“What is the rest of Nora’s story?”
“What happens to Nora?”
“I want to know more about Nora!”
These are the comments I heard after the release of my book Changing Tides where my main character, Gabe, befriends a woman named Nora and they begin a friendship. But by the end of the book, Nora goes back to her home and out of Gabe’s life (or so we think). Many of my readers didn’t accept that and wanted to know her story too.
Trouble was … I didn’t really know what her story was! She had been mainly a plot device in Changing Tides, and I hadn’t intended to write another book connected to this one.
Then I met Bev, a writer who came to my critique group with a nonfiction book aimed at helping people who were caring for dementia patients. Her goal is to provide caregivers with practical tips while caring for their loved ones. Bev’s book opened doors of discussion in our group, and I became intrigued with the practical tips she was providing to caregivers.
As I thought about Bev’s book and work as a professional caregiver, I began to wonder: what if Nora’s father had dementia and she had to flee to the Outer Banks for a week just to “get away.” (This is how Gabe meets her in Changing Tides.)
I began writing my first paragraph about Nora focusing on when she arrives back home after the long drive from the Outer Banks and is immediately accosted by her brother for leaving him behind with the responsibilities, including the care of their father who has recently been diagnosed with dementia. And so begins Nora’s story in Changing Seasons.
I set Changing Seasons in Pennsylvania in the fall because it’s where I live and my favorite season. As the colors change and the earth begins to curl up onto itself for the long, cold winter, I plunged Nora and her family into a similar change. Nora fights her new role as caregiver and businesswoman as she takes over her father’s funeral business. It isn’t the life she dreamed of for herself, and she fights against every step of the changes.
As she struggles, she begins to see the good that can come from change. Although relationships end, she feels empowered to start fresh. Although her father’s mind is failing, he is still her daddy. Although they are now coworkers, she and her brother are still family—tightknit, loving, supportive. And through it all, her God never changes but guides her into a new and exciting time of her life, something she would have never dreamed possible given the circumstances.
In all my books, I strive to give hope for the grieving. Even though life is hard—Jesus told us it would be—our Father is with us every step of the way. He guides and leads, he provides help through the Holy Spirit, he brings new people into our lives to encourage, uplift, and commiserate.
In my friend Bev’s book, she discusses the concept of “putting on a new hat.” This is a technique that can be used with dementia patients to offer them a new thought, a different focus, a positive emotion when they are stuck or fixated on something distressing. Nora is taught this method by her father’s nurse in Changing Seasons. And she learns how to change her own hat as she adjusts to the changes in her own life.
When I started writing Nora’s story for my readers, I wasn’t sure what her story was. But along the way, God gave me the tools and my own experiences to build a believable and, hopefully, encouraging story. I pray readers will see themselves in Nora, even if their stories are not exactly the same.
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.—Ecclesiastes 3:1
Nora Harper returns from her blissful week away in the Outer Banks to find things have not gotten better in her world. In fact, they may be worse, mainly because now she sees there might be more to life than the one she has.
As Nora deals with her father’s worsening dementia, the end of a long-term relationship, and the additional duties at their family’s funeral home business, she feels trapped. She had wanted so much more for her life than to be stuck in the same patterns of her father, grandfather, and now, brother. She doesn’t want to be a funeral home director. She wants to take photos, to see the world, to live life … not deal with death.
As her father’s disease worsens, an unusual request sparks a new idea within Nora’s heart and mind. Could her passion and her responsibilities work in harmony to create a new season in her life?
Click here to purchase Changing Seasons.
Sue A. Fairchild has been helping new and established authors perfect their stories for over ten years and has spoken at numerous conferences on a variety of writing and publishing topics. In 2024, Sue traditionally published two Christian Contemporary novels, one of which, Changing Tides, won honorable mention in the AWSA Golden Scrolls awards. In addition to helping independent authors publish their books, Sue also works for Elk Lake Publishing Inc. and is the faculty coordinator of the St. Davids Christian Writers’ Conference. Learn more about Sue on her website or subscribe to Sue’s newsletter for writers that includes industry insights, writing and editing tips, and answers to most asked questions.