Intersection Column | When Fact and Fiction Collide

by Katie Powner

I’ve been a foster parent for almost ten years, and it would be an understatement to tell you it’s been a life-changing experience. Before entering the world of foster care, I’d never received a phone call from the county jail. I’d never driven over two hours to pick up a newborn I’d never met from the hospital. I’d never spent Christmas in a meth house.

Now I’ve experienced all those things and more.

Because foster care has had such a big impact on my life, and because I started writing novels around the same time I became a foster parent, many of my stories include elements related to foster care or adoption. This is particularly true for When the Road Comes Around, because the original idea for the story came directly from one of our fostering experiences.

It had been several months since we’d had a foster child in the house when we received a call about a little boy. Less than a year old. “He needs a safe place,” the CPS worker said. “Can you take him?” When he arrived, we learned more of the story. He had been taken from his mother due to neglect and abuse and had been living with his father. At least, everyone thought he was the father.

When a paternity test revealed the man was not, in fact, the baby’s father, the baby was removed from that home and brought to me. When I heard about this, my heart went out to the no-longer-a-father. What was he going through? How was he feeling? To be a father one moment, and the next moment . . .

I couldn’t imagine it. But I could write about it.

That’s how the character of Tad Bungley in When the Road Comes Around was born. Tad is a 24-year-old guy with a bad reputation in a small Montana town. He’s made a lot of mistakes and burned a lot of bridges, but he’s given a second chance by Dan and Anita Wilson, who hire him on for the summer at Come Around Ranch. When a baby comes into the picture who may or may not be Tad’s . . . well, let’s just say it would be an understatement to tell you it’s a life-changing experience.

I had no idea when I started writing novels how often my real life would bleed over into the fictional worlds I create. For example, my debut novel The Sowing Season is loosely based on the family farm where I grew up. My book A Flicker of Light was inspired by a story my grandma used to tell me when I was a kid. And two major events that take place in Where the Blue Sky Begins came directly from articles I’d read in our local newspaper.

Turns out, writing is a very good way for me to process what’s happening in my real life, and sometimes it even gives me the opportunity to give people the story or the ending I wish they could’ve had in the real world. I won’t tell you exactly how much is fact and how much is fiction in When the Road Comes Around, however. You’ll have to read it and decide for yourself.

I hope you enjoy my story about grace, family, and second chances. There are horses too, and who doesn’t love horses? Happy reading!

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About the Author

Katie Powner is a Christy Award-winning author who lives in Montana, where cows still outnumber people. She writes contemporary fiction about redemption, relationships, and finding the dirt road home. She loves red shoes, Jesus, and candy—not necessarily in that order. Learn more at katiepowner.com.

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About the Book

In the small town of Grady, Montana, 24-year-old Tad Bungley has a reputation for trouble. When he lands a job at Come Around Ranch, however, his life seems to take a positive turn. As he develops a soft spot for Sam, the ranch owner's disabled son, and a special bond with TJ, a rescue horse with a poor reputation of his own, Tad becomes determined not to bungle it up this time.