What are the challenges of writing a novel that features two women who lived a century apart?
Probably the most challenging is the slight changes to stylistic approach as I switch from past to present. A more historical setting requires a different lens with which to look at it, a different vocabulary, and even different sensory elements versus what is naturally familiar to me in the present day.
Aside from that, it’s weaving all the details through the story and having threads to tie neatly so in the end, the tapestry is complete, minus loose, unaccounted-for-ends looking for a place to lodge.
When you do these dual-time novels, what kind of research do you have to do?
That depends on the content of the story, but research is always an integral part. From confirming that a word or phrase was actually in use in that specific time period, to studying clothing styles, hair styles, and accessory styles, it’s important to achieve accuracy.
In The Curse of Misty Wayfair, the research for the asylum was very intense. I read and, honestly, skimmed many documents, books, and sites about institutions during the time. I say “skimmed” because much of it was very disturbing. It took me into very dark places and not ones that I wish to revisit any time soon.
Your debut novel, The House on Foster Hill, was nominated in two categories for the Christy Awards—and won in the suspense category. How does that impact or change how you now write your fiction?
I was stunned and grateful for the double nomination and even more stunned and grateful when The House on Foster Hill won the suspense category. Winning such a beloved award impacts me in a way that makes me intensely grateful that readers and judges alike can see through the simple story I wrote, and grab hold of the deeper thematic elements I try to weave through the story and pray can be blessing to others.
As for how it changes how I now write, it increases my desire to continue to write the quality of fiction readers are coming to expect from me. Which in turn, makes me more desperate to walk hand in hand with the Lord on this journey we call “writing.”
Click through to find out how Jaime’s faith informs her storytelling…