When I began writing my novels, I wanted to show that in all of our real lives there are major and minor characters. Most novels ignore talking about insignificant characters and bystanders--the cashiers, the people we pass on the stairs, and the other folks that by chance end up interacting in the space and time of our lives. Most novels, did I say? Maybe all would be more accurate.
I wanted my books to be different and to show this. I wanted to uniquely show that our lives are interconnected. So, if you are an astute reader, you should have noticed overlapping scenes from one Huska novel to the next and overlapping characters. An insignificant character in my first novel, for instance, turns out to be the main protagonist in my second novel! Were you even aware of that?
And in that second novel, the main protagonist from the first novel is merely described as a passing bystander. Just like in real life. We live our own stories, but others are living theirs, too. People share the SAME SPACE and the SAME TIME in real life--and we assume it is irrelevant. But what I am discovering, and what will be explored in great detail in my next novel, is that it is far from irrelevant.
So, my handful of loyal readers, see if you can determine the pages in each of my 4 novels where this overlap of major and minor characters occurs. Remember, a minor character in Legs in the Attic becomes a major one in The Man Who Couldn't Dream. And a minor character in The Man Who Couldn't Dream becomes a major character in Think of the Sunflower. And yes, there is an overlap of characters from Think of the Sunflower with the new characters in Not a Wistful Journey. Garfield's tomb in Cleveland had much different functions for the different characters of each novel, who by happenstance shared the same time and same place.
You have to admit--this is an intriguing concept. So, if you have figured out the 4 links, please post a comment to that effect. I am curious whether anyone or everyone has noticed it. I am even thinking about turning this into a contest of sorts, with a real prize. Hmmm. Everyone loves a contest, don't they?
Sandra L. Huska
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