Author Interview | A Family on His Doorstep by Alena Auguste

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She believes she doesn’t matter

Jenny Millard’s hopes for security and stability as a schoolmarm out west are dashed when her schoolhouse closes, and no positions are available nearby. With only enough money for a one-way train fare, Jenny heads to her friend’s home, uncertain of her next step.

His scars have made him an unlovable outcast

Newcomer Ren Lyman prefers to keep to himself, hiding in the back of the blacksmith shop to avoid the stares at the scars left by a childhood accident. When he comes across a lost stranger, he’s surprised when she doesn’t recoil at his appearance and even more so at his eagerness to assist her.

As Jenny settles into the welcoming but small town of Washton, she can’t help but come across Ren, especially since his daily constitutional takes him along the same path. It doesn’t take long for them to form a connection that breaks down the walls erected by years of hurt. But when strange occurrences unsettle the townspeople, it seems their chance at happiness might be at risk.

Will Jenny and Ren discover that they’re enough—for God … and each other?

What is something interesting readers would enjoy learning about you?

English was not my best subject in school. I preferred math. And I never planned on becoming a writer. I have an MBA in marketing and have focused my career on copywriting. But novel writing is a whole different beast. God started to nudge me when I was raising my kids. I’d finish a book and a desire to write one filled me. I finally decided to give it a try and I liked it. It’s taken me a long time get to this point in between raising a family, volunteering in several of my kids organizations, and working a day job, but it’s exciting to be here. I feel as if I earned another masters degree. On a side note, I did take a creative writing class in high school and it was the only time I wasn’t graded on my grammar, just storytelling. I didn’t pay attention to it too much, but now looking back, I really enjoyed that class. And my grammar is still probably the one thing I struggle with the most.

What makes up your ideal reading environment?

Cuddled up on my couch, or laying on my chaise lounge outside. I’d love a reading room, but these work for me.

What was your favorite scene to write in this story? And why?

There are so many! 

The kidnapping scenes. Which completely surprised me. I love a hero that swoops in and rescues (I do read romantic suspense). When I set out to write this portion, I found I really enjoyed getting into the details—where and how everyone was positioned in the scene, how would they react, and what happens next.

Ren finding baby Joshua was fun to write as well. I don’t want to give too much away here.

And Bert’s scenes. I love the way he can interact with people. It provides room to write some funnier scenes which make me laugh.

What unique research was required to write this story? 

I love doing research! There were several things I had to dig into to make sure the scenes were realistic. One main one was blacksmithing. Understanding the terms, tool names, and the process. I also researched burns, left-handed people and the negative view in that era, hymnbooks vs hymnals, tea sandwiches during that time period in that region, as well as the train routes during that time from Vallejo to Sacramento. I found some really cool maps that I will share with my readers.

What is one bit of research you wish you could have included in the story? 

That’s a good question. I’m already into the next few books, so I’m trying to remember. I know something I couldn’t use and had to find an alternative. I wanted to describe Jenny’s first tea sandwich as she inspects it before taking a bite. Mayonnaise had not been invented yet, so I had to find what people used on their sandwiches. What I could find was that they used butter.

What was the inspiration behind your story? 

There are so many parts to this story. Plot points, setting, the faith elements. I’ll start with the location and setting (1870, Sacramento, CA area).

I wrote an entire blog about the inspiration to the entire series. The Sacramento one-room schoolhouse had me wondering what it would’ve been like to teach during that era. I think Little House on the Prairie and Jeanette Oke’s Love Comes Softly series had a lot of influence on me as well, when I was a girl. 

My original series idea was for five women to come west, all with different reasons for leaving their life behind. Then defined each character a bit more so they were all different. That’s how Jenny came to be. She was the shyest, most unsure of the bunch. So I went with that. What was the one thing she wanted most? And could she find it in Washton. For Ren, I don’t remember exactly how I came up with an early injury, just as I flushed his character out, it fit.

I had planned having all the women go to different cities so I could research and highlight different areas (I grew up in the area and thought it would be fun to end up in my hometown at some point). But when the first book came out, I liked the idea of establishing Washton as a center point. Besides the schoolhouse seemed to take on a life of its own and become a matchmaker or something. Which caused me to decide to bring Jenny to Olivia. Like in my stories, sometimes plans change. If we allow God to nudge us, and we listen, the new plan can be infinitely better.

What did you learn while writing this story?

I have two. One is that I need to be in sync with God. Quiet times, praying before writing, seeking his guidance for the story he wants to tell. He’s the one who has given me this opportunity and desire to write. I want it to glorify Him. The second one is my writing routine or process. My debut novel took me twelve years of writing scenes and meshing them together since I didn’t know what I was doing when I started. This time around I wrote the book in order. I wasn’t sure yet if I was a plotter or pantser, but after getting through this one, I’ve realized I need a basic outline, and then let the characters speak to what comes next. Also to have those characters flushed out fully before starting. I also joined a couple of writing sprint groups who meet on zoom and that has provided a window of time each day to work on my writing. I really love doing all of this.

What encouragement do you hope readers will take away from your story?

Encouragement and hope. Things happen that are out of our control and we must alter our plans. God hears us –we just need to reach out to Him, no matter where we are in our life. Seeking God can help us adapt, change, and grow.