By RACHEL RIETSEMA
Staff Writer
“One afternoon while I in our dining room in Hartland, I got this knowing feeling that I wanted to write,” said acclaimed author Sandra Esch. “I never knew what, just that I wanted to write.”
Esch trusted that gut feeling, and when the time was right, she started work on her first novel, Tracks in the Snow, and eventually won the San Diego Christian Writers Guild’s Best Fiction Book Published in 2011 for its compelling and well-rounded quality.
“Receiving the award meant the world to me,” she said. “Did I expect to win? No. I feared being disappointed if I held out hope and lost. There are too many good writers out there.”
“As Tracks in the Snow continued to grow, I grew increasingly attached to my characters,” she said. “The next thing I knew, I had ideas for writing a trilogy.”With her second book, Somewhere Between Raindrops, now gracing some of Albert Lea’s busiest stores, Esch couldn’t be more elated. Receiving positive comments gives her literary spirit a welcome boost.
“We all enjoy things we’re good at, things that come easy to us like reading, cooking, gardening, playing a musical instrument,” she said. “As for me, I’m happiest and feel most productive when I’m lost in the words pouring onto a page.”
When asked where she got the idea for her second book’s title, Esch added, “Sometime back, I remember going to my car for another day at the office. A raindrop hit me. A few steps later, I felt another splash. The words Somewhere Between Raindrops seemed to fall out of the sky. I loved it and thought it would make a great title for a book one day. Who would have thought!”
Somewhere Between Raindrops’ characters are depicted amongst a strong World War II backdrop, which Esch says invites the reader into a larger world where suffering takes a back seat to the old-fashioned virtues of conscience and courage.
“How can a young widow be attracted to the man responsible for her husband’s tragic death, and not compromise her husband’s memory?” she said. “In the second novel of the Amber Leaf Trilogy, that’s the dilemma Jo Bremley faces.”
Esch continues, “She and her little girl wanted to move to New York, to leave Amber Leaf and its painful memories behind. But when measles strike, Jo is left with no job, a sick daughter, little savings, and is forced to abandon her dreams. Meanwhile, devastated by his role in the death of Jo’s husband, Tryg Howland offers her a position as a clerk in his law practice. This being her fastest path out of town, Jo accepts only to face new demons--a scheming client, Tryg’s jealous girlfriend, and a love that can never be.”
Captivating the reader’s attention was an entirely different story for Esch this time around. In this case, subtlety played a pivotal part in the process.
“My biggest challenge with this particular novel was coming up with compelling scenes that tied the story together while subtly finding ways that showed my two main characters were fighting falling in love,” she said.
Esch herself admitted to shedding a few tears after reading her own work.
“When I came back and read chapters I hadn’t worked on in months, some of the words I wrote took me by surprise and I smiled and laughed,” she said. “I wrote this book in months rather than years. Once you understand how to write, the process gets faster and faster in a slow kind of way.”
However, like the meticulous editor she is, she always found more to change with every read-through. This, in turn, is why so many readers loved the characters and didn’t want the book to end.
“This novel took about a year to complete,” she said. “Sometimes when I got stuck, I went for a long walk or mulled things over in my mind at night when I went to bed and the ideas just seemed to pop out of nowhere. It’s pretty neat.”
Paring down a style seemed to come naturally as well. She simply listened to the voices of her characters, deleted unnecessary words, and utilized a great Thesaurus.
“Like decorating your home, finding a style comes naturally,” she said. “It’s got to feel right. It’s got to feel like you.”
Inside this warm, fictional world, she takes the reader to an environment she so enjoys. More specifically, she creates a place where people respect one another and “make a conscious effort to rise above their circumstances.”
“I think many feel as I do that the world has gotten to be a rather dark place,” she said. “I want to take the reader to a happier place. I want people to look at life through a softer lens, to feel better about themselves and others, to feel more hopeful about their circumstances, and to feel more charitable after having read the book.”
Readers will also want note that the trilogy takes place in Albert Lea, which is where she lived until sixth grade. Hartland has a few nods too.
“I’ve used names from the area,” she said. “Our former neighbors, Ray and Duane Miller from Hartland, are mentioned in the book. And Cindy Engebretson Belshan continues to be a very dear friend of mine. I used her maiden name and her grandfather’s name, too.”
Both titles are available at Albert Lea’s Celebration’s Party & Gifts, Hy-Vee, and Nelson’s Market Place, and in Clarks Grove at A Bit Bookish for $12.99. It’s also sold on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble Web sites for $12.
When asked, “If you had a choice between making a fortune writing or having a multitude of readers loving your writing, which would you choose?” she said, “I would choose the latter hands down. There are outer riches and inner riches, but nothing beats feeling rich on the inside.”
Excitement aside, she feels a bit nervous with her second work atop store bookshelves.
“For me, getting a book published is like putting on makeup without a mirror,” she said. “I hope with all my heart I got it right, but won’t know until I get feedback from my readers.”
Esch fans will also be thrilled to hear that the third and final book is in the final stages. Actually, she pretty much has it completed.
“I’ve set it aside and want to give it another strong pass before submitting it,” she said. “It’s called Hear the Whisper in the Wind and has the same main characters, but all three books in the trilogy have a different feel.”