Honoring Our Veterans
Sometimes the best stories are the ones hidden deep in a heart.
Today I opened a bubble envelope from my friend John. John is 86-years-old. I first met him in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Or, wait, maybe it was Buffalo, New York. You see, I traveled to those places to interview Veterans from the 11th Armored Division. I first heard about these World War II vets when I was touring Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. I was awed by the stories I heard. Those stories soon inspired a novel, From Dust and Ashes, and many more novels after that. What I didn’t realize that while the novels were nice, an even greater gift has been the relationships with the dozens of men like John. The best stories are the ones I found deep in a veteran’s heart.
(John and I meeting for the first time)
Opening the bubble envelope from John I found a few things. First was a booklet published by the Shippensburg Historical Society. The Battle of the Bulge: One Small Corner by Dr. John Fague. There are some newspaper clippings from John’s column, “Do You Remember?” And …
Gasp. There are photocopies of letters that 19-year-old John wrote to his mother…
Read the rest of this post over on Seekerville!
My novel A Secret Courage is available on eBook right now for only $1.99!
I loved writing this novel about Emma who was a member of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit–an actual unit in WWII. Their job was to study pictures taken by planes that would fly over Europe looking for changes. They had to have a keen eye for details and spend hours pouring over large photographs of bunkers and countryside trying to see any hint of enemy behavior.
I imagined her drinking tea and focusing intently on small grainy images knowing that her job might save–or cost–lives. The sacrifices these women made during this time to help in any way possible is immeasurable. What might she be feeling? What brought her to Europe? Why did she join the Women’s Auxillary Air Force?
These are the questions that got me thinking and kept me writing. They sent me on a journey to flesh out Emma and her story. I hope you enjoy it!
American Emma Hanson came to England to study at Oxford, but joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force at the height of World War II. She is stationed at beautiful and historic Danesfield House west of London as part of the highly secretive Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.
Englishman Will Fleming is a handsome young artist who has been commissioned by the British government to record the changing landscape in paintings. His path intersects with Emma’s when his real mission—tracking Nazi spies—leads him to Danesfield House, the target of a sinister plot.
Emma and Will become friends, but neither can reveal the true nature of their assignment. Can their relationship grow amid such secrecy? And can Will save Danesfield House—and Emma and her coworkers—before it’s too late?
Available now at your favorite eBook retailer including Apple iBooks!
Honoring Our Veterans
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