Michael thought about the other vow he took—to look after Emma. And he knew that Samantha was thinking about her vow, too. He wondered if a vow could ever be rescinded, if love could ever be taken back. Michael looked to Emma again, standing at his right, lost in her beauty and grace. He knew then, that this vow—the one they were making today—was forever.
“By the power vested in me by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the great state of South Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife, and husband and wife. Gentlemen, you may kiss your brides.”
Michael took Emma in his arms and kissed her.
Bo kissed Christina and then she offered a whispered prayer of thanks to God.
The crowd stood and applauded, whistled, hooted, and howled.
Noel started playing the song “Blessed Be Your Name” and began to sing as the married couples made their way back down the aisle. Cameras flashed and the townspeople shook the couples’ hands and wished them well.
Christina, Emma, Michael, and Bo poured out the front of the noisy church celebrating in the cold, crisp November air. All the leaves had fallen, and all the trees were bare.
“What a fall it’s been,” Christina said. “What a beautiful fall.”
“Who can think of the fall at a time like this, Christina?” Emma said. “We just got married.”
The brides held their husbands for warmth as they took in the gorgeous bright blue day.
“But it all happened in the fall. When it all started, we didn’t know anything this glorious was about to happen.”
“I know what you mean,” Emma said. “It’s like the seasons. When they start, you’re one kind of person, and then when they end, you’re somebody different.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“Would you say you’re a different person, Emma?” Michael asked.
She thought of her last conversation with Noel, before the wedding was planned.
“I’m a completely different person,” she said, looking at Christina, Bo, and Michael, seeing the tears in everyone’s eyes. “A new creation, and I’ll never be the same.”
o o o
A week later, everyone came over to Will’s house for a different kind of get-together: Thanksgiving dinner. Michael and Emma, Christina and Bo, Samantha and little Jimmy, Jim, Noel, Beth, Janette and her sister, Claudia, and Will sat around the long dinner table and ate, and talked, and laughed. They prayed, and they praised God, thanking Him for everything that He’d done in this season of their lives. They each had a lot to be thankful for.
Just before dessert, Emma excused herself for a moment. She climbed the stairs, stepped into the room she’d known so well as a child, sat down on the bed and looked over at the picture resting on a small white shelf. Traces of mud still coated the corners of the ornate gold frame. She had considered cleaning the frame, but in the end, decided to let it be. The photo had earned its dings and scars and she saw no reason to hide them. After all, she thought, we all have them. Emma kissed her fingers, then pressed them to the photo.
“I love you, Mom,” she whispered. Emma listened to the sounds coming from downstairs and smiled. Everything was in its place. She turned an old engagement ring around her finger, next to the diamond ring from Michael, her true love found. Her husband, her father, and her best friends were down there, missing her. She stood and walked to the stairs. They wouldn’t have to miss her any longer.
She was home.
… a little more …
When a delightful concert comes to an end,
the orchestra might offer an encore.
When a fine meal comes to an end,
it’s always nice to savor a bit of dessert.
When a great story comes to an end,
we think you may want to linger.
And so, we offer ...
AfterWords—just a little something more after you
have finished a David C. Cook novel.
We invite you to stay awhile in the story.
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Turn the page for ...
• How to Write a Novel in Twelve Weeks
• Discussion Guide
• The Original Premise
• Deleted Scenes and Bonus Content
• Author Interview
• About the Author
How to Write a Novel in Twelve Weeks
It was midsummer 2007. I stood on the convention floor at ICRS, the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta, signing copies of my debut novel, Providence: Once Upon a Second Chance. I glanced down the queue of smiling faces waiting in line for a signed copy, wondering what they’d think of the new book by a first-time novelist.
I hoped they would like it. After all, I’d worked on Providence for over three years, all those late nights drinking coffee at my writing desk. By Intelligent Design (not mine), the manuscript found its way to Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary. He read the story and liked it, wanted to present it to David C. Cook publishing in Colorado Springs, and soon they expressed an interest too. A whirlwind. Providence was scheduled to be on store bookshelves by the first of August 2007.
More good news came along the way. Wholesale retailer Sam’s Club decided to stock the novel in their stores. Eventually, they’d sell one-third of all printed copies of Providence. David C. Cook was interested in a second novel and asked to see what I had, but there was just one small problem: I’d never set out to become a novelist. The only idea I had was a title I thought might be interesting: A Beautiful Fall. I drew up a basic premise and sent it to Chip asking for his feedback. He liked the concept and sent a synopsis to Cook. In September, five weeks after Providence released, publishing contracts arrived for my second novel.
Cook was generous with the contract, suggesting a due date of January 2009 for the finished manuscript. The novel was slated to arrive in stores the following September, but two years just sounded like too long between a writer’s first and second novels. I had the premise. I just needed to attach it to the bellows of creativity and let hard work inflate the story to full size. So I made an offer they could have refused. What if I turned in the new manuscript by, say, January 2008? Would it be possible to have A Beautiful Fall in stores by the following September?
Other writers had done it, written classics in less time. William Faulkner famously wrote As I Lay Dying in a mere forty-seven days. Contemporary author Ann Brashares wrote The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, her breakthrough best seller in just three weeks. And Charles Dickens gave the world the gift of A Christmas Carol after only two months with the quill and ink. How could there possibly be any pressure in having twelve weeks to write a follow-up to Providence? Well …
With Providence, I’d enjoyed the luxury of infinite time for redrafts, writing without the curfew of a deadline as I reworked the manuscript, learning the craft of novel writing through trial and error. With A Beautiful Fall, things would be different. I had a companion with me in the room as I wrote: the sound of sand pouring through an hourglass.
Once the project had been green-lighted, I established a three-creed rule to guide the process. I’d pray before every writing session, remain tuned into the Spirit enough to write down everything that moved me, and keep working, putting words down on paper.
I needed to know at all times I was on the right track, if that were possible. I had twelve weeks to scribe 90,000 words, flesh out characters who were barely stick-figure sketches, construct a believable small-town setting, and fill the in-betweens with emotional themes that could lift the story up, up, and away like a parasailer pulled by a speedboat.
The cursor blinked on the blank page. Like a downhill skier, I pushed through the starting gate and just let gravity take over. I didn’t give myself time to get bogged down in literary navel gazing, or reshooting the scenes from different angles; there was only time to
react to the story. It felt like I was making a movie, but the camera I was using held only ninety minutes of film. When filming stopped, I had to have a complete movie ready to hand over to my editor.
I caught a break. The characters and dialog developed quickly in the early days of writing, and story ideas came even while I was away from my Mac. I’d capture those thoughts on the fly, jotting down notes on a pad of yellow legal paper while driving through Nashville.
However, new challenges entered the scene. As soon as the writing on A Beautiful Fall was in full swing, so began the promotional travel I was scheduled to do for Providence. Trips were planned to key cities in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, and South Carolina. Calendar dates were shaded in October for radio interviews, TV appearances, sit-down talks with Web-based media, and phone interviews with magazines. Critical time was eaten up by travel days for bookstore appearances, fund-raising events for my Providence Cares foundation, and a college speaking tour. At the close of November, Thanksgiving brought a much-needed break, but my health still began to fray as I moved from one time commitment to another.
Christmas fell inside the hectic twelve-week writing window. My family urged me to take off a semester from my master’s program at Rockbridge Seminary. I agreed, aware of the passing time, and trying to free up more of it. Meanwhile, my work as host of Soul2Soul radio continued. I’d work on A Beautiful Fall in the morning, then take a break to interview recording artists like Point of Grace, Selah, Jars of Clay, and Diamond Rio for the radio show.
Special opportunities arose that I didn’t want to miss. I got the chance to host thirteen Penn State-Altoona college students on a mission trip to Mississippi. It was the start of thirty-three continual days of houseguests during the last month of book writing. And there were things I would have happily missed, like the ant infestation in my office ceiling vents during the final days of writing.
As new distractions and old obligations mounted, I still felt a sense of perfect peace. Somehow I knew the writing would get done if I kept working at it and believing. I leaned not unto my own understanding but trusted that everything, including rapidly disappearing hours, creeping ants, and the flu, could be overcome through Him.
The more time I spent writing A Beautiful Fall, the more I could see its possibilities. I’d mentally traveled to Juneberry as a visitor, but I was quickly becoming a resident. I liked walking into the small-town coffee shops and bakeries, sitting down with the faith community that met in the old church, and hearing about the picnics where Michael and Emma reminisced to each other on the South Carolina hills overlooking the lake. I discovered that people in Juneberry had stories to tell about the jewel those who live in small towns possess: their vital relationships with one another. Some characters in Juneberry wondered if there was something bigger and better outside the world where they lived, and I realized, so do we all.
The clock ticked, grains of sand swirled and fell through the hourglass, and time ripped pages from the wall calendar, but it happened: A completed first draft of the story was submitted to my editor at 11:59 p.m. on the scheduled due date.
I’ve been a published author for ten years now. It’s interesting, because I never thought about becoming a writer, never thought about deadlines or choosing words to keep or toss away. It was just something I did—like following the three rules: “Pray before every writing session, write everything down, and keep words going onto the page.”
This is how life makes sense to me, and how I spent twelve weeks one beautiful fall, 2007. A writer’s pace may be hectic sometimes, but for readers, it’s a whole different story. Welcome to Juneberry.
CC
April 2008
Discussion Guide
Use these questions to discuss A Beautiful Fall in a reading group, or simply to explore the story from a new perspective.
1. Three love stories are shared in the pages of A Beautiful Fall: Emma and Michael’s, Samantha and Jim’s, and Christina and Bo’s. Which story did you like best? Why?
2. What are Emma’s personal strengths and weaknesses? Samantha’s? Christina’s?
3. The small town of Juneberry is a place of beauty and strong community. Have you ever known a place like Juneberry? What about the town did you identify with?
4. There are five strong male characters in A Beautiful Fall: Will, Bo, Michael, Noel, and Jim. What personal characteristics did they exhibit by their actions?
5. The theme of community, where neighbors help neighbors, runs throughout the story. Do you have a community that exhibits concern for others in your own life? What appeals to you about that sort of community?
6. Home is another major theme in A Beautiful Fall. Both Emma and Janette Kerr left home to search for a place where they belonged. In what ways can you relate this idea of leaving home in order to find it?
7. Michael and Samantha vowed to watch over Emma after her mother died. How did you react to two children making such an important pledge?
8. Parenthood is an important aspect of the story (e.g., Emma grows up without her mother, Will raises Emma as a single parent and endures twelve years of estrangement, Jim and Samantha help shape Noel into the faithful servant he becomes). Why do you think the author placed special emphasis on the role and experiences of parents in the story? How do your experiences compare to those of the characters?
9. Bo realized that Christina was an exceptional woman. Why do you think he hesitated before asking her to marry him? What caused him to change his mind?
What are other examples of this hesitancy in relationship?
10. Noel is an especially responsible and mature young man. Do you think it’s realistic that a twenty-two-year-old could make such a positive impact in a community? What do you think contributed to Noel’s maturity?
11. Christina Herry loves a man who for the longest time wouldn’t commit to her. Was she right to hold on for so long? How did she find the patience to wait?
The Original Premise
Five years ago, I jotted down the title A Beautiful Fall in a journal with a note that went something like this: “Woman falls from high career position into a better, simpler life. It happens during the fall.” When David C. Cook asked if I had another novel, I found that journal entry and wrote the following premise to show them the direction I would take for a second novel. Much of the story stayed true to the premise, but you’ll notice that some of the characters and plot points were merged together to speed up the storyline. Consider this a kind of behind-the-scenes look at story writing.
Synopsis:
Emma Madison is Boston’s fastest-rising-star attorney. Her strong work ethic and personal ambition earned her a partnership at Adler, McCormick & Madison by age thirty. But when her father, Will Madison, suffers a stroke, Emma must return home to the small Southern town of Juneberry, South Carolina, to help arrange her father’s affairs. What she thought would be a quick weekend trip is unexpectedly extended as Emma realizes the extent of his debilitated condition.
While caring for her father, Emma becomes reacquainted with the small town she broke ties with years ago to pursue big-city success. On a drive into Juneberry, she has a chance meeting with her old beau, Michael Evans, the love she walked away from fifteen years earlier. Michael was twenty-two then, Emma a college sophomore already invested in the education she knew was her ticket out. Theirs was an impassioned love affair that long, easy summer, and though it was difficult, when fall came, Emma returned to college to pursue her legal career. Michael remained in Juneberry, becoming the town’s highly gifted carpenter, never ceasing in his love for Emma. She invites Michael to work on her father’s house, which has fallen into disrepair.
Emma is telephoned by her best friend, Lara, still in Boston and eager to lure her back to the excitement of the law practice and a fast-paced single’s world. Emma’s boyfriend, attorney Colin Douglas, is also leaving frequent messages on her cell phon
e, since she’s become increasing difficult to contact following her first encounter with Michael.
Emma is surprised by how much she has in common with the people of Juneberry. She values the counsel of her grandfather, Sam Turner, who shares his wisdom and stirs the faith she learned in childhood but lost hold of in her twenties. Her cousin, Samantha Connor, becomes a new friend and trusted confidant as she teaches Emma the panache of the Juneberry women. Emma develops a mentoring friendship with Sara Prichett, the eighteen-year-old high school senior who reminds Emma of herself, with the same burning desire to leave Juneberry after graduation. She also finds inspiration in Samantha’s son, Noel Connor, the young college grad with an especially strong faith and an expectation that the Lord has a calling on his life.
Emma’s feelings confront her as she thinks over her life and her hard-fought identity as an independent woman. Her all-consuming career feels less important as she reconnects with the town of Juneberry and mends fences with her father. Her lifelong ambitions fall aside as she bonds with the small-town community. Emma treasures her single life, but feelings for Michael Evans are strong, rooted in vivid memories from the past, and kindled by an intense passion now.
Colin Douglas is worried about Emma. After conferring with Lara, he travels to Juneberry to rescue Emma and bring her back to her senses. Emma must decide who she is. Is she Boston’s star attorney with the platinum salary and a scorecard of courtroom victories? Or is she her father’s daughter, bonded to generations of Juneberry women, and fulfilled by the discovery of the lost love of her life?
Autumn is bringing colorful and surprising changes. This season, attorney Emma Madison will leave a new home to find an old one, surrender a dream to take hold of the Dreamer, and cease living one life to be reborn in another. The corporate ladder climber is about to let go of the high rungs. Looks like it’s going to be a beautiful fall.
A Beautiful Fall Page 27
