Written with Veridion Smart

 People often ask writers where their stories come from. Sometimes, the answer is simple. A passing conversation, a forgotten photograph, a childhood memory, or a question that refuses to leave us alone can become the beginning of an entirely new world.

Other times, the answer is a little more complicated because, while readers see the finished book, the characters, the adventures, and the worlds we create, they don’t always see everything that happens before those pages come together. They don’t see the hours of research, the doubts, the unexpected expenses, the plans that fall apart, or the determination required to keep going when life decides to throw a few obstacles into the story. And they certainly don’t always see the people standing beside the writer through it all.

For me, one of those people is my husband of nearly 53 years: Kevin.

You know, writing can be a wonderfully solitary occupation. We spend hours with our characters, disappear into imaginary worlds, and sometimes become so absorbed in a story that the real world needs to remind us that it still exists. But, at the same time, writing a book that requires extensive research doesn’t always remain a solitary affair. Sometimes, the story takes you out of your comfortable writing space and sends you searching for the places where your imagination first began to wander.

That’s part of what Kevin and I are preparing to do as we get ready for our research trip for JOURNEY OF THE HEART, the second book in my WHISPERS THROUGH TIME series.

This trip wasn’t a matter of simply choosing a destination, packing a suitcase, and then heading down the highway. As I’ve said many times before, Texas is a huge state – you can get out of three normal-sized states in the length of time it takes to just get out of Texas. So, if you’re on a limited budget with only a limited number of days to travel, you must make each day count. JOURNEY OF THE HEART is set in the Comanche country of Texas and Oklahoma, so we can get where we need to go in a matter of a few hours.

One of the reasons this is so important is because when you’re researching a historical story, you want to understand the landscape, the distances, the atmosphere, and the details that photographs alone may not communicate. You want to stand somewhere important to your story and consider what a person might have seen, heard, or experienced while standing in that exact place. You want to give your readers something that feels real because, in some way, you’ve gone looking for that reality yourself. And that takes planning. 

It also takes someone willing to share the journey with you.

And that brings me to Kevin - not only because I love him so much and owe him more than I can tell you, but because we’re so different.

Kevin was the neighborhood bad boy when we first met, and I was the over-protected, goody-two-shoes, only child of a military couple who lived life on their own terms. I was an avid reader of the classics; he read the pictures in Playboy. I loved classical and Bubble Gum Rock’n’Roll; he grooved to Jefferson Airplane and Black Sabbath. I’d traveled all over the world; he’d been to Indian Lake in Ohio one time when he was seventeen. I hated to break the rules, but there was nothing he loved more. We were straight out of Grease: Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson personified.

And yet, we worked. We complemented each other. And to this day we’re still Yin and Yang – changing for one another on a dime when it’s necessary.

One of my most vivid memories is an early camping trip we took – without our baby daughter – to Garner State Park, not far from San Antonio. On our way home, late at night, I tossed a story idea out to him just to keep him awake as he drove, and he amazed me by developing a plotline instantaneously – complete with location, characters, and even motivations. I began to use his fertile imagination at that very moment, and I’ve never stopped using it. 

Now, when I tell him I need to travel somewhere specific to research an idea I’ve had, he wants to know when we’re leaving and begins planning immediately what he needs to do to be sure we get there safely. He emails historic and travel videos to me daily – some very valuable to my subject matter, and some not – but I file them away. He drives where I need to go so that I can soak in the environment, and we talk for hours about what I’ve seen. He even understands – although he’s only experienced it once – how I can feel and relive history in a specific location in a way that very few other people can. And even if he doesn’t understand, he fakes it – and he gives me space to do it.

He’s in my corner. Always. And every writer needs someone who’s as open and accepting as that.

Of course, no matter how carefully we plan, life has a way of reminding us that we aren’t entirely in charge. Our upcoming research trip has had its share of uncertainty. Our van developed problems, and the weather brought its own concerns. So, at one point, a trip we’d been looking forward to for months seemed to be much less certain than we’d hoped. There were practical matters to consider, arrangements to make, and questions about whether everything would come together in time. Anyone who has ever planned something like this knows how quickly excitement can turn into frustration when something goes wrong.

Now, imagine that the trip isn’t simply a holiday. Imagine that it’s connected to a book you’ve been working on, a story you’ve been carrying around in your brain, living and sleeping with, and you need to research what you believe will bring that story to life. ‘Giving up’ isn’t necessarily what first comes to mind. No, sir. You look at the situation, consider what can be done and what can't, and try to find a way forward. 

That's what we did.

Fortunately, the van was repaired, and after the uncertainty and adjustments, the trip is back on the calendar. As I write this, Kevin and I are preparing for our late October excursion (we’re leaving in a week), and it’s the most beautiful time of the year to travel in Texas. There are still things to organize and details to consider, but the excitement is returning.

And I have been reminded of something important: Sometimes, the journey begins long before you leave home. It begins with the decision to keep trying – no matter what. After 53 years together, we're very, very good at that.

*Rosetta Diane Hoessli has written two novels, WHISPERS THROUGH TIME (2021) and TIP THE PIANO MAN (2024), and is working on a third, JOURNEY OF THE HEART. She’d love to hear from you, and you can contact her at thompd2011@gmail.com, on this website (https://www.rosettadhoesslibooks.com),  or at https://www.facebook.com/RosettaDianeAuthor or https://www.facebook.com/Ronni.Hoessli. Check out her new TikTok page at https://www.tiktok.com@Ronniwrites. Have a blessed day!