DiAnn Mills | Holiday Conflict in Our Stories

Adding a twist to a story’s setting gives it a psychological zip. Holidays are no exception.

As your characters enter the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, place them in scenes where they are caught off guard—where they believe their mental, emotional, and physical world is safe until they are hit with conflict from unexpected places. What about a holiday is unpleasant for your character? What does the character appreciate about the holiday that hits him/ her blindside?

No matter what genre, depth of story satisfies the reader. Here are a few examples of how you can weave the fall seasons into your plot with obstacles that create problems for your characters.

Thanksgiving

- Romance - Your hero invites the heroine to his parents’ farm for a traditional dinner, but he fails to inform his mother that the heroine is gluten-free and vegan. What he believes is the perfect setting for his parents to fall in love with the heroine ends up being a catastrophe when the menu includes all the items she can’t eat.

- Historical - A family looks forward to enjoying a harvest festival when several members of the family become ill with smallpox.

- Suspense - Your heroine and hero take a walk through the woods on Thanksgiving when a bad guy opens fire and wounds the hero. The heroine chases the bad guy through the woods, but when she trips on a felled tree, the bad guy opens fire on her. - Speculative - Perhaps holidays aren’t celebrated in your story world, but feasts are always in style. While the characters in your story are enjoying a grand festival, they are attacked by enemies, who only want the children.

Christmas

- Romance - A hero plans to propose to the woman of his dreams on Christmas, but he finds her in the arms of another man and suspects the worst.

- Historical - A father struggles with his health and lack of money to give his four children a gift for Christmas. When he fails, he learns the best gift he can give is love.

- Suspense - A woman criminal celebrates the season with her family and friends, providing an opportunity for law enforcement to make an arrest. Only the criminal’s boyfriend happens to be one of the arresting officers.

- Speculative - All celebrations are forbidden in a world ruled by those who seek to control its people through oppression and persecution. But one person defies the mandate to bring happiness to others.

Consider your story. Is it set during an upcoming holiday? Instead of using a celebration to add a break to your character’s life, weave an unpredictable twist. Does snow and ice interfere with a life and death situation? Does last minute shopping for a dinner cause an unexpected encounter with fate? Take the holiday challenge and deepen your story. You’ll be amazed at the results.

About DiAnn Mills

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; the 2015 president of the Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope, & Love chapter; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and International Thriller Writers. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at her website.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+ | YouTube | Goodreads | Blog

About DEADLOCK

Two murders have rocked the city of Houston. Are they the work of a serial killer, or is a copycat trying to get away with murder?

That is the question facing Special Agent Bethany Sanchez, who is eager for her new assignment in violent crimes but anxious about meeting her new partner. Special Agent Thatcher Graves once arrested her brother, and he has a reputation for being a maverick. Plus, their investigative styles couldn’t be more opposite: he operates on instinct, while she goes by the book.

When hot leads soon fizzle out, their differences threaten to leave them deadlocked. But an attempt on their lives turns up the heat and brings them closer together, and a third victim might yield the clue that will help them zero in on a killer. This could be the case of their careers . . . if they can survive long enough to solve it.