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Author and Novelist Glynn Young

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characters

Giving a Minor Character a Bigger Role

October 20, 2020 By Glynn Young 1 Comment

The character of David Hughes, twin brother of Sarah Hughes, has been a part of the Dancing Priest series from the beginning. In Dancing Priest, the first novel, it was David who had decided to do a study year abroad in Scotland, dragging his sister along with him. David was the scholar in the family, and at the University of Edinburgh he was studying Scottish history. Because of a fire at his dormitory, David ends up rooming with Michael Jent and Tommy McFarland, even though they’re two years older. And it’s Tommy’s girlfriend Ellen who fixes David up on a blind date with Betsy, whom he’d eventually marry.

The character of David Hughes served as something of a counterpoint to Michael and Tommy. They’ve been friends since they were six years old and have roomed together at St. Andrews during their entire time at university. David is the quiet American, the scholarly outsider, contrasting with the outgoing McFarland and the self-confident and often-quite-candid Michael. McFarland is an outspoken champion of Scotland and Scottish independence; David is the young man who’s been in love with Scotland from afar and is now living exactly where he wants to be.

David and Sarah experience family upheaval when their father turns his back and cuts off all communication with them and their older brother Scott, a doctor in San Francisco. As a result, the Hughes twins spend Christmas at McLarens, the home of Ian and Iris McLaren, the guardians for Michael. While there, David helps Ian, an equine veterinarian, deliver a foal.

David has a very small roles in the next three books in the series, but I always felt he deserved something more. The opportunity for that arrived with Dancing Prince. 

Some 30 years have passed since the first novel. David is a history professor at the University of St. Andrews. He and Betsy have two now-grown children. Over the years, it is David who has become a key figure in the life of Thomas Kent-Hughes, the youngest of Michael and Sarah’s children. 

As Michael grows more estranged from Tommy, David unintentionally helps to fill the gap, to the point where Tommy feels closer to his uncle than to his own father. Early in the story, Tommy and his father experience one of the many crises in their relationship, and it’s to David in St. Andrews to whom Tommy flees from London. When it’s time for college, Tommy will select St. Andrews, and a large part of the reason is that David teaches there. 

In many significant ways, Tommy becomes part of the Hughes family, and he clearly feels more comfortable with his uncle than with his father. Tommy looks more like his uncle than he does Michael, and he’s often mistaken for David’s son. They share a love of scholarship, and early on David is guiding Tommy is his pursuit of Norse and Icelandic languages. And it’s a reciprocal relationship. When David’s own son experiences a breakdown, it’s Tommy to whom David turns for help. 

The character of David was a quiet, stabilizing one from the beginning. Those characters rarely get center stage is stories and novels. Dancing Prince offered the opportunity to bring David out of the background and give him a significant part in the story. And, as it turns out, it will be a crucial part that he plays. Michael will eventually tell Tommy that he owes Davis a debt he can never repay, “for being there for you when I wasn’t.” Davis is something of an unsung hero of the Dancing Priest stories, and it was gratifying to give him his due. 

Top photograph by Shipman Northcutt via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Do Your Characters Talk to You?

May 12, 2020 By Glynn Young Leave a Comment

The news report made quite a splash. Researchers at Durham University in the U.K. teamed up with The Guardiannewspaper and the Edinburgh Book Festival to do a study of authors. And the study reported that two-thirds of authors hear their characters speak while they’re writing. 

My first thought was, this is news?

The study was more of a survey. Some 181 authors who participated in the Edinburgh Book Festival in 2014 and 2018 were asked an array of questions. The biggest surprise, at least to the researchers, was that 63 percent of the authors hear their characters speak, and 61 percent say their characters can act independently. 

I’ve been listening to my characters speak since I’ve been writing. I’ve experienced characters getting a mind of their own and doing both the expected and the unexpected. Other writers I’ve talked with say they’ve experienced the same thing. Of course, characters speak. Of course, authors hear them speak. Of course, characters get themselves totally out of character and screw things up, at least temporarily. This is part of what makes them real to the author and the reader.

To continue reading, please see my post today at the ACFW blog.

“I was afraid, Dad”

February 2, 2019 By Glynn Young Leave a Comment

“I was afraid, Dad,” Jason said, “if I said what had happened, then you or no one else would have wanted to adopt me.”

“My son,” Michael said, “while it may have shocked us to know, I don’t think it would have changed our minds.”

“I think I know that now, Dad,” Jason said, “but I was afraid you’d make me leave.” He paused. “Sometimes I feel I don’t deserve you and Mom.”

  • From Dancing Prophet.

Photograph by Justin Chrn via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“It’s his voice that’s remarkable.”

January 6, 2019 By Glynn Young Leave a Comment

“It’s Michael’s voice that’s remarkable,” said Father John. “He seems rather soft-spoken in everyday conversation, but his voice carries fully in the sanctuary. You can hear him as plainly in the back as the front, even without the microphone. It resonates with humility and sincerity. You hear him speak, and you know he believes what he says, you know you can trust what he says and that he speaks with authority. It’s a gift that very few ministers or speakers have.”

  • From Dancing King

The Assignment

December 30, 2018 By Glynn Young Leave a Comment

The archbishop of York had had enough. “What the bishop is trying to say, Michael, is that it’s been decided that you will be assigned to St. Anselm’s Anglican Church in San Francisco.”

Michael sat, outwardly composed but inwardly reeling. San Francisco?

“You can take the time you need to think this over,” the bishop of Norfolk said. “We know this is a surprise and not what you expected. So feel free to consider and pray about this.”

“I accept it, Father Stanton,” Michael said.

  • From Dancing Priest 

Photograph by Ben White via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A Street Conversation

December 14, 2018 By Glynn Young Leave a Comment

“No one’s home,” said an elderly woman standing on the porch next door. “She left early this morning with a suitcase, so she must have been going out of town. Robert and his chum left a little while ago. They should be in school at this time of day.”

Michael said a short prayer of thanks for busybodies. “Did you see which way they went?”

The woman nodded. “To your right, likely for the square at the end of the block. Do I know you? You sound familiar but my eyesight isn’t the best.”

     — From Dancing Prophet

Photograph by Cristian Newman via Unsplash. Used with permission.

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Meet the Man

An award-winning speechwriter and communications professional, Glynn Young is the author of three novels and the non-fiction book Poetry at Work.

 

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