I am a huge fan of the TV series, “Quantum Leap.” Are you familiar with the show? Dr. Sam Becket successfully travels through time, spending brief moments in someone else’s life trying to right some wrong in order to secure that person’s future in some way. Along the way he is able to visit with his father once again, a father who in Sam’s present time has long since passed away. Sam is able to help change his friend’s lives for the better along the way as well.
I think Scott Bakula, the actor who played Sam Becket, did a phenomenal job as that character. I cheered for him when things went well and held my breath when they didn’t. I admired him for the ethical principals upon which he based his life, and I wanted his life to have a happy ending. When I watched the final episode of the show and found out that Sam never made it back home, I cried like a baby. Over a character. A fictional character in a TV show. Silly, I know. . . or is it?
If you love to read, as I do, you’ve become invested in at least one character along the way. It may have been a romantic character like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, or a swashbuckler like Robin Hood. Maybe you admire a James Bond kind of guy, or Atticus Finch, the attorney and father from To Kill a Mockingbird. Somewhere along the way you found yourself rooting for someone you read about in a book, and in some small way that character had an impact on your life.
That’s what I hope the characters in my novels are strong enough to do. I don’t pretend that Miriam Cahill or Liza Armstrong will ever be able to stand toe to toe with Atticus Finch, but if they can share a message of strength during difficult circumstances or encourage a reader to look to the Lord for an answer in his or her own life, they’ve done their job well, and so have I.
If you’ve read Losing Mama, and something about one of the characters struck you, please let me know. If I’m doing something well, I want to know so I can do it again!
Janet Mackey 