Meet a musician and a carer in
Sarah Loudin Thomas’
Appalachian Blessings series
Until the Harvest
Bethany House
*******
The Story
When a family tragedy derails Henry Phillips’s college studies, he’s left unmoored and feeling abandoned. Although Henry tries to find escape in bad company, the only things that can tamp down his anger and grief are the family farm, his fiddle, and sweet but unusual pre-teen Mayfair Hoffman.
Unfortunately, Mayfair’s older sister, Margaret, with the freckles and cute, turned-up nose, has the opposite effect. Worse, she’s his grandmother’s housekeeper and helper, so she’s always around and ready to push his buttons. At first he thinks she doesn’t care about his loss, before beginning to understand she’s facing her own struggles. Mayfair’s health and unique gift sit at the heart of those worries, and Henry and Margaret soon find themselves relying on each other as both Henry’s future and Mayfair’s life are put at risk.
Introducing Margaret & Henry
Brief physical description
Margaret has TONS of freckles! She’s sensitive about her complexion and thinks her freckles keep her from being pretty (along with hair that tends to frizz). She’s a bit on the curvy side in an era when Twiggy was a top 
model.
Henry is tall and lanky with wavy hair. Picture a young Gregory Peck. He’s a little awkward, but you just know he’s going to get more and more handsome as he ages.
Resembles…
I love this photo I found on Pinterest. I imagine Margaret being covered up in freckles like this, plus the pose communicates how self-conscious she is.
This shot of a young Gregory Peck fits my mental image perfectly. He’s like a puppy after a growth spurt—he hasn’t quite figured out where his own appendages start and stop yet which makes him unintentionally vulnerable and appealing all at the same time.
Strengths and weaknesses
Margaret tends to undervalue herself. She sees her worth in what she can do rather than who she is. She’s a planner, organizer, and generally competent at anything she attempts (although she wouldn’t attempt it if she thought she was likely to fail).
Henry is a gifted musician—he plays the fiddle while his dad played the mandolin. He’s also a little bit hot-headed and tends to fly off the handle rather than think things through. He’s a little too spontaneous for his own 
good, but his heart is in the right place.
Quirk (if any)
Margaret is super-protective of her little sister Mayfair who has Type I diabetes (and perhaps a knack for healing people!). She carries candies in her pockets for emergencies.
Henry knows how to build fences, milk a cow, and (it turns out) run moonshine.
Your inspiration for the character
Margaret is a little bit my mom, a little bit me, and a whole lot insecure. I think she’s that part of every woman who feels like she doesn’t quite measure up to everyone around her.
Henry is a little bit my Dad, a little bit my brothers, (and, okay, a little bit me!). My Dad lost his mother when he was 18 and just starting college. It was such a traumatic, life-changing experience for him. You can talk to him about it even now and tell what a deep impact it had. I wanted to write about how love is the thing that can get someone through something so impossibly difficult.
Background to the story
After writing Miracle in a Dry Season I really wanted to continue the Phillips family saga, but with new characters. Dipping into the next generation seemed like a logical step. Henry is Casewell and Perla’s son—basically a good kid who honors his parents and does what’s expected. But how might a “good kid” react if his world were suddenly turned upside down by tragedy? What could set his world right again?
Thanks Sarah
Relz Reviewz Extras
Character Spotlight on Perla (Miracle in a Dry Season)
Enter the Until the Harvest giveaway
Visit Sarah’s website
Discover Sarah’s free e-novella Appalachian Serenade
Buy at Amazon: Until the Harvest or Koorong
Sarah is also offering a fabulous Until the Harvest Giveaway! Click on the graphic below to enter!
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May 11, 2015 at 9:29 am
Thanks for letting me share about Henry and Margaret! They seem SO real to me, it’s fun to tell others about their quirks and characteristics.
May 12, 2015 at 1:14 am
You’ve done an excellent job here in making them real to readers as well – TY!
May 11, 2015 at 9:40 am
Well if the hero is supposed to look alot like Gregory Peck, then this book sounds great to me.
May 11, 2015 at 10:15 am
I once told my husband the only man who even had a CHANCE at stealing my heart was Atticus Finch.
May 11, 2015 at 10:01 am
I really enjoyed Miracle in a Dry Season so I’m glad Until the Harvest has some of the same characters. One song I remember from the ’70s is American Pie.
May 11, 2015 at 10:15 am
I hate to let some of those characters go EVER!
May 11, 2015 at 10:48 am
Sarah’s books are new to me, but the plot to this one definitely caught my attention when I first saw it back in one of your cover release posts! Maybe it’ll be a summer read 🙂 Margaret looks like a character I really could relate to. And to answer your question, though I wasn’t around til the 90s, I still grew up knowing songs like I Will Survive and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart! And bell-bottoms. I kind of wore bell bottoms, though probably not the extreme kind!
May 11, 2015 at 11:34 pm
I think my mom put me in bell bottoms, but I don’t much remember it!
May 11, 2015 at 12:56 pm
I was not alive in the 70’s, but I love the fashion and am excited that some of the styles are reviving. This novel sounds fantastic!!
May 11, 2015 at 11:35 pm
Yes, I like some of the “modified” styles. Boot cut or flared in place of bell bottoms and bright patterns in place of psychedelic!
May 11, 2015 at 2:00 pm
I was born in 1970, so not sure if I remember too much about it! I had to Google for movies: Star Wars, Jaws,Rocky,Superman, Saturday Night Fever….just to name a few I’ve seen, but didn’t know came out in the 70’s! Not sure about too many memories as I was very young, just that we spent a lot of time visiting various family members 🙂
Until the Harvest sounds like a great book, thank you for the chance to win this! I enjoyed reading more about it here on your blog!
May 11, 2015 at 11:34 pm
I was born in 1971. Yes, visiting was a big part of life and it’s a key factor in my books, too.
May 11, 2015 at 11:49 pm
Love the covers for your books Sarah! I was born in the 70’s so am not really familiar with the music of that decade… my parents were not big on the popular music of the day.
May 12, 2015 at 12:01 am
Mine, either! I’m more familiar with the music of the 50s and 60s since that’s what Dad listened to.
May 12, 2015 at 1:17 am
Filled with favourite memories/songs/movies from the 70s!
I’ll go with the pregnancy and giving birth to my first child memory 🙂
May 12, 2015 at 3:44 am
As my dad would say, I was only a thought in the mind of God in the 70’s 😉 So I don’t have any memories from that time period…
May 12, 2015 at 4:33 am
I’m a little too young to have lived in the 70’s, but I really like the TV Show Little House on the Prairie!
May 12, 2015 at 6:49 am
I wanted to BE Laura. And with my freckles, I could have . . .
May 12, 2015 at 4:43 am
I wasn’t alive yet in the 70’s, but I do love some bell bottom jeans!
May 12, 2015 at 5:00 am
I loved all the big bands of the 70’s; Chicago, Bee Gees, Three Dog Night and crooners like Barry Manilow. I even loved Motown. And yes, I wore bell bottoms, halter and tube tops with Dr. Scholl’s sandals.
May 12, 2015 at 9:36 am
My favorite memory from the 70s is my graduating high school. Ü
May 12, 2015 at 10:59 pm
I LOVE sarah’s writing. it is so elegant and quiet! I really enjoyed this Character Spotlight and seeing her characters featured 🙂
May 13, 2015 at 6:00 am
Aww, shucks!
May 15, 2015 at 2:23 am
I was born in the 1970’s so I don’t remember a lot about it. I remember when I was about 3 my grandma bought a bag of Cheeto’s and she called me on the phone. She said she had some Cheeto’s for me and could I see them through the phone. I played along and said yes. Later that day she brought them over to me. My grandma was so special to me. I miss her a lot.
May 15, 2015 at 3:34 am
I wasn’t born until the 80s, but my favorite show ever is The Waltons, which was made in the 70s:)