Saturday, February 17, 2024

I Need your Help

It's been a while since I talked with you, but in my defense, I've been busy writing my lastest historical fiction novel, tentatively entitled, Discovering Joan. Yes, this time I'm writing about a, gulp, girl!  So far, all my books have been about boys, that I affectionately call "my boys."  They are Mark, Gary, Lou, Danny, Rob, Michael and Simon.  A member of my writing group suggested I write about a girl. I fought the suggestion for a long time figuring girls are no fun to write about, they're not as daring and don't get into trouble the way a boy does. 

However, when someone suggested I write about the girl Michael meets who's posing as a man in the Civil War in Testing Michael, I thought about it and decided I could possibly do it.

I had laid out the background for Joan in Michael, not knowing I would be featuring her in her own book. The trouble with that is that now I have to adhere to what I laid out which means in her book, I have to kill off her baby and her husband for her to have a reason to join the Union Army in 1861.

I have just finished killing them off (life was hard in the 1860s!😄) and I'm getting her ready to pose as a man in order to be accepted into the army , now I need YOUR help.  She's learning to smoke a cigar to make her transformation believable. I have never smoked even a cigarette, never mind a cigar, so I don't know the first thing about it except what I've researched. She has only seen her father, brothers and husband smoke so she's been a bystander, not an active participant. 

I'm hoping one of you dear people will remember the first time you smoked a cigar and how it made you feel, how it tasted, smelled, etc.  Remember, this is 1861 and cigars were quite different from today's cigars.  If you have some amazing insight, I will be happy to incorporate it into the book  and give you credit in the Acknowledgements.

Another way you can help me is to vote for one of two possible covers I've come up with. Each shows Joan as a girl and also her posing as a male soldier.  Please tell me which you prefer, No. 1 or No. 2. You will note that the title  is different between No. 1 and No. 2. Disregard that and tell me which cover design you prefer.


No. 1



No. 2

For reference, here is the cover of Testing Michael in which Joan is introduced as a minor character. Michael is a thirteen-year-old who joins the Civil War as a messenger.




Your input will be a big help in the finalizing of this book which will, hopefully, be published in the next few months. I'll let you know when it is. Your input is most appreciated. Thank you.


Quote of the Day: We can’t be everything for our book. Sometimes, we must surrender it to people who can help.  Eeva Lancaster, Being Indie: A No Holds Barred, Self Publishing Guide for Indie Authors



Tuesday, January 16, 2024

I Want Summer. Now!

I trust you all had a nice Christmas and a safe New Year. I did. I have a pedicure waiting for me! But it’s going to have to get a lot warmer than it is right now before I venture outside in sandals to put on after my toenails are painted. This weather is not what I expected when I moved to the sunny South. And I know it’s not just here but all over the country. I heard that 49 of the 50 states are dealing with this miserable weather; I have not yet heard what that lone state is that’s not suffering from rain, snow, wind, or ice. Is it where you live? If so, good for you! Texas, Florida, California, and 46 other states are all putting up with this &*%#  winter weather.

By now, you may have figured out that I don’t like winter. I grew up in Vermont but I didn’t like winter as a kid, either. My mother pushed me outside, bundled up so tightly I couldn’t move, and said, “Go outside. Play in the snow. Have fun.”

Sure. My sister and I went out and made a snow angel, threw a snowball or two, made a quick snowman, and dug a tunnel through the snow bank the plow had left at the end of our driveway, then banged on the door asking to be let back in. For the five minutes it took us to “play outside,” it had taken an equal amount of time to get snowsuits, boots, hats, gloves, and scarves on, then even more time to get the wet items off. Our wrists and ankles, where snowsuits didn’t quite reach our mittens and boots, were red and stinging from the cold. Our noses were red and running. Our wet outer clothes covered all the floor registers so that in one room you could smell warm wet rubber, in another warm wet wool, and so forth. If there was an unused register, you could find us standing on it in an attempt to get warm.

Fast forward and having lived in Connecticut for thirty years where I still hated winter, I moved to San Diego, CA to get warm. Beautifully, wonderfully, overwhelmingly warm. All year round. You could see people sunbathing in January on the grass in Balboa Park and in February you could sit on the beach at La Jolla Shores and watch the swimmers play in the waves. If you wanted snow, it was just a short ride to the mountains. What I laughed at was seeing a pickup truck driving back into town with a two-foot snowman in the truck bed; a snowman they had made in the Laguna Mountains by scooping up snow with a surfboard and now their creation was melting in the San Diego sun.

You may notice that in my books, whenever the season is winter, I don’t say how much fun the family has outside skiing, sledding, fully enjoying winter. No. I use my imagination a lot when I write, but I can never imagine anything fun, good, or nice about winter. They say, “Write what you know,” so that’s the ONLY time I fully write what I know.

All this to say, I’m ready for summer! I want it and I want it now. I’m tired of being cold. It is, however, a good time to curl up with a good book. I have a few if you need any suggestions. 😊

 

Quote of the Day: "Winter changes into stone the water of heaven and the heart of man.”  Victor Hugo