Monday, October 29, 2012

BACK HISTORY: Gables of Legacy, Volume I: The Guardian

Gables of Legacy,
Volume I: The Guardian

Featured song: “Alive and Kicking” by Simple Minds

When I finished the story of the Hamilton family several books before this, I really believed it was done for good. I had no inclination whatsoever that this story would move into the next generation. When I got the idea of making Jess Michael Hamilton the fourth the hero of his own story, I thought it would be one book, and I was going to call it “Gables of Legacy.” As I started writing, it quickly grew in my mind and I knew it needed to be a series. I’m not the kind of writer to do outlines, but I did stop at this point to calculate where the story could be divided into parts that would make adequate books with solid beginnings and endings, but take the story on. “The Guardian” became volume one, and by the way, I love this title! It’s a great title, but I mostly love it because the guardian we’re talking about is Alexandra Byrnehouse-Davies from “The Gable Faces East.” In this story, Tamra feels drawn into the Hamilton family by someone from the other side of the veil. She later realizes that Alexa had guided her to the family home just in time to save Jess from taking his own life.

One of the things I loved about this book was seeing the Hamilton family, the station, the history shown in previous books, all through the eyes of a new character. It’s easy to fall in love with Michael and Emily all over again as you see them from this new perspective.

I have a little motto that I always guarantee a happy ending, but I can’t make any promises regarding the beginning of the next volume. I believe that this is a lot like life and it portrays a more realistic sense of life than most romantic fiction. Problems are a part of life, and they continue to come up. Here we see Michael and Emily facing new challenges as the parents of adult children, but their experiences of the past give them a great deal of wisdom and compassion. I’ve learned a great deal from them, myself.

1 comment:

Jill said...

I began reading your books 18 years ago, right after I joined the church at age 16. I have loved Michael and Emily for years. I am currently rereading Gables Against the Sky. Its probably my 5 or 6th time reading it..at least! I am missing a couple of your books, I will have to track them down at some point! I look forward to every new release! Thanks for letting me escape to Australia so many times!! I have thoroughly enjoyed every "trip" there!!