Meet Rose by A.M. Westerling

The beautiful cover for Barkerville Beginnings, depicting my heroine Rose and her daughter Hannah on Rose and Harrison's wedding day.

                                                

I’d like to introduce you to Rosamund Arabella Ruth Lang. She prefers Rose Chadwick but you’ll have to read the story to find out why. I know, mean of me. 😉

Rose grew up on a ranch outside of San Francisco. Her mother died when Rose was young. An only child, she happily looked after her father until the age of nineteen when he disowned her for, in his words, "dishonoring the memory of your sweet mother and bringing shame upon this family".   

She's a single mother in an era when unwed mothers were frowned upon. Like mothers everywhere, she’s  fiercely protective of her four year old daughter Hannah. When  Hannah’s safety is threatened Rose faces the biggest challenge of her twenty four years. She decides her best course of action is to join the Cariboo Gold Rush and hopefully disappear within the throngs of men and women making their way north to Barkerville, British Columbia.

Rose is an independent young woman and determined to make her own way in the world. She doesn’t trust men and when Harrison St John shows an interest in her, she’s not sure she likes it. She draws a lot of interest in the gold rush town as women are definitely in the minority. Things don’t always work out for her but she keeps on until she finds the perfect place of employment. Barkerville gives her the opportunity to provide a better life for herself and her daughter.

For all of my main characters I’ll pore through magazines until I find a likeness I like. Then I’ll cut it out and paste it on a sheet of paper and start making notes. For example, favorite sayings, what conflicts does the character face, family history, character strengths and  flaws, clothing, or any details I need to keep track of.

Please excuse the chicken scratches but here’s my character layout for Rose. As you can see, I had a tough time deciding on her name and went through a few iterations until I hit upon the one I liked. I really don't have a reason for calling her Rose other than I thought the name was pretty.