A Hero Lives Here, by Eileen Goudge
A Hero Lives Here, by Eileen Goudge
“Eileen Goudge writes like a house on fire, creating characters you come to love and hate to leave.” What’s not to love about this blurb by Nora Roberts? Not only does it come from the mistress of propulsive fiction herself, but it sums up who I am as a writer. I don’t do it for the money. A barista at Starbucks earns more than the average author, and by that I meant the tiny percentage who earn an income from their writing. And which is why my ironic T-shirt that reads “I write for food” isn’t so ironic. Nor do I aspire to be short-listed for a Pulitzer. So why do I write? What compels me to spend my days toiling away at my writing desk with no guaranteed outcome of success?
The short answer is I can’t not write. I’m a born storyteller. I wrote my first short story when I was eight. When I was a camp counselor, the summer I turned sixteen, I spun yarns around the campfire at night. Nowadays, I write novels, (22 to date, not counting my YA novels and unpublished works). The difference between a story told around a campfire and a published novel is the former generally has a captive audience, which will forgive a certain amount of rambling, and the latter must have a cohesive plot and memorable characters in order to have a chance of succeeding.
Let’s talk about characters. How do you create memorable characters? Start by asking yourself what your protagonist aims to achieve. If they’re in law enforcement, they might be on the trail of a killer. If they’re in the military, they might be seeking to thwart a nuclear attack or rescue someone in captivity in a foreign country. Or, if they’re a doctor or lawyer, they might be trying to save a life or prevent someone from being convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.
The protagonists of my novels are what I call everyday heroes. What is an “everyday hero?” A character who may appear ordinary but who does extraordinary things. One who’s flawed and may not be even all that likeable at the outset. One who may make wrong decisions before doing the right thing in the end.
Book One of my Gold Creek series, “All They Need to Know,” is about a woman on the run. Escaping her abusive husband, Kyra flees across the country and ends up in a small, California mountain town, where she’s befriended by a group of women and reinvents herself. It was inspired by events in own life when I moved from California to New York City to escape an abusive relationship and make it as a writer. This was back when the “Sweet Valley High” titles I wrote paid the rent.
The working title for Book 2 of my Gold Creek series, “The House on Mountain Laurel Lane,” (coming out on November 11th), was “A Hero Lives Here.” It was ultimately nixed due to its military connotation, but I still love that title. Why? Because it perfectly describes not only the character of Hank, a Vietnam vet who rents rooms at the house on Mountain Laurel Lane, but the female protagonist, Jo. Jo is a widow and mom who’s stuck in a rut, three years after her husband’s death, but who finds the courage and strength to move on despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
I interviewed a group of widows when I was doing research for “The House on Mountain Laurel Lane.” I was moved by the stories they told. Each had survived the loss of her long-time spouse, and in one case, a second love years later, and had gone on to have what one described as her “epic encore.” That woman wrote and published a book about her experience.
Another hiked the Appalachian Trail and has since made an extreme trek of some kind an annual tradition. Kay, my friend and the widow of Yankees ballplayer Bobby Murcer, has become the spokeswoman for her late husband at events honoring him and other sports legends. Ellen, the widow of my old school chum Tom, swam across San Francisco Bay at the age of 64. These women described being devastated by their losses, but they eventually found a way to move on and give their lives meaning.
To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, “Women are like teabags. They don’t know their strength until they’re in hot water.” Jo discovers her strength in the midst of her overwhelming grief. She buys a house, at the urging of her husband in a video he made before he died, despite its encumbrance in the form of an elderly lodger and her parents’ opposition (they want her to move in with them.) She even dips her toes into the dating pool.
Who’s an “everyday hero” in your life? Maybe it’s a friend or family member. Now imagine what they might do in a situation of your invention (the more extreme the situation the better!) How do they get out of the mess they’re in? What defining moment causes them to tap into their inner strength?
Your hero doesn’t have to be Katniss Everdeen or Jack Reacher to be extraordinary. It might be someone you could picture living next door, a coworker, or a former classmate. It could be you.
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About Eileen Goudge
Eileen Goudge is the New York Times bestselling author of 20 novels, which have sold over 6 million copies worldwide. They include perennial reader favorites Garden of Lies, One Last Dance, Woman in Red, and her newly released title All They Need to Know.
Eileen draws from her own experiences in writing women’s fiction. She grew up as one of five sisters, has been married and divorced several times, and is the mother of two grown children. Hers is a Cinderella story. She was catapulted from poverty, as a struggling single mom, to overnight success with the publication of her first novel Garden of Lies. The recurring themes of sister bonds, the joys and heartaches of romance, and reversals of fortune feature largely in her novels.
Eileen got her start as a ghostwriter for the popular teen series Sweet Valley High in the 1980’s. which went on to sell tens of millions of copies around the world, spawning a TV series and spinoffs.
She loves to cook but her passion is baking. Between cooking up plots for her novels she can often be found in her kitchen kneading bread or rolling out pie dough. In 2005 she published a cookbook, Something Warm from the Oven, filled with family recipes and recipes contributed by readers.
She lives in Sacramento, California with her husband, Sandy Kenyon, the former entertainment reporter and film critic for WABC-TV in New York City.
Visit www.eileengoudge.com to learn more about the author.
THE HOUSE ON MOUNTAIN LAUREL LANE
A widow and mom of two struggles to let go of the past and embrace the future in a powerful novel about friendship, love, and taking risks by New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge.
Ever since her husband Sean’s death, Jo Myers just can’t move on. Until she receives a video Sean made during his final days, urging her to find happiness after he’s gone. Jolted from her rut, she embarks on a journey forward.
Her first step is buying a house she and her daughters can call home. Framed by the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, it’s the very house she and Sean dreamed of owning together one day. It comes with a kindly and elderly resident lodger and an opportunity to make new memories. Jo even dips her toes into the dating pool. With the support of her friends, who call themselves the Tattooed Ladies, she is determined to honor her husband’s last wish. Even as reality comes crashing down again.
When everything she holds dear is threatened, Jo draws on her newfound strength and the power of friendship to finally find her way to the other side of grief and embrace whatever the future may hold.
BUY HERE
Category: Contemporary Women Writers
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