EXPLORING THE BULLY

COMFORT (sequel to BLUE) has a bully.  Rob Walker is not a  huge part of the story but he manages to make Ann Fay's life with a disability extra challenging. What we don't see in COMFORT are the factors that influence Rob's mean behavior.

While writing AIM, my forthcoming prequel to BLUE, I had the opportunity to explore Rob's life. His older brother, Dudley is our window into Rob's world.  Dudley's behavior toward protagonist, Junior Bledsoe is bullying at times. And even Junior acts thoughtlessly and with a mean spirit a time or two in the story.

What Junior doesn't expect, is that he and Dudley have more in common than either of them imagined. And that explains a lot about Rob, too. As it turns out, a mean-spirit can pass right on down a family line.  Which is certainly not to say that meanness is in our genes - but that our family circumstances can make us hard.

Every bully begins life as an innocent babe.  Then something happens. Or a series of somethings. That's what I wanted to explore in AIM - when hard things happen, do they have to make us hard? Or can we choose to be positively shaped by them? Junior Bledsoe finds himself faced with these questions. 

For more on bullies and literature, check out the latest issue of Talking Story.

AIM will be released Oct. 4, 2016 but you can pre-order it now!

VETERANS, JOBS, AND A BIT OF COMFORT

Post war adjustment is a theme in my book, COMFORT.  So when I met Debra Wallin, I felt an automatic connection to her passion for the well being of returned veterans. 

And since adjustment to the work force is also a theme in my book I was thrilled to know that Deb is involved with vets returning to the workplace. Mostly I just love that Deb loves vets!

Deb is on the Advisory Board of the National Diversity Council of the Carolinas, which is sponsoring the following event for female veterans.

 Boots To Suits
 (Empowering Female Veterans' Transition Into The Workforce)

October 7, 2013 
8:00am - 1:30pm
Omni Hotel - Charlotte, NC

Registration $25 for veterans / $50 for recruiters
(Some Free Tickets Available for Vets)

There will be a keynote speaker, lunch, and a time for veterans and recruiters to make contacts and network.

A workshop for veterans will cover:

• application process for job search
• building alliances, 
• disabilities, 
• review of available resources

A concurrent workshop for employee recruiters will cover

• military culture
• why hire veterans
• transition support
• best practices 

Veteran organizations and resource groups will participate in the event by having a table displaying information and handouts from their organizations.  At least 17 organizations will attend. 

If you know a female veteran who would benefit from this program, please share this with her.

Paperback Pair Contest: lst Winner

Remember the Paperback Pair Contest?    

(If not, see sidebar and sign up.  

There are 2 more chances to win - 

once in November and again in December.)

 

The time has come to pull a winner.   So into the little blue skillet goes a pile of names. 

One of my sweet German friends is here to visit so I asked her to do the honors. She is completely trustworthy as you can see from this face.

 Can you read that name?

The winner is Mary Stott!  Congratulations Mary!  Send an address to moyergirl at charter dot net and I will send you the Paperback Pair just as soon as I get my copies.  (I'm fairly certain that will be mid-October.)  

Danke schön, dear Emma!

EXPLORING POST-WAR TRAUMA: Through Fiction and Documentary

Comfort, deals with among other things, post war trauma.  I was motivated to explore this topic because I have friends whose fathers appeared to exhibit PTSD symptoms after serving in WWII and the Korean War.  Of course post-war trauma wasn't exactly being diagnosed in those days.

And as you can see in this Frontline documentary, The Wounded Platoon, it still doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

The documentary is over an hour and it's hard for me to sit and watch a movie at the computer so I canned tomatoes while I worked,  Perhaps this was also a distraction technique so that I didn't feel the pain too deeply.

I heard an extraordinary definition of PTSD while watching. A psychiatrist told an Iraqi veteran, "PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal situation."

Thank God he went on to say that war is abnormal!

NEW BOOK COVERS & OTHER GOOD STUFF

Remember these? 

Well, they're getting a new look!

And COMFORT is joining BLUE in paperback! (all this, in late September)

So, naturally, I'm celebrating!  Which means a contest, of course!  I'll give the paperback pair to one winner each month from October through December.   You or your friends may enter at any time!

Here's how you enter.

1.  Follow me. (Click on "Join This Site"  at right and follow instructions.  (If you already follow me, proceed to # 2.)

2.  Tell me you want the Paperback Pair.

3.  Sit back and wait for the announcement.  

No, wait!  Don't just sit back and wait!  Send your friends over here! 

So you might be asking, Does "Join this Site" mean I have to read it?  Of course not!  But it'll help me look good and in this business it's all about perceptions, right? Or deceptions maybe...

I will try to hook you into reading.  And that's no lie.  At least, come back to see if you won!

FDR Cottage in Warm Springs, GA Burns

On Tuesday, we lost a vital piece of history.  McCarthy Cottage at the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilition burned - possibly as the result of an electrical storm. (Please note that nearby the Little White House is still standing!)

In 1924, Franklin D. Roosevelt went to Warm Springs GA (they called it Bullochville) in those days, seeking a cure for the paralysis caused by polio.  What he found was a dilapidated resort, a simple way of life, and plenty of southern hospitality.

When this newspaper article in The Atlanta Journal hit the wires, polios from around the country began coming to Warm Springs.  Roosevelt's dream of a rehabiliation center became a reality much sooner than he imagined. 

The dilapidated resort consisted of pools fed by warm mineral water, various cottages, and a large victorian hotel known as Meriwether Inn.  Roosevelt viewed the inn as a firetrap.  In 1927 McCarthy cottage was built and he stayed there instead. McCarthy Cottage became his Georgia home until he built the Little White House in 1932.

Roosevelt loved the resort so much that he bought it and changed it's entire mission.  It would no longer be a resort but rather a place for children and adults affected by polio to find comraderie, to rehabilitate, and to get their lives back.

That's what Ann Fay Honeycutt did in COMFORT, the sequel to BLUE. 

As a fictional character, Ann Fay represents the many real individuals whose lives were changed at Warm Springs. They arrived in various stages of despair and hope and found others who shared their pain.  They discovered friends, lovers, and role models. They followed Roosevelt's example and went on to live productive lives. 

One small and yet very important piece of history burned to the ground this week but no fire can destroy the happy results of Roosevelt's dreaming and his gift to children and adults who had had polio.

You can view an image of McCarthy Cottage at Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative and read about the fire here.

SOUTHEASTERN LITERARY TOURISM INITIATIVE

As a child I loved when books included maps of the story's setting in the endpapers. Come to think of it, I still do. I also love actually seeing the place where a story is set. Even if the story is fictional.

Patrick Brian Miller does too. So much so, that he created a website for the purpose of highlighting the connection between novels and setting. He calls his site the  Southeastern Literary Tourism Initiative   (SELTI) and uses each entry to focus on a particular book, the author, and especially the area where the book is set.

When Patrick selects a book to feature on his site, he does what he hopes you will do with that book. He reads it, travels to the place where the story happens and explores! Then he goes home and plots his blog post. His meaty entries include an excerpt from the book, background info, Author Links, and a Tourism Guide with links to all sorts of sightseeing opportunities!

One of the most intriguing things about Patrick is his passion for literary tourism and the fact that he maintains contact with the authors he features. Every so often I get a status update to let me know how many visitors are clicking onto the COMFORT feature he created back in October 2010.  He always gives me an analysis of how visitors are finding the feature and how it compares with other features on SELTI.

Patrick is intrigued with the dynamism that can happen when people make that connection between literature and story and clearly he is has a vision for how technology can make that difference.  A few months ago he released his own novel BLIND FATE on Kindle. 

Blind Fate is the first tourism novel in the world with an interactive travel guide inside the book. It has live links in the book that take readers instantly to the websites of the real tourism places found in the story. You can read an excerpt of Blind Fate here! 

Email Patrick at literarytourism@aol.com and read more about SELTI here.

Also, please browse the SELTI features for online tourism guides to many Southern books.

A CANDID PHOTO TO MAKE MY DAY!

Fan mail is always sweet but when it comes with a candid shot of a reader with book in hand?  

Delectable!

This reader is Sydney who I've never met.  But obviously, I love her!

In the words of her mom:

"Sydney is 10 years old and in the 4th grade. She was introduced to BLUE by her 3rd grade teacher. She just finished reading the book for the third time and is very excited about starting the sequel, COMFORT."

Thank you, Sydney's mom for sharing that!  Some days authors feel as if their stories are no longer being read.  A little proof to the contrary goes a really long way.

POST WAR TRAUMA & COMFORT

War trauma seemed to be a recurring theme of Veteran's Day this year. It's also a theme in COMFORT, the sequel to BLUE.  So in keeping with Veteran's Day I'm posting the prologue.

 It was my friends and neighbors and the singing of Imogene’s people that got me through that first year after the war.

 But to tell you the truth,  I never thought it would be a matter of just getting through.

For some reason, I thought that when my daddy come home from fighting, my world would be put back right again.

Not perfect right, of course, on account of Bobby dying of polio while Daddy was gone. And me catching it too and coming home from the hospital on crutches.

Still, I thought Daddy and me both coming home would be like putting the last piece in a puzzle and sitting
back to enjoy the pretty picture.

But hard as I tried, I couldn’t make things be the way I
wanted them with Daddy.

I learned quick enough that when someone drops a bomb in one small place on this planet, it shatters the
whole universe.

And not just for a little while either.
The breaking goes on forever...

It wasn't until after the Vietnam War, that PTSD began to get the attention it deserved.  But within COMFORT, several WWII veterans find their way together. With a little help from Ann Fay Honeycutt.

POST WAR TRAUMA

Post war trauma is one of the major topics in COMFORT, the sequel to BLUE. Tomorrow I'll post the prologue.  But, for now, I want to call attention to a documentary on the subject.

Tonight on HBO at 9:00 you can see War Torn: 1861 - 2010 - about war related PTSD.

Trailer

THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA: (And how it might affect us)

Today is another of those terrible anniversaries.  Two in one week (first the capture of Anne Frank and now the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.) 

And, if August 6th comes, can August 9 and the bombing of Nagasaki be far behind?

Patrick Brian Miller who is reading Comfort in preparation for a literary tour of Warm Springs, GA wrote me with some feedback.  Among his statements was this.

"I was surprised when the father showed an immediate aversion to the nuclear attacks.

I understand that surprise.  I think most veterans of WWII and citizens, in general, would have reacted the way Ann Fay's twin sisters did. 

The two of them jumped up and held hands and danced around the kitchen like that.  They were a-whooping and a-hollering and I felt like doing the same thing--at least until I saw my daddy's face. 

And Daddy?  How did he react?

Daddy didn't say a word. He just stared at the glob of mayonnaise on his light bread. I noticed it quivering ever so slightly. But Daddy was so still, I wasn't even sure he was breathing...

He just sat there.  He didn't turn and hug me.  He didn't even squeeze Momma's hand.  Or move at all. Not on purpose, anyway. But then I felt him shaking.  The day was so warm and humid we were both damp with sweat and I was practically sticking right to him, but still, he was shivering.

It's true that one would expect a returned WWII vet to glory in the newscast of August 6, 1945. But I think, in Leroy Honeycutt I wanted to show another side of the soldier - the side that internalizes the horror of war not only for its effects on him and on his comrades but for the enemy and for humankind in general.

Leroy Honeycutt embodies the part of us that is able to see, not just our own pain, but that of others - even our perceived enemies.

At least I hope we have this in us. Especially in time of war.

MORE Q & A WITH MIDDLE SCHOOLERS FROM H.H. POOLE

Oneof these books is not about a disease.  Do you know which one?

1. Why do you write about diseases?

This is multiple choice. There could be more than one right answer. And no, you don’t want me to be your doctor.

A. I am a sick person.
B. I should have been a doctor.
C. I  probably have a fear of getting sick.
D. I am fascinated with the emotional aspects of illness and the way it changes people’s lives.

2. Who’s your favorite character in your books?

• Well, in every book, I’m always attached to my main characters.
• I think Imogene Wilfong in Blue is very cool.
• But I also happen to love Junior Bledsoe in Blue and especially in Comfort! He’s a very hot item you know. One of my readers sent me an email saying if her husband ever divorced her she was going to drive to North Carolina and track Junior Bledsoe down!

3. How did you get ideas for your stories?

There are so many fascinating hidden stories in history. When I'm working on one project I discover some story that grabs me by the heart and tries to drag me away with it. Usually I force myself to ignore it until I finish the project I’m on. But in the back of my brain a story begins to take shape and as quick as I can I go after it!

Example:  I was writing Vacation Bible School curriculum when I discovered Father Damien. I only needed a short story about leprosy for the curriculum.  But the research led me to more info and I wanted to do something longer with it. So I eventually wrote and published Healing Water, about a boy who is banished to Hawaii's leprosy settlement on the Kalaupapa Peninsula. He meets Father Damien there.

On the Kalaupapa Peninsula.

4. What was it like to go to Kalaupapa? 

I had to hike down a steep trail for a few miles. That was challenging. I had to hike back up. That was hard. The next day my legs hurt so badly I could barely walk.

Being there was cool but also a little bit frustrating because I wanted to roam freely and spend lots of time alone, getting to know the landscape and thinking about my story and my characters. But I had to stick to the guided tour and of course, there were other people around. I understand why people like me can’t just roam freely in this very private place but still, I wanted to.

DOES THIS WOMAN LOOK SCARY TO YOU?

(l. to r.) Me, Shirley Cunningham

Mrs. Cunningham was my language arts teacher in both 7th & 8th grade. She was one of those teachers who forced you to rise to a challenge. She taught innovatively. She graded strictly. And if you needed discipline, she did not shy away from it.

Mrs. Cunningham was not for messing around with.

But I've always loved this sort of teacher. And I especially love Mrs. Cunningham. After all, she told me I would be writer someday.

And now I am.

Today I will meet with her to get feedback on my work-in-progress. She's already warned me to wear my suit of armor.

I'm not really afraid of her. (not much, anyway) I learned a long time ago that a tough critic is a good thing! But I do so want to please Mrs. Cunningham. Back in middle grades I lived for her big red A at the top of my book reports. Because of her affirmation, I couldn't wait to do written assignments.

Something tells me she won't be using a red pen this time. But I do expect lots of constructive feedback. Mrs. Cunningham has read each of my other books after they were published but this will be the first in manuscript form. I hope it's not the last.

I'll let you know how it goes.

MOVIE GIVEAWAY CONTEST: Papa said,"We should never forget."

Papa said, "We should never forget." from David Druckenmiller on Vimeo.

Dr. Eric Groce is flying off to France. It's a research trip. And guess who's jealous!

Oui! C'est moi

Eric teaches Social Studies to Elementary Education majors at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. A few years ago, he bumped into my editor at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference. I wasn't there but I think Carolyn handed him a copy of BLUE and since then, he's made it required reading in his classes.

As Dr. Groce tells his students, "Historical fiction is a great complement to the textbook and nonfiction sources because it brings out the humanity in history."

I'm not unhappy about this attitude. Besides the BLUE and COMFORT sales he's generated, I've learned some things from Eric. Such as how to do research in a foreign land through an interpreter. (Little dream of mine). Eric has made six previous trips to France because of a piece of history that captured his heart.

It's a D-Day story from the French perspective. The story of what happened when 200 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne dropped in on the small village of Graignes, way off their target drop zone. And how the villagers aided the Allied forces in their liberation. Eric began searching for eye witnesses and discovered Marthe who, at the time, was 12 years old. He asked to interview her and Marthe said, "Sure, come to Normandy." …or something along those lines.

He went five times; conducting interviews, visiting museums, digitizing primary source documents, and eating plenty of good Norman cooking! The sixth trip was to make a short movie of the story. The 24 minute movie debuted on Georgia PBS stations last year and is shown daily at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, GA.

Eric is now fine tuning his fictional account of this event and preparing it for submission to an editor. Oh, to have a movie made of my book before it is published! (Or anytime, for that matter.)

Anyway, you can own this DVD. While Eric is in France researching his next book, a nonfiction account of children who lived during the occupation years (1940-1944), I'll be running a contest to give away a copy of Papa said, "We should never forget." It's a great story - so well done. It even won a Southeast Regional Emmy for photography. So drop in here with a comment - include the word "parachute" in your comment and I'll enter you into a drawing. Winner will be chosen on February 20.

There's just one condition.

We want this to reach students. So, if you're not a teacher or librarian please share it with someone who is. You don't have to GIVE it. Just loan it to a class who is studying WWII. And later, you can loan it again to another group. Spread this heartwarming story around because it brings out the humanity in history.

And speaking of humanity, I'll post Eric's pic here in a few days. Along with updates of his "right there, right now" research experience in France.

Last year, Randy Seldomridge, Language Arts teacher at Granite Falls Middle School contacted me about doing a school visit. Before my visit, the students read Blue, worked across the curriculum on Blue related projects, corresponded with me, and enjoyed a visit from Heather Deckelnick who coordinated our local Miracle of Hickory exhibit.

This year Team Tsunami is again reading Blue but now they've added Comfort to their reading list.

The incredible teachers of Team Tsunami wanted to take the whole 7th grade to Warm Springs, GA where a chunk of Comfort takes place. But they're doing the next best thing - packing up their families and heading to Warm Springs with video camera in hand. They leave today and are blogging about their research trip here. I for one, will be following their updates and look forward to seeing the movies they take for their students.

They did invite me to go and I would so love to be tagging along but my bags are actually packed for a visit to Gravelly Hill Middle School which I also visited last year. So you see, history does repeat itself.

And sometimes that's a good thing!

THANKSGIVING 101 (For the good things that I've got!)

Following in the tradition of my friend, Amy, I want to offer a non-traditional thanks.

Today I'm grateful for:

• my 70's era crockpot (because I seldom use it anyway so never mind that it isn't uber cool and doesn't conveniently separate for cleaning.)
  
• my hardwood floors that need refinishing (because they're not damp dirt floors and there are no holes in them!)
• the roof that needs to be replaced soon. (because it's not a tent in a refugee camp)
• for occasional backpain (because it reminds me to exercise and because in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing, really!)
  
• for midlist books (because although I don't have millions of readers, I have many who tell me how deeply touched they are by Ann Fay Honeycutt's story) (sequel too!)
  
• for a smaller royalty check than last time (because four years ago I was still dreaming of publication!)
• fewer speaking engagements (because although I miss the connections and the income, I have more time with my family!)
• for 1/3 of my family gathering today (because the rest are celebrating with their families in other places and anyway 100 plus people is a lot to fix turkey for!)
• that I'm only responsible for broccoli salad and other trivia (because when you're number 6 out of 8 siblings you don't have to be the leader if you don't want to! Thanks Kathleen, my first-born sibling for taking charge and cooking two turkeys!)

And of course, I am thankful for the usual yada, yada. But I don't want to sound trite - so trust me, I'm overwhelmed with God's goodness in my life even when I complain about things that really don't matter.

IF IT'S NANOWRIMO, CAN A NOVEL BE FAR BEHIND?

Tis the season for writers to crank out a novel in 4 short weeks - NaNoWri Mo, National Novel Writing Month.

I tried it last year. Never mind November was packed full of speaking engagements, copyedits for Comfort, and oh, yeah, Thanksgiving. I'd been asked to speak to a group of early college students who were participating in the NaNo event so I figured I should sign on too.

Since I knew there'd be days when I couldn't write at all, I didn't stress over the 50,000 word goal. I just decided to board the NaNo express and see what I could learn.

At this point, I should probably analyze the experience in a somewhat methodical fashion but that would be so unJoyce of me. So I will simply reflect.

Words were the "be all and end all" - several thousand a day; I'd put my fingers to the keyboard and tell them to fly. On one occasion, I opened one of my source books and wrote what I saw in the photographs - descriptions for the portraits of doctors and the hospital campus where my story takes place.

I described my characters' personalities, their interactions, the posters on their walls. I wrote scenes in which they fought, loved, and worried. But mostly I threw emotions and impressions onto the page. I wrote lots of disconnected scenes.

I kept thinking that, although I'd done a lot of research, I needed more info. And I needed time. Mostly I needed time!

IMHO, one cannot write a book without time. I need hours to reflect on the latest paragraphs I've written, weeks to unearth what I just realized I don't know yet, and weekends for research trips! I need whole months for unexpected subplots, quirks, and characters to emerge.

By the end of November, I did not have 50,000 words but I'd managed 42,000 which was not so bad considering the one missing ingredient - time.

Since then, I've had months in which the muses abandoned me entirely, weeks of exhilarating research, and days with fingers flying on my keyboard.

I finished my novel. I think. Mostly. Sort of.

My conclusions from last year's NaNoWriMo are:

• Busy people get things done!
• Having a goal and group accountability does motivate.
• It was a great way to figure out my character's backstory.
• The event is good for getting words on the page - but in the end they'll show up in an entirely different order.
• Sometimes a month can feel like a year!

I'm glad I rode the NaNoWriMo express! And given the necessary motivation, I might do it again some year. But my goal for this November is to get last year's novel fine-tuned and ready for submission.

NEW WEBSITE CELEBRATION BOOK GIVEAWAY

So my hubby pulled the names from the proverbial hat and voila! The winners of my new website free book contest are:

1. Set of my 4 books goes to Tina Davis (my facebook friend and all around wonder woman)

2. Nathan Clement's Picture book, Drive & my Healing Water go to Amy Butler Greenfield, author of A Perfect Red.

Congratulations Tina and Amy! And thanks to all for helping me and Nathan celebrate my new website design!

Find more of Nathan's Designs at Stickman Studio.

THANKFUL THURSDAY: Chautauqua Edition

Carol Baldwin with Carolyn Yoder at Chautauqua

My friend and colleague (we present writing workshops together) Carol Baldwin sent me this pic the other night! When I opened it I felt both joy and jealousy. She's with my editor, Carolyn Yoder. You'd think after working with Carolyn for 7 years (Has it really been that long?) I would have a decent picture of the two of us together. But I don't : (

Carol is at the Highlights Foundation Writer's Workshop at Chautauqua, NY. Every year this time, I sigh and long to be there. And dream of going again some day. But mostly I'm just grateful that I was able to go once. And that I met Carolyn Yoder there and realized she was the editor of my dreams. And that she might even like my writing.

Apparently she did. We've published 3 books together. (Blue, Healing Water, & Comfort)

I now think of my writing life as “pre-Chautauqua and after”. Before Chautauqua, I was stabbing in the dark, exploring countless writing opportunities but not owning any of them. At Chautauqua I discovered for sure that I am a history writer and that Carolyn Yoder could help me become a really good one!

That's why I'm going to her writing retreat in August. To get some intensive input on my work-in-progress. And while I'm there I'm going to get a good photo of the two of us together.

PS: Carol Baldwin is the author of TEACHING THE STORY: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8. Now she's writing her own historical novel!

COMFORT (In Midwest Book Review)

In an industry where books published by the New York houses get the lion's share of the attention, it's a comfort to know that Midwest Book Review is looking out for the small presses.

Their review of Comfort popped up on Amazon last week and I just now noticed. You can read it at the Midwest Book Review site.

Their reviews are brief introductions and sometimes an opinion as well. In this case the opinion offered was as follows.

"Comfort" is a moving story of one girl trying to overcome her ailments to better her life.

In other Comfort news, the American Library Association is meeting in Chicago as we speak. If I'm not mistaken, the Notable Children's Book Committee discussed my book a few days ago. With a little luck it remains on the table where it meets the competition of fall titles added to the list. (I'm not exactly sure how this all works but I did sit in on one book discussion a few years ago so I have a vague idea.)