Why do people read crime thrillers, stories about disasters, or mysteries?   Because they love the thrill of the search, the hair-raising uncertainty of fate, the quest for whodunit and why.  Books like that are plot-driven.  We are absolutely compelled to find out what happens.

Character-driven novels, on the other hand, keep readers engaged through the people.  There’s inner conflict as they grow or regress – and we’re along for the ride.  We keep reading whether the characters are troubled or fulfilled.  Will they win or lose?  Those are the same questions we ask about our own lives.  Stories give us hints about how to live.

In the case of my novel, A Distant Call: The Fateful Choices of Hattie Sheldon, the story is both plot and character-driven.  Here’s why.

I searched in earnest for traces of Hattie Sheldon’s life and found far more than expected.  Those findings kept me digging.  Before long, the dates and details of Hattie’s life drove me to study the places where she had lived, the political backdrop and intrigue of her day, and the people with whom she rubbed elbows.  If I learned a bit of history separate from my book research, I circled back excitedly to learn if Hattie might have been nearby.

Without question, her story opened the door to many particulars of Oklahoma and American history that weren’t covered during my schooling.  Once the facts merged, there Hattie stood beside some of the most memorable or devastating events I could imagine.  Through her, history became real enough to touch.

Heart-breaking disputes and developments from before the Civil War and through Hattie’s lifetime impact us still. The aftermath of Indian removals.  The scourge of slavery.  The growing women’s rights movement.

There was unparalleled disaster among the lovable people who walked where Hattie walked and shared her life. Sometimes, there was triumph, as well. It was not a stretch to conclude that Hattie made hard decisions, kept commitments, valued loyalty, and was an exemplar of endurance.  The lens of history and the letters of people she knew serve as lasting proof of how unusual she was.

I got hooked completely by Hattie’s character, as well as the history.  That’s how my book came to be both plot and character-driven.  There was no choice but to combine all the fascinating elements into a much larger, historically realistic story.  The vivid convergence of turbulent times, never-to-be forgotten places, and intense situations compelled me to turn Hattie’s saga into a book series.  Through it, I want readers from 10 to 110 to feel they are actual witnesses to history.  You won’t believe what happened.

Can you put a name to the last person who really got behind your busy, public veneer? Maybe that person made a comment or asked you a simple question that stopped you in your tracks.  Everyone needs moments of clarity when we have to soul search and reach farther than our pre-packaged, quick answers.

That’s what happened to me.  It only took one, key historical breakthrough to get me hooked on researching Hattie Sheldon’s life. At the Houghton Library at Harvard, a letter in her handwriting suddenly stared me in the face.  We might be separated by time, but she became real! And even though only a genetic thread connected us, I knew her inspiring life had lessons to teach me. 

Each subsequent discovery about Hattie’s work and values added the colors of love and commitment to her old black and white photo. Most surprising was that each finding posed actual questions – from her to me.  What principle is the essence of your character?  Hattie’s true story handed me opportunities to improve the way I lived, thought, and felt. 

 Are you making the best use of your gifts and your time?

Now that I have Hattie’s powerful standard for comparison, I’m going to work on that. I’m trying, Hattie.  I’m trying.