Prior to writing Lucia and the Saints, I had never thought about working on a novella (although the books in the Fortune’s Wing series may fall into that category based on their length). The six volume series of Lucia could have been squeezed into a single book or two/three books, but I decided to give novellas a try. Each volume opens with a quote: just some words of wisdom, which are related to the series in some way.
People begin to live their lives at last, when they live for something other than themselves—-unknown
Volume One’s opening quote represents the change that has been made in Lucia Calderon’s life. She’s doing her best to be a good person. She’s on a mission to help young girls in need by providing them with a place to stay. How hard will she have to work in order to balance the scales of her good and bad decisions?
Go ahead, underestimate me. You won’t be the first…You won’t be the last… But you will be wrong—Steve Maraboli
Volume Two sees Lucia Milazzo and John Rafferty beginning a partnership. Still, Lucia is a woman in a man’s world, and no one seems to be taking her seriously. Everyone is content to underestimate her, and she’s fighting to prove herself.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Volume Three brings the reader closer to the girls under Lucia Calderon’s care. She’s especially close to Ava: a young girl who’s family has abandoned her because of who she is and who she loves. Lucia wants her house to be a place where all the girls an feel free to be themselves.
Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of—Bethany Hamilton
Volume Four has Lucia continuing to struggle to prove herself and her place within the organization that will someday become known as The Syndicate. She may be the only woman now, but she’d rather be just like one of the men…
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be—Kurt Vonnegut
Volume Five leads readers to wonder who Lucia Calderon really is, and who she used to be. She ‘s trying to outrun the ghosts of her past, but the past always seems to catch up nevertheless…
Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. We walk away not because we want others to recognize our worth and value, but because we finally realize our own—Robert Tew
The final quote belongs to Volume Six. Lucia Calderon must make a difficult decision; one that will effect the lives of every character in the Valentine universe. Will her decision make her appear strong, the way she knows she is? Or will she appear to be just another weak woman?
When I decided what the primary theme of each book was going to be, I found several quotes that seemed to relate to the themes. Initially, I found two or three per book, and took time to narrow my choices down to just one per book. In the end, I was happy with my choices.
Lucia and the Saints is available on Amazon and the Woolaston Entertainment website.
woolastonentertainment.com 