PROTECTED: THE BIRTH OF A BOOK IDEA
When a book is born, there’s a scary moment, hour, or week. As an author, I sit at the computer with the germ of an idea, a blank document page, and a blinking cursor. Somewhere, somehow, I have to find 90,000 words that will communicate a story that will captivate me…my editors…and eventually readers.
And it all starts with a blinking cursor on a blank screen.
Really it starts before then.
A germ of an idea comes from somewhere.
For Shadowed by Grace, that spark came when I saw a non-fiction book at the library. All it took was the cover photo: a clearly WWII soldier holding a painting. As I read some of the stories of the Monuments Men, my imagination began spinning questions. What would it be like to be a sculptor, museum curator, or architect who joins the army to help protect art and architecture?
Many of these men weren’t soldiers, but others had been in the reserves. Some came in as privates after basic training, others as officers because they’d already been in one of the services.
Still a fascination won’t be enough to fill one page let alone more than 300 pages of a novel. But as I play with an idea, eventually characters show up. When a hero or heroine arrives, I play with them until I know what his or her journey will look like. With Shadowed by Grace, Scott Lindstrom showed up first. Once I knew who he was, I started developing a heroine who would complement and challenge him. I didn’t expect the book to become Rachel’s story.
And eventually, if I come back to my computer often enough the story is written and makes it debut into print and e-versions.
Cara C. Putman graduated high school at 16, college at 20, and completed her law degree at 27. An award-winning author of seventeen books with more on the way, she is active in women’s ministry at her church and is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. Putman is currently pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration at Krannert. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization she has served in various roles since 2007. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana. You can connect with her online at:
You can purchase Shadowed by Grace, at Christianbook.com, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Lifeway, and anywhere else books are sold.
About the book:
Rachel Justice is desperate to save her dying mother. She doesn’t want to leave her, but she accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy and photograph war images. No one knows her photography is a cover and that Rachel is really seeking to find the father she never knew, hopeful to get some help with her failing mother. Dedicated to her mission, Rachel is focused on completing it. Soon, though, she finds her priorities and plans changing when she is assigned to Lt. Scott Lindstrom, on mission as a Monument Man. Their meeting will have far-reaching consequences. Will this derail her plans? Will she ever find her father? Is her faith enough to carry her through?
Read the first chapter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment