I’ve often been asked if I model my main characters after myself.
My heroines are all flawed women facing internal and external struggles that can seem insurmountable. In that respect, their stories resonate with me. But I love giving them strengths I don’t possess and victories I haven’t experienced. I’m an introvert with big dreams I can accomplish vicariously through my characters.
Years ago I had the privilege of being part of a steering committee for a maternity home. That opportunity opened the door to another one and I became the director of a crisis pregnancy center. Both of these ministries allowed me to meet a lot of hurting women and hear their heart-rending stories. Sometimes listening to and praying for or with them and offering resources could bring a glimmer of hope into situations that seemed hopeless. Too often there was nothing I could say to dissuade a woman who’d set her mind on abortion as the only answer to her crisis. Their stories stayed with me.
A friend of mine had a vision for extending tangible hope to young pregnant women in Kenya. I’ve had the joy of watching her dream become reality. Mercy’s Light is a maternity home that offers shelter and job training, saving young women from a life of poverty or prostitution. Their stories, along with the ones I’ve heard face-to-face, touch my heart and inspired me to write a novel about an American woman running a safe house in Kenya.
Because I love to read and write time slip novels with a bit of romance, I created Shawny Moses, a woman just a few years my senior who was “retracing” the events of her life on her death bed. Having been just a bit too young to fully grasp the impact of the cultural transformation of the 1960s, I thoroughly enjoyed a reason to delve into letters and testimonies from the Vietnam War, Woodstock, the Jesus People movement and communal living…once again giving my characters experiences I could only imagine.
In the “real time” portion of Candles in the Rain, Serena Devon is a heavy-hearted missionary who returns to Arkansas hoping she will get there in time to say goodbye to Shawny, the woman she considers her second mom. I loved getting inside the head of this woman who had set aside her dreams of marriage and family for the sake of others. I wanted her to be real and human, so I gave her a bit of self-righteousness and a penchant for judging the “shiny check writers” who only throw money at a cause. In all honesty, I’ve been on both sides—in ministries dependent on generous donors and the person who eases guilt with a check.
Serena’s character arc was fascinating to write.
I love it when characters seem to tell me their story rather than the other way around.
Each secondary character she encounters changes her perceptions, from the handsome Luke Aspen who also called Shawny his second mom, to Chloe the “church lady” who took care of Shawny in her last days, to the homeless pregnant woman and her little boy, Bucket, and the shocking surprise who shows up at the back door. As her preconceived ideas are forced to change, Serena begins to question whether she misunderstood God when she thought He said she was to remain in Africa…and unmarried.
Candles in the Rain gave me the chance to incorporate so many things I’m passionate about. Human trafficking, adoption, abortion, compassion for children, passing on a legacy of faith…and of course romance!
Shawny Moses is dying. In her last hours, she retraces her life and prays that her death will allow the children she thought of as her own to finally know the truth. . .and each other. When missionary Serena Devon learns the woman she calls her second mom is dying, she finds a sliver of hope in knowing the store she will inherit from Shawny can be sold to build a new safe house in Mombasa. Her dreams dissolve when she meets Luke Aspen, who also thinks he’ll inherit the store. Luke and Serena grow close as they work to uncover the secret that severed their mothers’ friendship. Can the reading of Shawny’s will end decades of silence and secrets? Buy the book here.
Wisconsin author Becky Melby has written and co-authored 20 fiction titles. When not writing, she enjoys spoiling her sixteen grandchildren, camping, kayaking, riding on the back of her hubby’s motorcycle, and turtle sundaes with salted caramel. Contact her on her website or on Facebook.
Thank you for the opportunity to share with your readers, Jennifer.