When I wrote Montana Hearts, a November 2010 Love Inspired release, the spark was easy to identify. I read a short article in the Los Angeles Times that indicated some people believe an organ transplant recipient takes on the personality and traits of the organ donor. BAM! According to experts, this is decidedly not true, but what a wonderful place to start What if....
With my current book, Montana Love Letter, it is harder to pin point the initial impetus for the story. I actually picked the locale first. Since we’ve visited and enjoyed Glacier National Park and environs, I thought the area would be a great place for a small town story. So I created Bear Lake, fifty miles south of the park (and recently got some great help from the Harlequin.com Love Inspired Community to grow the town. Thanks, ladies!)
My hero, widower Adam Hunter, arrived in my imagination because of my grandson who has ADHD. He’s a sweet 12-year old boy but other children have started picking on him. So what if...Adam had a similar experience? What if he is dyslexic and desperately wants to keep that a secret? Particularly from the heroine.
Janelle Townsend, the heroine, made her appearance when I asked what kind of a woman would Adam least want to discover his secret? How about a college educated woman, the widow of a college professor in anthropology? Oh, dear, don’t you just know she’s going to sniff out his secret?
And then, because I love to write about children, up popped Adam’s outgoing 10-year-old daughter Hailey and Janelle’s 5-year-old daughter Raeanne. Rae has experienced a trauma and has forgotten how to speak. Sweet Hailey, as well as Adam, have a lot to do with her regaining her speech.
With the characters in place, the story rolled out on my computer screen, reaching the HEA for all of them.
Where do you get your ideas? What kind of storyline do you like to read? Anything can happen in Bear Lake, so let me know.
Happy reading.....
Char......
www.CharlotteCarter.com
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