The Story Behind the Story of the Heroine and the Hero in
A Train Ride to Heartbreak
By Donna Schlachter
Coming up with likeable yet flawed characters is always a
struggle. I find my first draft is usually full of perfect people who always
get it right, or else they are so flawed, nobody likes them. Then I have to go
back in and tell myself that nobody is this good and they need at least one
little thing they need to fix, or there’s no story. Or I have to temper all
their issues with at least one redeeming feature.
For Mary Johannson, she had so many good traits—hard worker, thinks of others before herself, obedient, loving—yet the scars on her neck and arm from a fire she survived as a child constantly remind her that nobody could possibly love her. The years in the orphanage fed that lie, as she was passed over time and again for adoption. The opportunity to marry, sight unseen, seems the answer to her problems. And even better, a covenant marriage for twelve years or so, nothing expected except to raise this stranger’s children. Then she would be free to go wherever she wanted. Not that she had anywhere to go.
For John Stewart, he’s another good person that bad things
happened to. His wife died, leaving him with two young daughters to raise. He
has so many good traits, too—loving father, loving husband, industrious,
loyal—so why did God abandon him? Why didn’t the Almighty choose to answer his
prayers? And if not his, why not answer his wife’s? She loved God right to the
end. Convinced he will never love again, yet he knows he needs help with his
children. A covenant marriage seems perfect. No love. No intimacy. Just duty.
Kind of like his relationship with God.
These characters both believe a lie—Mary’s that nobody could
see past her scars, and John’s that he has had the one love of his life. We all
believe a lie about ourselves. It might have to do with our past, with our
present, or even with the bleak outlook for our future. What I hope readers
will take away about this story is that God is bigger than our past, bigger
than our mistakes, and has great plans for us.
1895, Train to California
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October 1895
Mary Johannson
has scars on her body that can’t compare with the scars on her heart. She is
alone in the world, with no family, no prospects, and no home.
John Stewart is
at his wit’s end. His wife of three years died in childbirth, leaving him with
a toddler and an infant, both girls. Theirs was the love of fairy tales, and
while he has no illusions about finding another like her, his children need a
mother.
Though separated by thousands of miles, they commit to a
mail-order marriage. But on their journey to Heartbreak, they meet another and
realize the life they’d planned would be a lie. Can they find their way back
from the precipice and into the love of God and each other, or are they
destined to keep their word and deny their heart?
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line
editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and
contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. She is a hybrid
author who has published a number of books under her pen name and under her own
name. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters In
Crime; facilitates a local critique group, and teaches writing classes and
courses. Donna is also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and non-fiction, and
judges in a number of writing contests. She loves history and research, and
travels extensively for both. Donna
is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
So what do you think? What makes a good hero or heroine?
with love and prayers,
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