWallaceAuthor
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kristin-Wallace/e/B00G5KX80I
A message from Lyndee who was having problems posting :-)
ReplyDeleteI play flute, too! LOL. I enjoyed the clip. The 'sweet' tension builds nicely and I like that they have a past with him having a crush on her from the past. How long does it take you to write one of these books? Thanks for sharing. Lyndee
Hi Alexis. I do love the fact that Seth had a crush on her when they were younger. I don't know that I've fully contemplated how long it takes me to write a book. Several months.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a mixture of romance, inspiration, and a truly difficult quality to write, which would be humor!
ReplyDeleteInspirational novels keep the sex behind closed doors, so how is it you show the readers the attraction between the hero and heroine?
Dawn I think my writing is a pretty good mix those three things: romance, spiritual and humor. As for sexual tension, well it's all in the longing. I want to depict my couple as real people who feel desire for each other, even if they can't or won't act on it. And maybe the longing makes the tension that much more potent.
DeleteHi Kristin,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the confusion earlier. Alexis had to put my above post up for me because there are days that Blogger hates me! LOL. So it takes several months to write a book. Do you set goals on word count or free-flow? Do you consider yourself a plotter?
I do try to set the goals. Right now I'm writing a new Covington Falls book and I've told myself to write at least 5 pages a day. Do I make that every day? No. I have to juggle writing time with my full-time job. I do plot. I usually do a detailed outline or sometimes I write up note cards and place them on the floor so I can move them around.
Delete