Synopsis: Petite Juliana Beauchamps possesses a vivid imagination, which comes in handy as a librarian. When a handsome giant of a lumberjack comes to town and rescues her from possible tragedy, she’s shaken by the event. A dashing beer baron, James Yost, from Milwaukee, also pursues Juliana’s attention. Meanwhile, a library trustee determines push out the female librarians.
Set in 1891, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Book Three in The Christy Lumber Camp Series focuses on Richard “Moose” Christy, the youngest of the sons, as he prepares to manage his first lumber camp. When Yost hires Juliana to organize his personal library, and her letters from Wisconsin suggest foul play, will Richard need to save her once again? And will his secret need to be revealed to win her heart?
The first two books of the series are:
Guest Post by Carrie Fancett Pagels
Secondary Characters – Amputation
When I recently wrote the third book in The Christy Lumber Camp Series, Lilacs for Juliana, I got to the end and there was a storyline thread that I wanted to wrap up neatly. The trouble was—the ending I imagined took me down a rabbit trail. You see, I wondered if my hero, Richard, might really come across one of Juliana’s deceased brothers—who’d perished in the Civil War. So I did a WHAT IF?
The scenario I had was of Richard finding a homeless man in Milwaukee, who ended up being one of the brothers. I began researching Civil War veterans in the 1890s. Then I went to Pinterest and found all kinds of horrific pictures of these poor men who’d had limbs (in some cases all!) amputated!
I had to go back to the drawing board. In the end, I didn’t see that this ending was realistic nor necessary. Although I’m not positive that all of Juliana’s three brothers killed in the Civil War are indeed dead, for this book it didn’t serve any purpose, other than distracting me, to have Richard discover one of them. So in the end, it served no purpose to have one of the brothers come back as an amputee who’d survived. Now I need to clean up that Pinterest board, because this was not an aspect of the novel!
Question:
The author has to think of the reader when writing. Have you considered that? Have you ever read a book where you thought—why did the author bother including that thread in the book? Why did they add that extraneous stuff at the end?
Giveaway For This Post: A paperback or ebook copy of Lilacs for Juliana, or any one of the other books in The Christy Lumber Camp Series. Comment and leave your email address to win.
Blog Hop Giveaway: To enter for a 6 inch Magenta (Hot Pink) Kindle Fire and a cover case, hoppers need to comment on at least SEVEN of the blogs. Blog Hop Schedule:
September 12th Overcoming with God
September 14th BookBabble
September 16th Cheryl B Book Blog
September 18th D’s Quilts & Books
September 23rd Sunnie Reviews
September 24th Buzzing About Books
September 30th Captive Dreams Windows
October 1st Singing Librarian Books
Carrie Fancett Pagels (www.carriefancettpagels.com) “Hearts Overcoming Through Time” is a Christian historical romance author. "Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter" releases from Pelican Group/White Rose in 2015. "The Lumberjacks' Ball" (2015) is the second book in The Christy Lumber Camp Series. Her historical romance novella, Selah Award finalist, The Fruitcake Challenge (2014) hit the #1 spot bestselling in genre on Amazon and was also finalist for the Family Fiction Book of the Year. In July, 2014, Carrie won in Historical Genre for Family Fiction's The Story 2014 contest, with her short story The Quilting Contest, now available in published anthology from Salem Publishing. Carrie's novella, Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance, was an Amazon Civil War best seller and remained on the top-rated list for a year. Her short story "Snowed In" was published in Guidepost Books A Cup of Christmas Cheer. Nonfiction chapter contribution to Selah Finalist God's Provision in Tough Times by Cynthia Howerter and LaTan Murphy (Lighthouse of the Carolinas, 2013).
Represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. Founder of Colonial American Christian Writers group. Owner/administrator of the group blogs "Colonial Quills" and "Overcoming With God." Member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and FaithWriters.
Was a licensed psychologist for over twenty-five years. Has an adult daughter and a middle school aged son. Married the love of her life, Jeffrey D. Pagels, in 1987.
Carrie is the former ACFW Zone Mid-Atlantic Zone Director and Virginia/West Virginia Area Coordinator and continues to serve as co-hostess of the Tidewater Area Christian Writers group.
