My cousin and I took that train trip in 2010, and I finished the book soon afterward–or at least I thought I had finished the book. When I submitted it to my agent and my editor at Howard, they didn’t care for the story–or the characters. My editor, in fact, wasn’t wild about the idea of a train story at all, not considering train travel all that luxurious or fun.
So I went to work on THE OFFERING and let PASSING STRANGERS cool in a notebook on my shelf. Time passed, did both me and the book a world of good. When I sent the book to Lissa Halls Johnson, who had agreed to look at it for me, she sent back several pages of suggestions and ideas, thoughts that I needed to help me detach from the story and characters long enough to take a fresh and more analytical look at them.
I wanted to try a different structure with PASSING STRANGERS–a “suite” of stories, as it were–a group of stories that work independently and together. The book is divided into books one, two, and three, and each character tells his or her own story in her part of the story. The stories work independently, but they also work as a whole, because they flow chronologically.
People often ask how I can write so many books without running out of ideas or getting bored–well, that’s one of my secrets. I like to try new things, and sometimes it takes a bit of experimentation to get it right. 🙂
So now the book is new and refreshed and rewritten. And I hope you like it.http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/books/passing-strangers/
Any questions? Thoughts?
~~Angie
Interesting that you had to do a total rewrite of sorts. I’m trying to break into fiction and it’s been a rough journey. I’m very weak at character arch and have been working almost a year (while doing other projects) getting to know my main character and I’m still not sure who she is really. Sigh.
Angie, I just finished the book and loved it. Having only traveled by train once (when the RHS band went to Washington in 1971!) I enjoyed reading about train travel today. I also appreciated how well developed the characters were. Would love a sequel focusing on Andie and Matthew’s marriage. I am totally convinced they do get married! Blessings to you.