Guest Blog from Mildred Colvin

photo © 2008 Andreanna Moya more info (via: Wylio)
Readers often want to know where an author gets the idea for a story. As happens so often with my stories, Facing Tessa's Past came in bits and pieces over the years until the story was complete. Sort of like putting a picture puzzle together. By the time all the pieces are in place, I'm not sure where they all came from. But I can tell you where the character for Tessa Stevens first showed an appearance.

Some years ago, my sister and I worked on a book that has never been submitted for publication. In this book, Tessa was a secondary character in the process of getting her life back together. She had gone through a time of rebellion, wearing only black and even dying her hair black. She had three young sons but had never been married. In fact, she had lost her sons to the foster care system and was struggling to regain custody. The heroine in this unpublished story, who is now a secondary character in Tessa's story, befriended her, and Tessa became a born-again Christian.

Tessa's personality called out to be written into her own book as did two other secondary characters in that book. Sarah Maddox and Amanda Davis never gave up on Tessa's friendship, even through her "wild time," and the three women remain friends throughout the series. Sarah's and Amanda's stories will also be told in books two and three of this Route 66 series.

Tessa lives in Amarillo, Texas, which is almost smack in the middle of the Mother Road, a nickname for Historic Route 66. Tessa's story is special to me party because of my experiences as a foster mother. I've seen women like Tessa struggle to get their lives together so they could make a good home for their children. Many never did. A few, like Tessa, were able to turn their lives around through the grace of God. Tessa's story is a witness that God's grace can glow into even the darkest times of our lives.