About a week ago, I celebrated the birth of my newest Christian children’s book and the fourth birthday of my first novel on November 1st. “On Cue” officially kicked off the start of my fiction writing career. The contemporary Christian romance brought to reality a lifetime dream of becoming a writer of the type of books I loved to read.
As a young teen, my grandmother introduced me to Grace Livingston Hill. When my children were young, my mom supplied me with a subscription to Heartsong books. I fell in love with those clean, faith-based stories and told myself that someday I would write a novel like the ones that filled my spare time. I read those books after tucking the children into their beds, while curled up with one of our family dogs.
Life got busy. Our growing family brought growing financial needs, and I began my career as a music teacher with certification to teach elementary classroom subjects. My desire to write came out in scripts for short musicals and composing songs that taught music skills and classroom curriculum. Sometimes another teacher helped with those musicals. The local historical museum asked us to write a song to dedicate a train depot that they’d recently acquired. One thing led to another, and we ended up creating a full Broadway-style community musical about an Underground Railroad event.
The musical was a success and raised much needed funds for the museum. My college and high school sons came along with a supportive community. The boys were growing up and no longer needed as much of my attention. At some point during or after the production, someone made a comment that the story might make a nice book or Hallmark movie. We dreamed big. Hallmark never contacted us after one of the cast members sent them a message about our efforts. My writing/composing partner had no desire to write a book. I did, now that I had the time.
I started typing “On Cue” into my computer. I worked on it for at least a year. The musical that we wrote worked as inspiration for something physical for the heroine, Ginny, to accomplish. I created a handsome hero, Scott, who became the director for the musical. I added real-life antics of our wacky family Basset Hound and Chihuahua as inspiration for the two main characters’ pets, adding humor to the story.
I took the manuscript to a writing convention and learned it needed much work before it could become a book. My first reaction was to feel defeated. A month later, I decided to take classes and learn. After many workshops, revisions, and conventions, a publisher offered me a contract. “On Cue” was born on November 1, 2020. I had my first Christian romance, complete with a Christmas wedding.
Since then, “On Cue” has inspired a prequel and a sequel
. Both books are split-time and centered around the historic home that inspired the musical, both the community one I helped create and the one in the novel. I used the actual history of the Lathrop House in Sylvania, Ohio as a model for the story’s Woodson House. The real Lathrop House was part of the Underground Railroad and had a hidden secret room for those running towards freedom. The hidden room wasn’t discovered until the mid-1900s.
In the prequel, “Free to Love,” Ginny is researching for the musical. Through journals, she discovers the story of a romance along the trail north. The fleeing couple will spend a brief time at the house. In the sequel, Ginny and Scott are married and facing difficulties as they try to start a family. Ginny seeks solace in reading a manuscript her grandmother wrote about a romance that happened right after WWII. In that romance the couple meets at the historical home, which has become a boarding house in the war. During their romance, they accidentally discover the hidden room after an earthshaking event.
In “On Cue” Ginny’s musical may save the local museum, but restoring her trust in men is another matter. When theater professor Scott finds himself coerced to direct her musical, they must work through humorous misunderstandings and a couple of pet disasters, until they finally discover that forgiveness and trust produce perfect harmony.
I still enjoy reading my first novel from time to time. I hope you will check out all three books in this series.
Blessings,
Bettie Boswell
Bettie Boswell always loved to read and create stories for family and friends. In 2016 she began writing and illustrating stories to share with the world. She is now an author/illustrator of both children and Christian adult fiction and non-fiction books. Her efforts include contributions to educational works, leveled readers, magazine articles, and devotional and short story anthologies. Bettie has two grown sons, one daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, and a busy minister husband.
Find all three books on Amazon.