10 Reasons Why HER HOPE DISCOVERED Would Make a Great Hallmark Movie

After a much needed break, it’s great to be back with you today!

I thought maybe I’d blog about 10 Things I’ve Learned As a Debut Author, but I think I’ll save that post for another time.

Instead, please join me as I slip on my rose colored glasses and channel my inner Pollyanna. Coffee’s on, cookies are warm, and that pretty, sunlit path and tree lined ridge are calling our name!

There’s a chill in the air as fall colors emerge, and if you’ve watched TV, a whole lotta holiday is about to hit the airwaves.

Seasonal specials, commercials, and movies are scheduled to ramp up the holiday happiness meter, and it’s almost time to bask in their golden, “feel good” glow. While I normally tend to be in the “let’s wait until after Halloween” camp, this year I’m more than ready to get the party started.

Be it the current climate or world events, this fall I’m detecting a shift toward warm fuzzies and happy things sooner than usual. I say bring it on!

When bad news and ugliness abounds, many of us tend to gravitate toward the light. Which leads me to Hallmark.

The Hallmark channel gets it.

They not only get “it,” they’ve perfected it so well that other television networks are attempting to amp up the seasonal magic with their own versions of holiday goodness. Nothing wrong with that. The more good in the world, the merrier. There’s enough Christmas pie to go around.

For this post, though, I want to focus on the Hallmark channel because, not only am I a fan of their holiday movies (see the current 2019 movie guide), I also enjoy their year-round made-for-TV movies.

When my energy’s lagging or my spirit’s sagging, Hallmark movies can pick me up and send me to my happy place every single time.

While some would say Hallmark movies are sappy, predictable, and sometimes, far-fetched—packed with enough sweetness to send us into sugar shock—I’d counter that with how can happiness and light be a bad thing?

Sometimes, when we’ve faced a tough day or we’ve seen more than our share of real-life mayhem and melodrama, we just want to visit our safe zones and immerse ourselves in a little love and tenderness. We don’t mind some tension and conflict when we sense a happy-for-now or a happily-ever-after on the horizon. Hallmark does this so well.

They know their viewers, they recognize their needs, and they appease those needs in a way that satisfies and makes us return for seconds. That’s no slight undertaking.

That’s exactly what authors do as we write our stories. We reel in our readers and hope they love our stories so much they’ll want to read our books again and again.

Gotta be honest.

As I wrote The End on Her Hope Discovered, for a moment I envisioned how it would play out as a movie. It’s fun to dream!

While there are many factors that play a role in whether or not a project is optioned for film (not to mention that if it is, it may be a long shot if it actually makes it to the screen), dreaming fosters hope. When we have hope, we see possibility. That’s huge!

So…if I might.

10 Reasons Why Her Hope Discovered Would Make a Great Hallmark Movie

Her Hope Discovered is that fish out of water story where we see ourselves in the heroine. She’s trading big city life for a smaller hometown…in the Missouri Ozarks where no one is a stranger. In typical Hallmark fashion, Charla Winthrop is the new girl next door who’s rediscovering herself while moving forward with her future…in a home that’s steeped in history, mystery, and charm. It’s also the home in which nearby neighbor Sam Packard shares a mutual connection. And we’re not talking paint color. 😉
Fictional Ruby, Missouri is the down home town that everyone longs to come home to. Think about it. Aren’t friendly hometowns a common denominator in Hallmark movies? Don’t you wish all the neighbors there were your neighbors in real life? With friendly folks like Ida Mae Hoscutt, Deputy Horace Sapp, and Aunt Delia Scroggins, no one’s left hankering for a friend.
Do you like some faults and blemishes—not too many, but just enough? Great! Just like our favorite Hallmark movies, everyone has a story, and perfection is a fallacy. The themes aren’t dark. They’re realistic flavored with grace.
Her Hope Discovered opens in the fall, flows through Christmas, and culminates in spring. (*A-hem* Everyone knows fall and Christmas can’t be beat!) Check out Hallmark’s holiday movie lineup. If you’ve read HHD, you know there are many key scenes that would translate wonderfully to the television screen. Celebrations, stolen moments, kind gestures—not to mention the sweet love story unfolding between a couple from two separate worlds, a couple drawn together by divine appointment and an elderly gentleman’s fervent prayer.
There are kiddos! Two, spirited blue-eyed blondes in dire need of a mama. Hello, heartstrings!
Charla and Sam’s relationship is a friends-to-something more story. The interplay between the two is poignant with comedic moments, a formula that Hallmark movie fans love.
A popular social hub is the Come and Get It Diner—Ruby, Missouri’s version of high end dining and socializing. Ooh! When I think of the fun Hallmark could have with this quaint establishment! For example, here’s the signage on the front of the lettuce green building just below the painted piglets: Ain’t No Time Like Feedin’ Time! Pull Up a Chair. Have a Seat. Hungry Folks Have Gotta Eat!
HHD is family friendly. Yes it is a love story. There is kissing and grown up talk. There are some God-appointed moments. No worries! Everything’s PG and tastefully executed. You know—like Hallmark.
Her Hope Discovered is all about second chances and (healthy) risks we’re willing to take when love’s on the line. Detecting a theme here, aren’t we? 😊
HHD uplifts, inspires, and motivates. It embodies the goodness we want to believe is possible—in people, in towns, and in our stories. And yes—even in our beloved Hallmark movies.