Sometimes as authors, we get asked which book we’ve written is our favorite. It’s about like being asked to choose your favorite child, to be honest. We pour our heart and soul into each book, and each one has a special place in our heart. However, there ARE those books that mean just a little bit more, for whatever reason.
In my first series (the Main Street Minden Series) each book is tied to a specific season in the small town of Minden, Indiana. I love each book for different reasons, but I think my personal favorite will always be Book #3 — Spring Fever.
Here are a few reasons why it’s still at the top of my list:
- Mandy Elliott’s character and backstory was inspired by two women in my life who inspire me with their journey of faith. The first, a friend from college who faced difficult choices and an unexpected pregnancy. The second, a daycare owner and single woman who faithfully trusts God in the midst of her singleness. It was an honor and a privilege to impart pieces of their stories into a story of my own creation.
- It’s SPRING! The story takes place during February, March, April, and May in Indiana. We get Easter with the characters, along with the flowers blooming and weather warming up. I personally can’t wait for the dreary, cold days of winter to morph into the cool, sunny days of spring — especially now that I have kids I am eager to send outside to play!
- In general, writers improve their skill with each subsequent book. I feel like my writing took a huge leap forward between the first two books in the series and this one. I had a baby between books 2 and 3, so I took some time off writing and instead spent a lot of that time studying storytelling and writing craft. Spring Fever was the first book where I saw some of that effort really start to take shape.
- It’s got one of my favorite meet-cute moments, where Mandy falls asleep in the exam room while waiting for her doctor’s appointment and doesn’t wake up until the office is closed for the day! (PS: This actually happened to my mother as an exhausted young mother, except she woke up to the cleaning crew. Mandy, on the other hand, meets the handsome new doctor in town!) It was fun to dream up a scenario where the introverted owner of an in-home daycare could meet someone!
- Single Dad/Instant Family Trope – Dr. Pike is in way over his head when he takes custody of his niece, and nothing
pulls on my heartstrings more than an overwhelmed single dad! Adelaide, the little girl, is the perfect reason for Dr. Pike and Mandy to spend more time together, and it was fun to see both of them grow as they learned about parenthood, partnership, and the providence of God!
So there you have it — why Spring Fever remains one of my favorite books I’ve written (Ssshhh, don’t tell my other children books!).
Now it is your turn! Tell me what puts a book on your list of favorites! Is it the writing? The kind of story? The characters?
Tara Grace Ericson lives in Missouri with her husband and two sons. She studied engineering and worked as an engineer for many years before embracing her creative side to become a full-time author. She loves cooking, crocheting, and reading books by the dozen. Her writing partner is usually her black lab - Ruby - and a good cup of coffee or tea. She loves a good “happily ever after” with an engaging love story. That’s why Tara focuses on writing clean contemporary romance, with an emphasis on Christian faith and living.
It’s everything really. If all of the elements come together to form a read that just grabs hold of me.
It starts with the cover and the first few pages. After that it’s the story and the characters that make a book become one of my favorites.
The story and characters put a book on my list of favorites. The description of your book in this post looks good and I just added the entire series to my to be read list!
The story line, the characters, and sometimes where the book takes place make it stick with me! One of my favorite series is Irene Hannon’s Hope Harbor, and Charley is my favorite character by far!!! There are other books I love to, though, so I have a hard time pinpointing just a few things that make a book memorable. Amanda Cox’s The Edge of Belonging will stick with me for a long time, too!!
Writing and characters do I care about them?
I would say that character and story are about equal for me. Taking a well-developed character through a basic plot can work. Taking a less-developed character through a more interesting plot can work as well.
I enjoy underdog characters of about every stripe: Single parents, those fighting illness, those fighting their own past negative experiences, etc. I also prefer stories where the conflict is something other than just personality clashes or someone being mean.
That makes perfect sense, Mary! Some books just pull you in.
Those first few pages can definitely make or break it, can’t they?
Oh, that’s exciting. I really hope you enjoy them!
Oh, the setting is a great aspect that I didn’t mention. I haven’t read The Edge of Belonging yet, but I’ve heard wonderful things about it.
An author’s ability to make you care what happens to these fictional people is definitely a big part of what makes reading enjoyable!
Interesting thoughts! Plot vs character-driven stories is a tricky one to master as an author.
And rooting for the underdog is definitely on my list, as well!
Thanks for commenting.
I would say I know this is CCR but some of my favourite series are Historical. One Series by Gilbert Morris would be up the top of my favourites and its because I learnt history from the stories. He told the history and had a fiction story at the same time. One series was on the civil war. Then I read another series of brides through the eras. came to 2 brides in the Civil war era and it only just touched on the war didn’t really go into the hardships etc and it felt like it glossed over the difficulties completely.
I guess for Historical I want some fact even if its only about the area or time not glossed over.
For CCR some of my favourite series are where the characters are connected and you learn about them I am thinking of Jillian Hart she has strong family connections even if there is a black sheep there is a thread in all books. The secondary characters are also important in the books. Another Series I loved was Cheryl Wyatt’s series about PJ’s The group could go on a mission at any time but we see the community and the different members and their struggles. I like seeing members from the other books in the new books. Or as Cheryl does she has Psych the cat in several books.
Also often my favourite book is the one I am reading.
a great story with engaging characters that capture my attention.
I love to read books that have characters that change for the better and I love characters to have a happy life , especially if they have had to live through something difficult. I love to see characters grow and I love to hear what happens to them, I really also love family sagas and book series. Your book sounds like a very, very good read and I love your book cover. Have a Great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.
I have my favorite troupes….for historical I love mail-order brides or marriage of convenience. For contemporary, I love friends-to-more, and reunion and/or second chance love.
I really love character driven stories, if I can connect deeply with them then that makes the stories great for me :-)
P.S. I read a wide variety of genres with all sorts of tropes and I’m not limited to the ones I mentioned. These are just my favorite ones :-)
I would have to say all three. The writing brings the characters alive. The story line is what makes the characters realistic. I am not sure that you can have one without the other two. Thank you for sharing your time and your talent. God bless you.
I would say it’s the combination of everything that touched my soul <3
I think it’s a combination of good writing and the characters. And while I have a few tropes I favor, they don’t influence that much on my choosing a book as a favorite.