Ellen Baker: On Exploring Themes of Home and Forgiveness
Ellen Baker is the author of Keeping the House and I Gave My Heart to Know This. She has worked as a bookseller and event coordinator at an independent bookstore. Originally from the Upper Midwest, she currently lives in Maine. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Ellen Baker
Photo Courtesy of Kim Fuller Photography
In this post, Ellen discusses the process of writing her new historical fiction novel, The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson, her hope for readers, and more!
Name: Ellen Baker
Literary agent (if one): Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider
Book title: The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson
Publisher: Mariner
Expected release date: February 20, 2024
Genre/category: Historical Fiction
Previous titles (if any) by the author: Keeping The House; I Gave My Heart to Know This
Elevator pitch: A sweeping historical novel of forbidden love, loss, and the families we make, involving surprise DNA results in 2015 and a 1930s traveling circus.
Bookshop | Amazon
[WD uses affiliate links.]
What prompted you to write this book?
So many things. I seem to always return to exploring the theme of “home” in my writing; also, “forgiveness.” What does it take to find or create these things? I’ve also always been fascinated by stories of adoption and loss. These general fascinations combined with a couple of challenging realities I was grappling with in my own life at the time I started writing this novel.
The first being that I would likely never have a child of my own. Second, that I was about to need to really start over; to leave where I was and reinvent myself. So, I think I needed to write something about someone who faced similar challenges and managed to come out with their hope and optimism—and their belief in love—intact. And that’s exactly what my character Cecily does.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
About 15 years ago, I had the idea to write a novel about what happens when a small-town doctor’s wife has the secrets of her past revealed. My editor at the time rejected the proposal, so I filed it away and worked on other things. I pulled it out in early 2021 and immediately saw the problem: The “secrets” I’d created weren’t consequential enough. I quickly came up with some bigger secrets, revised everything about the characters and the projected storyline except that original “doctor’s wife in a small town” seed, and started writing. I finished the first draft of the book within about a year. So, from idea to publication is somewhere between three and 15 years!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
One surprise was when the cover was changed. The original cover art was, in my opinion, absolutely stunning, and we had worked hard to get the text colors and font just right, and it seemed like we had arrived at a cover that everyone loved. As the book got further down the pipeline, though, there was some feedback to the contrary, and the team decided to come up with a new cover. Although I was surprised at first, I ended up really loving the second cover even more than I loved the first one and being really happy about the change.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Pretty much everything surprised me about writing this book. It ended up requiring a very different process than the previous books I’ve written. For one thing, the story and the characters all felt very real to me from the beginning. I’ve written novels where I got to decide what happens—not this one. It was as if everything had already happened, and all I could do was write it down. And the scenes came out in the right order, even though they take place at various points in time. Usually when I’ve written novels with multiple timelines/storylines, I’ve had to shuffle scenes quite a bit to find the right order. So, in general, what surprised me about this book was how fully formed and solid it seemed, even before I got the words and scenes written down.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
An immersive, can’t-put-it-down, emotional experience that ultimately leaves them feeling hopeful about life and wanting to pick up the phone and call someone they love.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Everyone says, “Don’t give up” and “Stay in your chair.” I agree with those pieces of advice! One thing I would also add is “Find your true voice.” Write about things you truly care about, in a way that sounds right to you. Authentic storytelling is what will finally resonate with readers—not with all of them, but with the ones you’re meant to find and who are meant to find you.
With a growing catalog of instructional writing videos available instantly, we have writing instruction on everything from improving your craft to getting published and finding an audience. New videos are added every month!