FAVORITE PLACE: Home

By Kristin Holt

www.KristinHolt.com

I’m a homebody. I’m fond of climate control, no matter the weather. I’d take an hour on the couch, a good book in hand over an hour spent in a crowded place, every single time. It’s more than physical comfort. Home can and should mean peace, quiet, safety. Home, ideally, encompasses association of family members. Home means belonging. Home means love.

Where else would phrases like “Home is where the heart is” and lyrics “Oh Give Me a Home… where seldom is heart a discouraging word…” and “I’ll be home for Christmas… You can count on me…” come from?

Perhaps that’s why many novels (I’ll focus on my genre, Historical Romance) include characters’ desires to belong and feel included. These desires are nearly universal to the human family. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs argues this as important enough to immediately follow basic survival requirements.

Whether “home” is a physical place or a sense of completion with another person (I am a romance writer), I suggest:

“Home is a key component of a compelling story.”

Both Josie and Lessie Hadley believe “home” is only with their identical twin sister. With no physical home, they choose a mail order bride situation where their grooms (cousins and business partners) will keep them together. By the end of each book, their understanding of Home and Family has expanded significantly to include husbands dearly loved.

A peek inside the beginning of Josie: Bride of New Mexico:

One of the best parts of having a sister, especially a twin sister— even better an identical twin sister— was everyone understood the two were a matched set, a pair.

Where one went, the other followed.

They belonged together. She’d always had someone. She was never alone.

The train picked up speed, the trees moving past in flashes of green and the first hint of autumn’s colors.

Josie swallowed her homesickness. The useless emotion wasn’t welcome for she had her sister, her strong, indomitable twin who had always been able to figure everything out.

She always put her trust in her sister. This time would be no different.

Lessie’s arms tightened about her. “Don’t worry, Josie. We’ll always have each other. I promise you that.”

“I know.” Her sister had never let her down. “I know.”

A peek inside the ending of The Drifter’s Proposal, when Malloy realizes he’s finally found “home”:

His heart, full to bursting, overflowed. How had he ever thought himself content without this woman by his side?

“Merry Christmas, darlin’.” His voice cracked. Tears threatened. He’d been gored by a bull, thrown from a bronco, busted a leg back in ‘92, and never once had he cried. He hadn’t known himself able.

“I don’t want to live without you, Adaline Whipple, not one more day.” His breath appeared as white clouds of steam in the frigid air. “Marry me. Let me sink my roots right here in Mountain Home with you. Give this homeless cowboy a place to belong.”

A peek inside the middle of WANTED: Midwife Bride, a new release exclusively within Mail Order Bride Collection: A Timeless Romance Anthology (2-9-16):

This tiny three-room cottage was the right place for her.

Here, it was easy to believe no other life existed.

…

…She marveled at the many ways he’d shown her love, affection, acceptance, appreciation— in every little thing. So much more than the new shingle. He’d made her his full partner in every way. He’d gone so far as to ask her opinion on financial matters. They’d visited the bank, and Joe had instructed the bankers to allow Naomi full access to their joint accounts.

Never had she felt more loved, more valued, more trusted.

She wanted their union to last the duration of their lives.

She wanted forever.

What do you think of my hypothesis?

Is a sense of “home” (structure/place and/or belonging and completion with another person) a key component of a compelling story?

Please reply to this post, and share with anyone who might find it appealing.

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Copyright © 2016 Kristin Holt, LC

My Favorite Places by Lynn Lovegreen

Like some of our bloggers, my favorite places have changed throughout my life, but there are threads that tie them together.

When I was growing up in Fort Richardson, Alaska, our housing was next to a small patch of woods. I used to spend hours under the birch trees, making up fairy stories among the ferns and dwarf dogwood blossoms. Later, when I was a teenager, my dad had a boat in Whittier, Alaska. I discovered I loved being on the water, and we explored Prince William Sound, admiring the glaciers cascading into the sea, watching otters and whales. Both places were beautiful to me, but in different ways.

Those woods and the Sound hold special memories for me, but I can’t do those things anymore, now that I don’t have access to the post and the boat has new owners. I do go out on the ferry or other people’s boats as often as I can, but it’s not the same. I still enjoy our family’s condo in Whittier, and Billings Glacier in Prince William Sound is a touchstone I need to see from time to time.

I also have new special places I can go with my husband and daughter and son-in-law, like Denali National Park and Preserve and Homer’s Kachemak Bay. There are so many beautiful and interesting places to see in Alaska. I find wonder and solace in the mountain views or ocean swells. And great stories are in the history of these places, for example from Kantishna in Denali, where I set  Gold Nuggets, my latest book. Instead of telling myself fairy stories, I am writing young adult historical romance, but I’m still inspired by my favorite places.

Learn more about Gold Nuggets at http://www.prismbookgroup.com/goldnuggets.htmlhttp://www.prismbookgroup.com/goldnuggets.html.

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.comwww.lynnlovegreen.com.

My Favorite Place(s)... Some of the Time

By Robin Weaver

When I first attempted to identify “my favorite place,” I sat on my couch, snuggled under a blanket watching the snow fall. For a brief moment—that was truly my favorite place.

Let me clarify.  I live in one of those Southern states where even the mention of snow sends us into a Chicken Little it’s-not-a-snowfall-it’s-a-falling-sky-panic. All was not dire, though.  All  falling sky events immediately prompt a cancellation of work. Yep. Favorite Place identified.

Only… What if the power went out? How could I have a favorite place with no internet? Ye, gods! And shouldn’t a favorite place include Bon Jovi music? Preferably a private concert? Now we’re talking.

Since my brain quickly leaped from an actual favorite place to the realms of fantasy, I decided my most-beloved location should include a hunky guy under my blanket? With big shoulders and... a sense of humor, and... mesmerizing eyes, and...

Then I came back to the reality. I had no groceries in case the sky really did fall! Yikes.  Thus I sent my darling daughter on a grocery run. Perhaps I should mention that my daughter’s favorite place is anywhere there’s an abundance of salsa.  See what she acquired for our "we’ll never be able to leave the house again, 'falling sky'" weekend.  

Sigh.  And I thought I’d been quite specific about needing bread. And  coffee.

My idea of a favorite place was rapidly disintegrating. Which made me realize how a favorite place is highly dependent upon your mood. And who you’re with. And a host of other factors. For example, I love the beach, but not in Charleston on a 102 degree day. Nor when the temperature hovers near freezing. I also love the mountains, but not if my motion-sickness soul has to travel there via a back seat, sans Dramamine.

But I’m sure I’m taking this theme of favorite place to the wrong—well, place. Thus I’ll attempt to rein in my renegade brain and focus on some actual favorites.  I loved Switzerland. And sitting in a deck chair watching the tide come in beneath a full moon was pretty terrific.  But the hospital where my daughter was born ranks as one of those magical places, too.

So my favorite place? Please don’t ask this schizo-writer a question like that.  At least not before I find some bread. And coffee.

Sage Brush, Hills, and Horses by Paty Jager

I’ve had many places through the years that have been my favorite place.

As a grade schooler, I loved sitting on the spit of land between the river and irrigation ditch on our property. It was shaded by cottonwood trees, had the earthy scent of moist ground, and ferns growing between the trees. The rumble and splash of the river drowned out anyone calling to me, and I could read for hours in the shade during the spring and summer.

As a teen I’d crawl on my horse, Junebug, and take off through the river and up the mountain to spend half to all day, riding around dreaming up stories in my head and enjoying the quiet of nature.

When I was a young mother with four small children, my favorite place was a nice hot bath with a good book.  I’d tell my husband, “I’m taking a bath, the kids are all yours” and hide out in the bubbles for an hour, reading.

Now that my children are grown and it's just my husband and I, my favorite place is our eastern Oregon property riding horses with grandchildren.  The oldest ones are getting big enough to help with the saddling and the younger grandchildren. It makes getting horses ready easier.

We ride around the alfalfa field, down the roads, and up the hill. It’s more fun riding when you have someone to ride with. Having the grandchildren spend time with us in the summer is worth the extra cooking and laundry.

My second favorite place is sitting at my desk conjuring up characters and putting them in fun stories.

Do you have a favorite place? 

 

Award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. All Paty’s work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Her penchant for research takes her on side trips that eventually turn into yet another story.

www.patyjager.net

Steamy Romance and Cozy Mysteries starring cowboys and Indians.

Writing into the Sunset