Blackhorse Road by Merida Johns

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Merida Johns will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

Because of my background in women’s leadership development, there was no question that I wanted to write women’s fiction—stories about a woman protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.

About three years ago, I was on a conference call with fellow life coaches, and we were discussing concepts of what makes a fulfilling life. Bang! Like a thunderclap, I had an insight. What would it be like to help people understand the concepts of a flourishing life in a story instead of through a motivational book or text? After all, I thought, storytelling has been the most compelling form of communication for thousands of years. As far as I could recall, none of the great Profits fed up learning objectives and multiple-choice questions to their followers. No! They got their message across through stories.

As an academic (former professor) I was tired of writing motivational books and textbooks that give frameworks, theories, and ideas but don’t immerse readers in the human experience. Since I was ten years old, I had wanted to write fiction, but my professional career steered me in another direction. Now, I saw an opportunity to follow the dream I had had as a child. I feel that writing Blackhorse Road has been one of the most fulfilling things that I have accomplished.

What research is required?

When I started writing fiction, I took two pieces of advice to heart: write about what you know and know about what you write. Knowing about what you write means doing your research. A reader recently titled her review of Blackhorse Road on Amazon as “A well-researched novel,” and that review made my heart sing! A lot of research went into world-building, whether it was about eras such as the Irish immigration period to Canada, feminism from the 1860s through the 1930s, or the Great Depression to tracking down the history of inanimate objects such as the specific carousels, parks, forts, and amusement venues used as supporting characters or locations in the book. I’ve tried to make the context as authentic as possible, even researching the temperatures or moon phases for a given date mentioned in the story. Some of the most rewarding comments that I’ve received from readers is that the book brings back memories for them—whether it is a description of Southern California, Buffalo, Detroit, Lake Louise, or a dance with Air Force Academy cadets.

My favorite resources are first-hand accounts of an era that I uncover through reading diaries, journals, and old letters. Hearing the voices of people who lived in an era helps me bring a more descriptive and authentic context to my stories.

Readers interested can find a categorized on my website of many of the resources I used in my research.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I have learned a lot about forgiveness from Luci Bartolini, the protagonist. Luci is betrayed by someone she should have been able to trust, and the betrayal left emotional scars and changed Luci’s life direction. Blackhorse Road is fundamentally a story about choices and their ramifications. After Luci discovers the betrayal, she has a choice: to be held hostage in a dark world of bitterness and hate or to free herself through forgiveness.

Forgiveness and mercy are not my top strengths! So, to write about forgiveness, I had to go beyond writing about what I know. I needed to know about what I wrote—and that meant doing a lot of research on what forgiveness is and what it is not. In the end, Luci taught me so much about forgiveness, and to give readers a hint, I’m happy to share the following quote from the book, modified a little to not give the story away. Hopefully, it will help others struggling with forgiveness too.

I keep asking myself, what is forgiveness? Forgiveness is not pardoning. It is not overlooking or justifying someone’s transgression and the hurt his actions caused. I am relieved that I don’t have to condone, excuse, reconcile, or even forget his behavior to forgive him. What is forgiveness . . . forgiveness is choosing to reject resentment and embrace compassion.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I must have music playing in the background. Since Blackhorse Road is primarily set in the mid-1960s, the music included artists such as the Four Seasons, Dick Dale, Everly Brothers, and folk music from Peter, Paul, and Mary, Gordon Lightfoot, Pete Seeger, New Christy Minstrels, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and so many more.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I’d describe myself as an author who writes about what she knows, knows about what she writes, and fuses this with imagination and creativity.

Before I begin writing, I have a story in mind—I know the general character arc that shows the protagonist’s internal transformation. I’ve imagined the turning points, the character’s confrontation with her darkest moments, and the change by the end of the story that occurs. Then I get to work fleshing out the important secondary characters, including using inanimate objects and locations as supporting characters.

After I have the story in my mind, I write what I term a mini-story that includes a few paragraphs on the story’s theme(s) that sketches the plot, conflict, and resolution. Then I elaborate in the next section on the powerful influences/influencers in the story, followed by descriptions of the strong challengers, major conflict, and resolution.

The most useful technique that I use to develop the character is writing a character profile for each of the characters in the story. In this profile, I identify things like physical descriptions, home or neighborhood they live in, close relationships, family members and background, gender relationships, job, dress style, favorite foods, regrets, best qualities, worst qualities, religious and philosophical beliefs, and so on.

Afterward, I develop a short synopsis, as far as I can go, of each chapter. To be sure, though, nothing is set in stone. My characters and events evolve, and each day as I write about these, the characters take me off guard by their actions and thoughts, and I am surprised by unexpected events that surface without notice!

For tracking characters and events, I develop a timeline and a list of characters and their relationship(s) with each other. Both of these will have additions and are edited throughout the development of the novel.

I maintain a style sheet while I’m working on my novels. Style sheets are usually used by copyeditors, but I have found this tool essential in keeping track of style and usage for my own purposes. For example, I will list words that I always hyphenate or capitalize, notate how I treat inner thoughts by using italics, not quotations, and so on. The style sheet also lists all references I have used for fact-checking and fact-finding. When I hand the manuscript to the copyeditor, the style sheet functions as a communication tool between the two of us, making life so much easier for both.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

As I mentioned earlier, I love old letters, journals, and diaries. Here’s what’s sitting to my right now, just crying out to be read:

• A journal from 1891. This journal begins with a listing of books that this teenaged girl had read: The Virginia Heiress, A Life’s Remorse, Knight Errant, and several others.

• A journal from 1892. This journal begins with the entry: Practiced Mrs. Willis’ for 1-1/2 hours for St. Patrick’s concert.

• A journal from 1896. This journal starts with an entry from a young woman teacher on her first day of teaching. She says, “Began my 1st day of teaching. Mr. Pillon, the trustee, was at school finishing some of the desks. I hated to start this morning . . .

Anything new coming up from you? What?

Three exciting things are coming up for me.

• First, I am working on a women’s fiction novel tentatively titled Parallel Lives that begins in Columbus, Ohio, in the mid-1970s. Suzanna has her whole life in front of her like an open freeway or so she believes . . . The story is packed with challenges and hard decisions as Suzanna strives to follow her North Star. Like Blackhorse Road, the ending has a surprising twist—this one, though, might raise the reader’s curiosity enough to wonder if coincidences that edge on the paranormal might be real might be more than random events. Stay tuned!

• Second, I’m planning on a series of fireside chats during the Winter months about Blackhorse Road’s development and exploring questions that my readers have about the story. So, I can’t wait to get these launched beginning in January 2021.

• Third, I’m launching a newsletter that will focus on what happens behind the scenes in developing a piece of fiction. Readers and other authors have so many questions, and I’d love to share my experiences with them.

Readers can find out more about the fireside chats and sign up for my newsletter.

Do you have a question for our readers?

Yes, I do! Do you prefer a story written in the present tense or past tense? Blackhorse Road contains both, although the bulk of the story is written in the past tense. In my upcoming work, I’m debating whether to reverse the emphasis and use the present tense for most of the story. What do your readers prefer?

Under another hand, Blackhorse Road could all too easily have been a singular romance. Johns provides more as she follows Luci down the rabbit hole and out the other side of life experience, bringing readers into a world where . . . transgression changes everything and challenges carefully-constructed foundations of belief and values. As Luci lets go of her lifesavers and navigates obstacles to happiness, her story becomes a vivid portrait of hope and self-examination which ultimately moves into unexpected territory. Novel readers seeking a tale that closely considers deception and forgiveness, love gained and lost, and family ties will welcome the multifaceted Blackhorse Road's ability to come full circle in a satisfyingly unexpected way. - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

It’s the turbulent mid-1960s, and Luci, an eighteen-year-old Southern California girl, is on the quest for self-determination and new beginnings. Three powerful forces influence her values: the grit of her Irish great-grandmother, Lucinda McCormick; the philosophy of choice of her father, Sam; and the 1960s ideals of equity and altruism. But potent foes thwart Luci at every turn. Her budding romance with a handsome United States Air Force Academy cadet sets the stage for conflict and deception that last for two decades. When Luci discovers how her autonomy and love affair were hijacked, she struggles with anger and bitterness. But from a surprising source, she finds a forgiveness path that restores her well-being and hope and, in the end, faith in herself.

Read an Excerpt

Monday, July 18, 1966 – Buffalo, NY

Dear Luci with an i,

Here I am at 2:00 a.m., a lonely lover whose sole comfort comes from the cherished memories we made together a few hours ago. My desk is a witness to the completion of many term papers and homework assignments, but it has never been my partner in a confession of love. Can words convey the depth of my thoughts, rampant emotions, and gratitude to you? I’m uncertain they exist, and if they did, it’s unclear that I could assemble them to explain how you have captured my heart and what you mean to me.

I’m no John Keats or Robert Browning, but my feelings are no less potent than their descriptions of love. Being “in love” is a passion like the flames of a blistering fire that race across the prairie. It’s fierce and red, self-serving, and out of control. It feeds upon itself until there is nothing left. “To love,” though, is a passion like the embers of a flickering fire that lingers within the hearth. It’s gentle and glowing, crackles with surprise, and permeates the senses. It’s warm and steady. It rekindles itself, and it endures.

With you, Luci, being “in love,” is inadequate for me. No, I love you. You unexpectedly and beautifully transformed my life the evening you entered it. Because of you, my world flourishes in joy, compassion, amusement, serenity, and awe. I feel, for the first time, that I am entirely immersed in the bounty of life. I would be lost and hollow without you. You’ve made me complete. I can face any hurdle and accomplish anything with you beside me. Our time is just beginning, Luci, as we walk across the stepping-stones of life together.

For all of this and more, I seal my love with gratitude for our memory making. I send you a cascade of Bois Blanc Island kisses, placing each one where I know it will please you the most.

Barry

About the Author:

For three decades, I was a university professor who taught classes and wrote textbooks on “nerdy” subjects centering on computer systems in healthcare.

But a decade ago, informed by my experience in a male-dominated area, I started my practice as a leadership coach to help women break the glass ceiling and fulfill their leadership and economic potential. Consequently, during the past ten years, I transitioned from writing textbooks to motivational books on creating environments where people flourish through better leadership.

About a year ago, I was on a conference call discussing concepts of what makes a fulfilling life with fellow life coaches. Bang! Like a thunderclap, I had an insight. What would it be like to help people understand the concepts of a flourishing life in a story instead of through a motivational book or text? After all, I thought, storytelling has been the most compelling form of communication for thousands of years. As far as I could recall, none of the great prophets fed up learning objectives and multiple-choice questions to their followers. No! They got their message across through stories.

Motivational books and textbooks give frameworks, theories, and ideas, but they don’t immerse us in the human experience. They don’t show us how others face challenges, embrace their passions, overcome sorrow, celebrate achievement, quash self-doubts, develop positive emotions and relationships, handle betrayal, or act on aspirations.

Storytelling ignites our imagination and emotion. We experience being part of the story rather than being served up a platter of facts, exercises, and information.

This eye-opener was enough for me to take on the challenge of novel writing. My passion is to help people catapult beyond concepts and theories and jump into the wonderment of imagination in designing a flourishing life for themselves. Storytelling does this best.

Happily, as a fiction writer, I have jettisoned learning objectives and test questions. Ah…the freedom makes me feel as light as a balloon on a summer breeze.

Website: http://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com
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