The Night Before a Book Is Born

Reflections on a lifetime of storytelling

Tomorrow, a story I've carried in my heart for a very long time will no longer belong entirely to me. Its characters will step beyond the pages of my imagination and into strangers' lives. Some will love them. Others may question their choices. And perhaps a few will discover something in their struggles that speaks to their own lives.

That thought is both exhilarating and humbling.

I've often wondered how much of ourselves we leave behind in the stories we write. Sometimes I recognize pieces of my own personality in my characters—qualities I understand, convictions I hold dear, even weaknesses I'd rather not acknowledge. Other times, they reveal something about me I never knew existed.

But here's the remarkable thing: my characters don't always behave as I expect them to.

There are moments when I'm writing that they seem to take on lives of their own. They speak to me, challenge my carefully laid plans, and lead me down paths I never intended to travel. Perhaps that's one of the greatest joys of being a writer. Even a story’s transformation can surprise its creator.

Finding My Voice

My love affair with writing began in my twenties. I filled pages with stories, learning the craft as I went, making mistakes, discovering what worked and what didn't. I certainly wasn't an accomplished writer in those early years, but I loved the possibilities waiting on a blank page.

What I lacked was the courage to share my words.

That began to change in the 1980s, thanks to a friend and a telephone call.

I'd mentioned to my friend I wanted to join a writers' group. Without my knowing it, she passed that information along to another writer, a woman named Marsha, who called and invited me to attend the first meeting of the Arizona Night Writers Association.

Five of us gathered in the back room of the Gilbert, Arizona, library.

I remember how nervous I was as I walked into that room. I didn't know any of the other women, and for someone who had spent years keeping her writing largely to herself, it was an intimidating step. But as the meeting went on, I found myself relaxing. We talked and laughed as though we'd known each other for years. There was something special about being among women who shared my love of writing, who understood why imaginary people and their stories could mean so much to us. Some of those women are still among my dearest friends today.

And suddenly, I wasn't writing entirely alone anymore.

That little group of five women eventually became part of something much bigger. Today, the organization is known as the American Night Writers Association (ANWA), with chapters in several states. I'm still a member after all these years. Through the conferences, workshops, and monthly meetings, I've learned a lot about writing. But perhaps the greatest gift ANWA gave me was the confidence to let others read what I'd written.

I'll always be grateful to Marsha for that invitation. She opened a door I might never have found the courage to open on my own.

A Dream That Took Its Time

Although I'd been writing for decades, it wasn't until 2020, when COVID changed so much about our lives, that I finally published my first novel, Vestiges. In 2024, When a Stranger Knocks followed. And tomorrow, November 3, 2026, I will release my third novel, Strangers at the Top of the Stairs.

Three books. Three very different journeys. And countless characters who have become as familiar to me as the people I know.

If all goes according to plan, Patriots and Strangers, the first book chronologically in my Noah Gabriel series, will follow next year. After that, I hope to return to the Faith, Freedom, and Posterity series that began with Vestiges.

I still have so many stories I want to tell.

The Gift of Storytelling

I've always been something of an introvert. Expressing my deepest thoughts face-to-face doesn't come easily. But give me a blank page, and suddenly I have a voice.

I often explore the questions that matter to me through my characters. I can write about a particular aspect of faith that troubles me or the struggle to hold on to hope when circumstances seem less than favorable. Sometimes I explore love in unexpected places or the quiet courage of ordinary people facing extraordinary trials.

As I write, I can reveal parts of myself that I might typically keep private.

Tomorrow, Kate Hamilton, Young Emerson, and the other inhabitants of Martin Hall will begin their own journey into the imaginations of you, my readers. I can no longer guide how others will receive my character's stories. That belongs to those who turn the pages.

But tonight, as I think about the young woman who once sat alone with her stories, too timid to let anyone read them, I wish I could tell her something.

Keep writing. One day, you'll find the courage to open that door. And you may be surprised by how many wonderful places it leads.

Strangers at the Top of the Stairs, a Civil War historical mystery, releases November 3, 2026. You can discover more about the novel and my other books at www.peggyannshumway.com.