Allie Pleiter on When A Character Won’t Stay Put

Every once in a while, a character gets uppity.  Sometimes they decide “secondary” isn’t a sufficient status, and they want their own book.  Other times they clamor for their own ending, having seen how their buddy/sister/partner just got all the happy kisses and they now demand their own.  If you think the author’s in charge, think again…

Characters can hound you, stalking you from the back of your mind until you relent and give them their own book.  Such was the case with Ida Lee Landway from Homefront Hero.  She wasn’t going to settle for “best friend” casting, no sir.  She was ready to play leading lady, and would not hush up until I gave in.

Then came the search—what man would win this feisty army nurse’s heart?  Outspoken and unconventional, her match of course needed to be a bit on the stuffy side.  Opposites attract, after all.  He needed to share her dedication to her work, but I wanted him to be in sorry need of the color Ida brings to the world wherever she goes.  Is it any surprise, then, that one of the first ways Dr. Daniel Parker shows his growing affection is with the purchase of cans of paint?

Ida and Daniel’s journey to each other’s heart is filled with bumps and twists, tender moments and outright laughs, as well as a host of adorable little orphans who create no end of surprises.  I hope you enjoy reading THE DOCTOR’S UNDOING as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Featured Book: LEGACY OF LOVE by Christine Johnson

She dreamed of digging through ancient ruins--but the only exploring Anna Simmons gets to do is in the expensive houses she cleans in Pearlman, Michigan. When Brandon Landers hires her, she's unsure whether to be furious or thrilled. He evicted Anna and her ailing mother, but she's heard rumors of hidden treasure on his land. Treasure Anna decides to find. Not just for herself, but for her new employer whose unexpected kindness has softened her heart.

Physically and spiritually wounded in the Great War, Brandon knows not to hope for the impossible--like buried riches or Anna's love. Is there still time for them to learn that the only treasure they need is a lifetime together?

Allie Pleiter on Faith and Sock Heels

Faith and sock heels

I thought I'd share with you a piece that I wrote for fellow author Cara Putnam's blog last month.  It's a personal favorite. 

I’m often asked where my story-lines come from, how I pull my unusual plot lines out of the mist of my muse.  I know people are looking for some stunning formula, some admirable technique, but I haven’t got one.  I just pull on a threat and start unraveling, following where it leads.

I was standing in the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL, looking for a thread to tug.  I knew I wanted to write about WWI, but not much more than that.  My knitter’s eye caught a WWII olive sweater vest in an exhibit, and when I read the description “hand made according to a Red Cross pattern,” I knew I’d found it.  A little more research turned up the WWI “Knit Your Bit” Red Cross knitting campaign poster to produce wool socks for soldiers, and the rest is HOMEFRONT HERO.

Wounded war hero John Gallows finds himself in the unenviable position of having to learn to knit socks in public so that boys will join the ranks of Red Cross knitters.  You can imagine his lack of enthusiasm.  Nurse Leanne Sample takes her knitting very seriously, and isn’t about to let an arrogant poster boy make fun of her efforts.  She sees through Gallows’s bravado to his very deep pain.  It takes faith on both their parts to see why they make good partners.

At one point in every knitter’s life comes the challenge to “turn a heel,” or do those wondrous stitches that take a two-dimensional tube around a corner to make a three-dimensional sock.  It’s complicated as a whole, but simple when taken in small steps.  It looks daunting--and it is.  But it is doable, and a wonderful thing when accomplished.  Still, a knitter has to have faith in her instructions and in the truth that each row builds toward an end she might not yet see.

Sound like life?  Sound like faith?

John’s journey to making a sock isn’t about yarn and needles at all...it’s the perfect metaphor for his journey toward Christ, toward love, and toward healing (or in this case is it “heeling”?)

I hope you’ll enjoy this tale of wartime love that’s so near and dear to my romance-writing, sock-knitting, story-collecting heart!