When The Voices Won’t Quit
by
Carrie Fancett Pagels
I was a psychologist for twenty-five years (and thought I
would be until when I expected to retire at about seventy—then I would write
for the Lord.) God had other plans. But in any case, don’t worry about me
hearing voices—they are the characters I write. When you read about authors
such as James Scott Bell talking about the “boys in the basement” I think—I’ve
got a lot of ladies in the attic calling out to me. They want to be written
into existence. Some characters won’t stop until they have their stories told.
I have to think those are the ones God wants written and shared. Magda, in
“Shenandoah Hearts” in The Backcountry
Brides Collection (Barbour, May 2018) is one of those heroines.
Magda Sehler lives in Philadelphia with her family from the
Palatinate of Germany (which at that time was composed of several duchies).
Some of her family members had to indenture themselves to get the family
transported. Her mother is a semi-invalid (loosely modeled after myself as I am
disabled from Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disorder.) Magda is a talented silversmith.
Jacob Owens, her employer, calls her Ladysmith.
I’m all about following God’s lead and overcoming with His
help (my blog is www.OvercomingwithGod.com
and my tagline is Hearts Overcoming Through Time). I think that’s why Jacob’s
and Magda’s story had to be told—they are both following God’s lead and once
they are where He has put them, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, they face
much to overcome.
So, how do characters start rattling the chains on the attic
door? I might read something for research in colonial America (I have another
group blog www.ColonialQuills.org)
and think—wow, wouldn’t that possible character have that as part of her story
arc. I might be driving and see something. On a trip back from a research trip
in Michigan, we drove by the sign for Ladysmith in Virginia. Now I had seen
that sign a whole bunch of times, but driving back into Virginia and having
just finaled in the prestigious Holt Medallion contest for my Virginia-set
romance novella, The Steeplechase,
things began to click. My brain was primed for unlocking that attic door and
“hanging out” with Magda as a lady silversmith. Other times, I could simply be
doing something, e.g., cooking something, and a character may “speak to me”
saying that they do that kind of thing or they do it a different way and so I’ve
learned a little something more about them.
If you’ve seen the movie about Charles Dickens as he wrote A
Christmas Carol, then you get a glimpse into how some writers develop their
characters. Sometimes Characters show up. But it is really only when they begin
to “talk” to you that you begin to understand them. How they move. How they
speak. The cadence or rhythm of their speech. Their facial expressions. Once
they really bring their voice to some authors, like myself, it becomes
impossible to ignore them until they are released onto the page. Often they
love to show up just at bedtime and show a mini-reel of their “movie” to me.
That’s usually a clue I better start writing their story or lose a lot of
sleep!
You can read a portion of the collection here https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Backcountry_Brides_Collection.html?id=hKdLDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false
Blurb: Shenandoah Hearts by Carrie Fancett
Pagels
1754 - Great Wagon Road, into the Shenandoah Valley
(Virginia)
As the French-Indian War commences, Magda Sehler wonders if Jacob Owens lost his mind to have abandoned his Philadelphia business and moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Or has he lost his heart?
As the French-Indian War commences, Magda Sehler wonders if Jacob Owens lost his mind to have abandoned his Philadelphia business and moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Or has he lost his heart?
Questions: If you are a writer, how do your characters reveal themselves to you? If you’re a reader, are you surprised that this is how some characters come to an author?
Giveaway: Answer one of the above questions for a chance to win Carrie's a signed paperback copy of The Backcountry Brides with stories by Carrie, Shannon McNear, Pegg Thomas, Debra E. Marvin, Angela Couch, Denise Weimer, Gabrielle Meyer, and Jennifer Hudson Taylor.
Bio – Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D.
Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D., is the award-winning author of fifteen Christian historical romances, including ECPA bestsellers. Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn't "cure" her overactive imagination! A self-professed “history geek,” she resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia but grew up as a “Yooper,” in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time! You can connect with her at
Website: www.carriefancettpagels.com
Blogs: Overcoming
With God and Colonial
Quills
My Pinterest page for 18th Century clothing https://www.pinterest.com/carriefpagels/18th-century-clothing/
