In Daddy’s Shoes

By:  Sandy Elzie

I was intrigued with this month’s theme.  Since I’m sure all of us can tell you exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about 9-11 or the day John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King were killed, the same is probably true of where we were and what we were doing when our great novel ideas strike.

Last month I wrote about “dreaming” one of my story ideas, so today I’ll touch on a couple others.

Sometimes it’s someone’s name that will jog a memory and suddenly I’m doing a “what if…” or sometimes I’ll see a movie and wish it had gone a different direction…one I figure will make a good story idea.  Then other times it’ll be something that someone says that takes me back to a childhood memory.

There’s often a common thread running through my books.  I love children…I think they’re one of the best things God has ever given me…and so you’ll see kids in most of my books…especially the family friendly ones.  In a couple of the suspense ones I’ve written, I had the couples adopting children.  This is another ‘near-to-my-heart’ thing.  There are so many “forgotten” children who would love to have a safe and loving home.

With the last paragraph in mind, I’ll tell you about my next release from Avalon, IN DADDY’S SHOES.  The picture above is a shot of Doug and Hunter Beasley.   Doug is the father and Hunter is the 4-year-old son (in 2004) and they were on vacation in the Bahamas.  Four months later, Doug would take his own life…leaving his wife Lisa to raise Hunter alone.

I first heard about his death from my daughter (Lisa’s best friend) and I immediately felt compelled to write about a single mother raising a young son and trying to deal with the problems of raising a son alone.  I never quite had a handle on it, so it kept getting pushed to the back burner for the next few years.

When I finally got the urge again to write the book, I finished it in record time and then called Lisa to talk with her to see if my perception of her challenges was right or wrong.

She confirmed that several people had thoughtlessly told her son that “you’re the man of the family now” or “you need to take care of your mother, now that your dad is gone”, and she agreed that it added weight to his shoulders.

Sometimes I think we have an opportunity to make a point, maybe plant a seed that someone will remember in the future that will help them avoid making a mistake or avoid adding pressure to someone’s life.  That’s what I hope happens with IN DADDY”S SHOES.  If one person reads the book and avoids telling a fatherless boy that “you’re the man of the house now” or “it’s your job to take care of your mother”, then I will have achieved the purpose.

What life reminders have you read in a book lately or maybe there’s one that you have written into a book that you hope others notice?