Goodbye to Erik Jansson

My parting with Erik Jansson was stressful—but necessary—and easy thanks to the “find” feature in my word document menu. I was able to locate all versions of Jansson and replace it with the name of my new character.

You see, the real Erik Jansson was too tied up with my fictionalized guy. Too many times I found myself in the awkward position of answering questions and explaining facts about the historical Jansson or Janson. (He dropped an s after coming to America.) This became a problem because I’m not an expert on the real Jansson or Janson.

I simply needed a heavy, someone who could provide a reason for a painting to be hidden for 90 years or so.

So enter Karl Hemson. A brand-new guy with a backstory completely made up by me. I know where he’s been, what he’s up to, and why he wanted to remain incognito. He can be good or bad as needed and not ruffle any feathers.

Coming up with names has always been a problem for me. I settled on Karl Hemson for the following reasons: Hem in Swedish means home, I like the idea of a home boy, a favorite son so to speak; the name Karl is because I simply liked the K; also hem reminds me of a song that Morris Nelson used to sing at the VASA smörgåsbords.

Hemson and Jansson will probably have to briefly cross paths in Sweden. And Hemson’s journey to America will have to be similar. After all, he does end up in Bishop Hill. That doesn’t change.

Bonus: Adding Hemson should make a change in the ending easier and more natural.

So, I have some work to do.