Goddess Fish Promotions Presents
Crossing Day
by William A. Glass
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It’s been one hundred and sixty years since the Confederacy won its independence at the Battle of Altamaha Crossing. Slaves of African descent still perform most of the work in the South. This seems normal to Ryan Walters and his friends who attend high school in Huntsville, Alabama. Like teens everywhere, they enjoy sharing videos, playing sports, and hanging out with friends. Jaybird’s drive-in is their favorite gathering place. There, they befriend Mish, a slave girl who works as a car hop. When the drive-in’s owner sells Mish to a dirty old man, Ryan and his friends awaken to the injustice around them. Despite the danger, they decide to help Mish escape. Will they succeed?
How do you develop your characters so they seem like real people, even when they live in an alternate timeline?
Character development is a great topic to consider. I’m sure that every author would address it differently. Many complete a detailed outline before beginning a book. I usually have a broad outline of the story in my head, and that’s about it. With Crossing Day, the setting I chose for the story is a speculative world based on alternative history. Since I intended to make the book appropriate for all ages, I decided to make a group of high school students the main characters. Many teenagers are involved in sports. That led me to begin the novel with the characters playing high school soccer. That’s how the main characters in Crossing Day came to life.
New characters are blank slates without personalities, idiosyncrasies, or backstories. The latter is often my first order of business in developing characters. One of the girls in Crossing Day hails from a wealthy family. Not surprisingly, she tends to be a princess. Her boyfriend is from the other side of the tracks. He’s a rough customer who is often overbearing, as though by being the one to take charge, he can prove his worth. So, each character enters with a distinctly different background and a personality that aligns with it. As the story continues, the characters’ words and actions must conform to their personalities. That’s a key to making them seem real to the reader. Another key is the character’s arc. Crossing Day is an action-packed thriller. In the narrative, the students face a dangerous series of challenges. They must become more resilient, grow stronger, and bond as a group while retaining their separate identities. In this way, even a wild story like Crossing Day becomes believable. It’s the characters, more than the plot, who carry the novel and make the reader eager to keep turning the pages.
Melanie wanders into the dining room and finds her parents already seated at the table with their personal slaves standing behind them. Her mother, Dorothy, takes a sip of orange juice and replaces the glass on the lace tablecloth. Her servant, Natty, immediately gets a pitcher from the sideboard and refills the glass. Meanwhile, James is smiling at Melanie. “Morning, Miss,” he says. The white-haired Black man pulls out her chair. Once she’s seated, he spreads a cloth napkin over her lap.
“What was all the ruckus at Jaybird’s last night?” Dan Montgomery asks. He’s the mayor of Huntsville and knows everything.
“A German boy started it,” Melanie says defensively.
“Yes, and his father already called me to complain. He’s a big wheel at The Space Flight Complex.”
“Sorry!”
Montgomery points to the syrup. His slave, Parker, reaches for it and then pours. “Enough,” Montgomery snaps. He turns back to Melanie. “You and all the others will have a week of detention.”
Melanie gasps. “What about cheerleading practice?”
“You should have thought of that before you went to the drive-in. That’s where all the delinquents hang out and you with them.”
“I won’t go anymore. Please.” Melanie bats her baby blues at her father. His expression melts. “Go to detention after school today, and maybe we’ll see about tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Montgomery cuts off a bite of pancake and pops it into his mouth. That reminds Melanie to eat as well. It’s almost time for the bus.
Bill is a retired business executive who now lives in a small southern town with his wife, Bettina. She’s a retired high school German teacher. Bill coaches soccer at a small college. Often, Bettina, who has a commercial driver’s license, pilots the soccer team bus to away games.
Bettina and Bill have three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon who have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. Instead of having an empty nest, Bettina and Bill now host three rescue dogs. They enjoy finding promising hiking trails to explore with their dogs.
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