Footnotes: MY EDITOR LOVES THEM AND I DO,TOO (sort of)

Some of the resources used in researching my work-in-progress.

My editor is fond of footnotes. So naturally I give them to her. The difficult thing is figuring out when to insert them into my manuscript.

When I begin a new book I devour everything I can on my topic and then eventually, as a plot line emerges, I write my story. At this point I work with the knowledge that I've absorbed during all the research. But I haven't taken a lot of notes. Instead I buy, borrow, and pay overdues on books that I can't seem to live without. I take pictures in archives and I save emails from experts I've interviewed. I want those facts at my fingertips and I know from experience I'll need them later. I slap sticky flags at crucial spots. I underline, circle, and make lots of sloppy melodramatic asterisks beside important info.

I write my story, revise it, tweak it repeatedly, and eventually I think it's ready to send to Carolyn Yoder. And then it hits me - I still have to footnote.

Of course I've tried to document as I go. But the truth is that documenting can seriously interrupt the flow of the story. So mostly I write and worry about footnoting later.

So I'm at that point now with my work-in-progress. The story is written and has been fiddled with and tightened and improved upon in various ways and I believe that I'm within weeks of submitting to my editor. (I thought the same thing back in November before I remembered the footnotes.)

I am, at this moment, in the midst of tedium. Rereading the manuscript, noting which items might raise some question of authenticity in my editor's mind. And pulling down every resource possible to verify the following and then some. (and you can skip over this tiny list if you like!)

• When America entered WWII in December 1941 the draft age was 21
  
• There was an exemption for conscientious objectors (COs) who, for religious reasons, could not participate in war.
• Civilian Public Service (CPS) provided alternative ways for COs to serve.
  
• CPSsers mostly lived in former Civilian Conservation Corps barracks and did forestry and conservation work.
  
• They ate at trestle style picnic tables.
• Some switched into work in mental hospitals which were grossly understaffed.
  
• Some were guinea pigs in medical experiments
  
• German neighbors could have been sent away to internment camps
• Eastern State Hospital had a death house and a morgue and conscientious objectors helped with autopsies
• There was an elevator in Sequeyra Building and a laundry chute that made a great sliding board in the turret of Taylor Building
• The College of William and Mary charged 2 cents per day for overdue library books in 1943
  
• Etcetera

I said it was a tiny list because, as you can imagine, this is just the beginning. Thankfully I have most of this info within reach. It's mostly a matter of choosing the best quote to back up my story. That can take awhile and I find myself reading whole chapters again or going back to the library for a book that I actually returned.

Have I mentioned this is tedious? But honestly, one part of me loves this task. It's so validating. It makes the story feel solid. I have the same excitement bubbling up in me that I felt when I began researching and feeling the story emerge. It's hard to sleep at this stage because I have this sense of something really important happening.

I hope my editor feels it when she reads the manuscript. And I sure hope she eats up those footnotes!

ON THE BANKS OF BUCK CREEK: CPS Camp # 19

Hubby and I went looking.

I thought we'd find what we were searching for beyond this barrier - up that path. It was a lovely hike in spite of gnats and stinging nettles. It led to the top of the mountain.I wanted it to take me to an old CCC turned CPS camp. (That's Civilian Conservation Corp turned Civilian Public Service). It did not. So we went back to the only other possible spot.
And discovered that this pile of rocks was not a pillar for a building but rather, someone had stacked them on a pallet to haul them away.
No wonder I did not find the large amounts of rocks I expected from the photos I'd seen! Someone has taken them.
We did find old road beds here. And saw that the power lines stopped at this site. Which seemed to indicate we'd found our spot.

Still, I wanted to find an artifact to help me know that this was the place. My hubby reached down and picked up this.
Yes, there were a few broken boards here. Not much considering the old dormitories, dininghalls, etc that used to grace this place.

Photo: Compliments of Guilford College Friends Historical Collection.

We also found this. A boxwood hidden in the undergrowth - definitely a sign that someone cared about this place at one time.

Not much else to go on.

I love old buildings. They make my heart beat faster. Or stand absolutely stock still. I wish I could've seen the foundations, at least.

But, in spite of what was missing, there were things I found - the damp mossy mountain smell that my character awoke to each morning. The stifling heat of a June day and the cooling restorative power of Buck Creek. The ever-present sound of water running over rocks, a huge moss-covered boulder where my character may have sat to ponder his choices.
I found a few broken boards and a plethora of weeds to remind me why I need to tell the story of idealistic young men who lived here. Perhaps some reader will discover that his great-grandfather served time here during World War II. The grandfather may not have chosen this place but he knew he could not choose war either.

He was a conscientious objector who wanted to do work of national importance. So the government gave him forestry work. It was tedious and backbreaking. He may have stuck it out or he might have asked for a more meaningful assignment. Perhaps he volunteered instead to be a human guinea pig for medical experiments. Or to fight forest fires in Montana. Or to work in a Virginia mental hospital.

But first he lived here (or in one of 150 other CPS camps) with like-minded individuals from various backgrounds. Here in this silent spot beside a gurgling stream he made his quiet stand against war.

MY ANNIVERSARY: WIP

Scene from Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, Harrisonburg, VA

One year ago today, I visited the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society to begin research on my work-in-progress. I was immediately overwhelmed with all the material on my subject. (I never allow enough time in archives!) After some initial panic, I tried to break things down into a manageable plan.

• First, I familiarized myself with the materials
• Then, I made a list of books I could purchase to read at my leisure
• Photocopied bibliographies (I love bibliographies!)
• Copied some particularly compelling stories
• Made note of experts I could interview
• Read journal/diary entries to get a feel for emotional aspects of this piece of history

I've been researching off and on all year. I bought quite a few titles, met some amazing experts, and chose a setting for my story. Turns out the setting means that my story is largely a Quaker history. So, of course, there have been visits to Quaker archives since then.

I haven't given up on the Mennonites however. As you can see in the poster below, Mennonites offer some potentially complex characters. So at this point, I think my protagonist will be a Menno who finds himself in a Quaker-run Civilian Public Service camp.

I'm sure I can find some conflict in the midst of all those peace-loving people!

Scene from Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center