Talkshow Thursday:
Welcome Back, Laura DeNooyer!
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#1) What was your inspiration for the story?
My dad shared a family story about his father and uncle who were in business together with a younger brother who struggled quite a bit. The two older brothers did everything in their power to help him succeed in his own businesses and later let him work at theirs. I loved the way they cared for him despite all the difficulties they encountered.
This was the spark of the 1950s timeline in my novel. However, it’s just the spark. It’s not a story about my family, and the characters took on lives of their own.
In the 2015 timeline inspiration, I needed two people at cross purposes with each other—both seeking the same information for different reasons.
#2) How do you develop your characters? (e.g. decide on their vocation, names, etc.)?
Characters are often the starting point for planning a story, but I needed my characters to function in a certain capacity from the get-go. So Greg (in the 2015 timeline) had no choice but to be an English professor who was writing a biography about a literary icon.
I knew Leslie’s family tree, but had to figure out her backstory and how her life would overlap Greg’s at the university. So I gave her an education background (previously a high school teacher), but I made her a grants officer at the college so she would have to work directly with Greg from time to time.
In the 1950s timeline, I settled on a grocery store for the family business because it fit the characters and what I needed to happen in the story.
#3) How are your characters like you? Different?
My 2015 protagonist Leslie was the easiest because she and I have both been teachers, love literature,
Both Fritz and Eddie Buckwalter were a challenge for me. In the 1950s timeline, I wrote in Fritz’s larger-than-life personality and voice. Other than our common interest in storytelling through writing novels, we are nothing alike. He’s a businessman, for one thing, and an extrovert who loves being the center of attention.
#4)What sort of research did you do for your story, and was there an exceptionally interesting tidbit you knew you had to include?
Two things I had to research were mental illness treatments in the 1950s and the current small campus university setting. Several women in my neighborhood book club are college professors so I enjoyed tapping into their knowledge and experience regarding college protocols, grant proposals, and faculty/staff dynamics.
I enjoyed learning more about 1950s grocery store trends, including common food brands back then. During that time, Swift & Company packaged peanut butter in reusable glass tumblers that featured The Wizard of Oz characters. Nowadays they are still collectors’ items. Being an avid Wizard of Oz fan, I had to include these glass peanut butter jars at the Buckwalter Brothers Grocery.
#5) What questions do you ask yourself when preparing to write a new book?
1) Do I have a passion for telling this story? This is the crucial question, because it must sustain my interest for the long haul—through all the ups and downs of feedback and revision.
2) Why does this story matter to me and why should it matter to potential readers? What unique slant or perspective can I offer?
#6) What draws you to the time period about which you write?
I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show (it started in 1960). I think that’s where my love of small towns comes from. Everything I wrote is set in a small town.
#7) Why do you write in your particular genre?
I don’t necessarily choose the genre; I feel like it chooses me. I just write the story I feel led to share. So far, I’ve published three historical fiction novels—depending on how you categorize dual timeline stories that have both contemporary and historical threads. But other stories in the works include contemporary as well as Biblical fiction.
#8) What is your advice to fledgling writers?
If you have a passion for writing stories, then stick to it, no matter what! You need your passion to overcome the obstacles, criticism, rejection, and fears. Surround yourself with knowledgeable people on the same road. Join a quality writers group that will give you honest feedback with tact. You need to be challenged and pushed, but always with encouragement and kindness.
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Connect with Laura:
My website & book page: https://lauradenooyer-author.com/the-broken-weathervane/
My newsletter—Sign up for monthly updates and receive 7 free recipes: a-taste-of-oz-cookbook-sampler.com
Book Trailer: https://video214.com/play/pR4occLhUBoqtt4REgsf0g/s/dark
Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHDTSPH6
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238864888-the-broken-weathervane
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-broken-weathervane-by-laura-denooyer
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About Laura:
Laura DeNooyer thrives on creativity and encouraging it in others. A Calvin College graduate, she is a teacher, wife, parent of four adult children, and an award-winning author of heart-warming historical and contemporary fiction. Her novels are perfect for fans of Patti Callahan Henry, Erin Bartels, or Amanda Cox. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her reading, walking, drinking tea with friends, or taking a road trip.
About The Broken Weathervane
As Leslie Wickersham, Raymond University grants officer, seeks information to unravel a family mystery, English professor Gregory Stafford seeks an elusive interview with one more Buckwalter relative for his upcoming author biography. While Greg and Leslie guard coveted details from each other, her goals are further complicated by letters of blackmail threatening to reveal all she has worked hard to hide.
In this dual timeline novel alternating between 2015 and the 1950s, loyalty is tested and secrets abound when family honor collides with truth. Leslie grapples with the trade-off: How far will a person go to help a loved one thrive?
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Book Club Fiction, Dual Timeline Fiction, Historical Fiction
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