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| THIS COVER IS MADE FROM A VINTAGE POSTCARD THAT FEATURED AN EARLY 20TH CENTURY TRAIN CALLED "THE KATY" |
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| MY BIRTHDAY AUGUST 2013. |
First, I had no idea where it was going. If you're an author, you know the feeling. Some of my stories seemed to write themselves, but not this one. The main characters were perfect, so no changes there. The very beginning was good, but where would the story go after that? Little by little, I made some progress, but would soon put it aside, thinking I would never finish it.
One day, a few months ago, I had an "Ah-Hah!" moment. The reason I couldn't finish this story flashed before my eyes.
Most stories...just end. Don't they? If I write a romance, the couple get together, and we hope they'll live happily ever after, and we move on.
But life is hard under the best of circumstances. People move from one decade to another in real life and cope with whatever changes occur in the society.
This is where I hit the snag.
I worried about Guy and Teresa, because they seemed so real to me. They marry in 1919, but what happens to them during the Roaring Twenties? What befalls them when the stock market crashes in 1929 and the Thirties become the Great Depression?
In other words, I needed to have them settled in a place where I imagined they could cope with the Great Depression. Probably, the couple would prosper during the Twenties, because the war had ended and the government and the population were ready to do business with money that had previously gone to the war effort.
Please don't think I'm a bit wacky. I've gone through this with other stories, but not as much. During the Nineteenth Century, life didn't change a great deal in the West during pioneer days, so I could assume my characters would cope just fine. In fact, citizens in rural Texas the latter part of the Nineteenth Century and the early decades of the Twentieth lived much as their ancestors had. Modernization came slowly to the country towns and villages.
During the Twentieth Century or beyond, I have first-hand knowledge of the societal changes, and we all survived fairly well.
So, how did I end my story? Of course, you'll have to read the book to find out. I'll tell you the truth--even I didn't know until close to The End.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Guymon Reynolds arrives home to Grove's Point, Texas, in February 1919, the end of WWI. Knowing he's lost his parents and two young brothers to the Spanish flu, he's anxious to see his grandpa at the family farm. But nothing is right upon his arrival. He faces more death and destruction that resembles the battlefields where he fought in France.
Young widow Teresa Logan lives near the depot. She, too, grieves for her husband who died from the flu. Alone on a farm with two baby girls, she struggles with loneliness, back-breaking work, and sometimes, fear. But Teresa is strong and determines to care for her family and her farm alone.
Guy and Teresa meet and they easily bond, sharing grief and sorrow.
Both dream of a better life in Grove's Point, or perhaps a new beginning beyond the Blue Mountains.
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***Read the First Chapter on the book page at Amazon.
***eBook ($3.99) and Print ($11.49) available at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Blue-Mountains-Celia-Yeary-ebook/dp/B011J6ZGJ8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437841784&sr=1-2&keywords=celia+yeary
***And Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/559808
