Book Excerpt
My writing process for Through Angel’s Eyes began with a question - what are the psychological effects of discrimination on a child? I took this as the starting point in creating my central character, Angel Dunbar. I then wrote a full profile of Angel, delving into her character, motivations and aspirations. It was at this point that I wrote the prologue to the book, in which Angel, the first person narrator, recalls an incident in a store in Birmingham, Alabama in which she encounters blatant racism at the age of 10.
My next step was to slide Angel and her family into the historical events which provide the backdrop for her story. This involved a lot of research and plotting of events on a timeline. Once I’d decided to focus on the year 1963, it was a matter of developing the plot in such a way as to be able to have Angel as an eye-witness to the pivotal events of that year - the child marches, the March on Washington and the Sixteenth Street church bombing.
Once I had the basic plot planned out, it was a matter of getting down to the business of fleshing out the story. As I was working full time in a ‘real’ job, I committed myself to writing in the evenings. I wouldn’t allow myself to go to bed until I’d completed 500 words each night. On the weekends, I’d go back and rework, polish and edit the 2,500 words I’d completed that week. After just over a year I had a completed manuscript that I was happy with.
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