Thank Heaven for Humor
My new novel, which I’m writing now, has one quality that the first two novels in the series seem to lack: humor. The first two books in the series, A FALSE DAWN and SUNRISING (not published yet) didn’t have much room for humor. The first book was a melodrama, the second a somber meditation on survival. Any humor I found in the stories tended to be oblique and dry.
Happily, for me and, I believe, for the reader, THE BEEHIVE throbs with humor. The story lends itself to more than a few laughs, and frankly, I’ve had time in the past few years to adjust somewhat to the passing of my dear wife, Carol, in February 2016. I’m in a better frame of mind to tell my latest story with a few touches of lightness.
Make no mistake, THE BEEHIVE makes a serious point, mostly about how the midwestern French in the early 1800s sacrificed the loyalties they had built with local Indian tribes for the sake of short-term gain from their new owners, the Americans. But humor usually makes a serious topic go down more easily and brings warmth to your characters that readers always enjoy.
So here’s to humor. It keeps your writing lively.
About The Author
Jeff Heller
I'm a historical novelist who focuses on Colonial America, particularly the French-Canadians who settled North America in the 1600s and 1700s. My first novel, A FALSE DAWN, features Louise, a young wife and mother who must search for her son and her husband when the English invade their home in French-held Montreal and torch the city.