Minor characters can have backstories
A backstory can serve different purposes. It can establish a secret relationship, a reason the character acts a particular way, give information about what has happened before the beginning of the story, or explain why a minor character is in an unusual situation. For those who have read the story, this will help explain the motive in more detail and for those who haven’t read the story, it may cause you to pick up the book.
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This story begins on July 2, 1863 as Jessica Beecher arrives in Gettysburg with supplies and to tell her beau, Edward Herbruck, she can’t marry him. She meets Morgan Mackinnon, a major in the Confederacy, who kidnaps her because his younger half-sister, Tootie, has been shot in the cemetery. What is Tootie doing there? Later in the story she confides the events to Jess.
Morgan’s father owned a store in Richmond, Virginia. Blake Ellsworth’s father owned a hotel nearby. These two men are fighting on opposite sides of the Civil War but were best friends growing up. While at West Point Morgan’s father was robbed and shot in his store. When he joins the Confederate Army, Morgan arranges for the profits of the store to go to his stepmother, Faye, and Tootie, but when Faye marries, her new husband, Lyle, takes over the store while Morgan is away fighting. He rapes Tootie who tells her mother. Faye doesn’t believe her, and she heads for Morgan’s camp. She disguises herself as a boy and becomes his aide while he tries to find someone to take care of her.
Normally, the heroine is never raped, but Tootie is a minor character, and her rape vilifies not only her stepfather but mother who doesn’t believe her. They will get their punishment later. If a story contains a traumatic event like a rape or murder, justify it by having a strong impact from the event. Tootie doesn’t believe any man will marry her because of the rape, but when she tells the man who proposes what happens, he supports her, putting the blame where it belongs.
Even though Tootie started out as a small supporting character, she grows and reappears in later books. When a character takes on a life of her own, don’t hide her away. Use her. A backstory gives events in the book more emphasis. When Blake is reunited with Morgan, their childhood friendship makes the meeting more powerful as both are grateful to have survived the war.
Blurb: When Jessica Beecher stops to help a wounded soldier on the Gettysburg battlefield, Confederate Major Morgan Mackinnon enlists her skills to nurse his sister. Unable to escape, she waits for Union forces to attack the retreating Confederate Army. But the delay forces Jess to look beyond the gray uniform to the man who has captured her heart.
Morgan can’t let Jess leave when she overhears Lee’s army is retreating during the night. She’s a dangerous woman and not because of the knife she pressed against his throat or the revolver hidden beneath her skirt. The battlefield angel has a face no man can forget, especially when facing death. #ReadRomace #romancenovels #CivilWar #Gettysburg #Lee #Grant #wrpbks
