The Power of an Epilogue By Susan Anne Mason

Susan Anne Mason

Angie, here: if you think the covers on Susan Anne Mason's novels are beautiful, you'll love the stories. Today, she shares why she uses a somewhat controversial device, the epilogue, to add depth to her stories and to her characters.

Before I ever started writing with the intent of becoming a published author, I had already formed a passionate opinion on the necessity of an Epilogue in the stories I read. If the book didn’t have one, I felt almost…CHEATED! What do you mean I don’t get to peek into the character’s future lives? I NEED to see how things turned out—how happy they are! (OK, maybe I get a little too involved in the books I read!)

As writers, we learn about showing the Hero’s Journey, the Noble Quest, The Black Moment and the Epiphany, yet little time is spent on the Climax and the Happily Ever After. But isn’t that the moment we’ve all been waiting for? We journey with our characters, laugh with them, cry with them, face their trials alongside them, and cheer them on toward their goal. To slap a one-page wrap-up at the end sometimes feels unsatisfying. Unfulfilled. Many times I found myself thinking: “Wait a minute. I went through 400 pages of angst for this? I need to live in the world of ‘happily ever after’ a while longer!”

That’s where a well-done Epilogue comes in. SHOW the characters enjoying the fruits of their labor, the reward for their arduous journey. Let them rejoice in the love they’ve yearned for! We want to share that happiness! Epilogues provide a greater sense of satisfaction for the reader and gives us (the writers) a chance to be a bit sappy, showing the couple getting married or having their first child. These are the moments we have waited the entire book for!

In my newest release, Love’s Faithful Promise, I had to make the epilogue really count. Not only was I tying up Deirdre and Matthew’s love story, but I was writing the finale for the whole O’Leary saga. This one had to be GOOD! So I chose to do something a little different. I made a 2-part epilogue with different Points of View and ended with the musings of the patriarch, James O’Leary (whose voice we had never heard directly before). At a big family gathering, I showed him reminiscing about the past, thinking back to his immigrant parents and how far his family had come since then. I felt it was a fitting conclusion to the O’Leary saga to have James and his wife look around at all their children and grandchildren and give thanks to God for their many blessings. 

Epilogues can be very powerful! They can plant seeds for future books or simply add a deeper level of emotional gratification for the reader. Use this tool wisely and you just might create fans for life. At the very least, your reader will close the book with a satisfied sigh and, hopefully, add your book to their Keeper Shelf.

Tell me what you think of epilogues.

About the Author

Susan Anne Mason describes her writing style as “romance sprinkled with faith.” She loves incorporating inspirational messages of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness into her characters’ journeys. Love’s Faithful Promise is her third historical novel in the Courage to Dream series. Irish Meadows won the Fiction from the Heartland contest sponsored by the Mid-American Romance Authors chapter of RWA. 
Susan lives outside Toronto, Ontario, with her husband, two children, and their cat. She loves red wine and chocolate, is not partial to snow even though she’s Canadian, and is ecstatic on the rare occasions she has the house to herself. Learn more about Susan and her books at www.susanannemason.com.

Connect with Susan:
Website: www.susanannemason.net 
Blog: http://suemasonsblog.blogspot.ca/ (my blog will be incorporated into the new website)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.anne.mason.333 
Twitter: @samason
Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.com/susanannemason/ 

Love's Faithful Promise

Widower Dr. Matthew Clayborne is devoted to two things: his work with wounded soldiers and his four-year-old daughter, Phoebe. When Deirdre O’Leary, a feisty New Yorker, arrives requesting he use his skills to help her stricken mother, he won’t abandon either of these priorities to care for one older woman. However, when his daughter suffers a health scare and needs a respite, Deirdre offers a trade—they can escape to the peace of her family’s farm, if he will care for Mrs. O’Leary. Matthew agrees for his daughter’s sake, but is intent on staying as short a time as necessary. The sojourn at Irish Meadows does wonders for Phoebe, and as she begins to flourish, Matthew finds himself drawn to the O’Learys, especially to the captivating Deirdre. But since he has no intention of leaving his life up north forever, and Deirdre has sworn off marriage in favor of her career, how will they deal with the undeniable attraction between them?

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/hjq8loo
Bethany House: http://tinyurl.com/zn8oqcs
Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/zffxbvh

How's the Journey? A Hero's Approach to Plot

Hello and welcome to This and That Thursdays. Ocieanna here. For this week's offering, I'm reprinting an article I wrote a while back. I love the hero's journey and hope you will too!


“How’s the journey?” It’s my pastor’s favorite question, and I like it. It encourages me to enjoy the view as I travel along. As a writer, I plot my characters’ journeys, and one way to frame them is to draw on the Hero’s Journey (or Quest). Let’s take as an example the story of a writer going to a conference for the first time. Now there’s a quest.

And So It Begins
1. Ordinary Life—First, we show the heroine in her natural habitat.
 Church secretary Abby Writer sits in her office typing letters for the pastor. Her thoughts drift to her two, college-age daughters and her boy—sixteen—on the verge of getting his license. (This shows the reader that Abby’s almost an empty-nester and ripe for a challenge.)
2. Call to Adventure—The call can be obvious, “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” or as subtle as a change in the wind.
 Sifting through mail, Abby discovers a brochure for the Write Choice Writers’ Conference. Something inside nudges her to check it out, but …
3. Refusal of the Call—The heroine’s fears, other commitments, or personal baggage keep her from embarking.
 Abby throws the brochure in the trash and chides herself. She hasn’t done any real writing for years.
4. Meeting with a Mentor—Someone helps the heroine make the right choice.
 That evening, Abby’s husband notices the brochure in the trash can. Excited and supportive, he encourages her to go.
5. Crossing the First Threshold—The mentor’s wisdom and faith give the heroine strength to take the first step.
 Abby buys her ticket online.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies—The heroine prepares for the upcoming challenge.
 Abby’s tire blows out on the way to the airport. Barely making her flight, she dashes on board, but before she can take a breath, the pilot’s voice comes on. He announces that their flight will be delayed. She arrives at the conference after dark. Exhausted, she collapses into bed, but self-doubt and fear (her enemies) plague her sleep. In the morning, she meets her roommate, a published author who knows several editors. She gives Abby a hug and promises to help. That day, she’s heartened by positive experiences in workshops.
7. Approach to the Inner Cave—Build suspense as the heroine draws closer to confronting her enemies.
 Boosted by the day’s successes, Abby makes an appointment with an editor.
8. Supreme Ordeal—The heroine faces her greatest fear.
 Abby sits on a bench preparing for her appointment and overhears two editors laughing, ridiculing the worst manuscript they’ve read. Her stomach coils as she realizes… it’s hers. She’d sent two chapters to be reviewed before the conference. Never has she felt so foolish. But rather than running to her room in tears, she stands up, focuses on her goal, and marches to her appointment.
9. Reward—The heroine receives the good consequences of her achievement.
 This editor has been searching for a book like Abby’s. He asks to see a proposal.
10. Road Back—The heroine barely has time to revel in her reward before new challenges arise.
 On the plane ride home, it hits her. What’s a proposal?
11. Death and Resurrection—The ultimate conflict. The heroine appears dead, but comes back to life.
 The proposal process overwhelms Abby. After a disheartening day, she deletes everything having to do with writing—including her proposal. Feeling like a pathetic failure, she goes to bed. The next morning a new plot twist flits into her mind. Her stomach sinks. Why did she delete her proposal? She races to her computer to retrieve it from her hard drive. Using computer skills and instinct, she gets them back, and that day she completes it and sends it in.
12. Return with Elixir—The heroine’s hard work and perseverance pay off.
 After seven months, a package comes…it’s her self-addressed-stamped envelope. Dejected, she doesn’t open it. She knows it’s a rejection. As she sits crying, the phone rings. It’s the editor. He’s switched publications, and his new house has accepted her proposal. Her husband comes home, and they celebrate with a glass of wine.
The end.

And there you are—ready-made plot. So, have fun with it, but don’t let it limit you. Feel free to switch the elements around, cut what doesn’t work, and add your own ideas. Remember—this is your journey to create.

For further reading: The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
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