NaNoWriMo Novel “finished!”
I reached the 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month within the 1st and 30th of November, but my novel was far from being over.
Now, I’ve reached 77,000 words and can say the story is all wrapped up nice and tight and actually “finished.” Thank you everyone who encouraged me along the way. It is still weird to think I finished a novel that I love after only two months!
Watch for more news and updates about the manuscript, “A Long Way from Home.” Check out the excerpt in the “My Books” section.
Read MoreResearch Notes: 40s Fashion
Is there anything classier than 1940s fashion? Not in my opinion. The hats, the gloves, the wavy hair…This style became iconic of the war years on the homefront.
The Roaring 20s were all about the flapper dresses and the 30s saw an emergence of new materials (rayon) and styles. But with the outbreak of the war in 39, the trends moved toward simplicity, practicality and economy.
Women took on a new role after 1941 when the men of America’s workforce shipped overseas to fight the Axis powers. The iconic “Rosie the Riveter” spurred the image of the working woman.
(Side note: Unlike America, Germany’s culture did not approve of women working outside the home, which hampered manufacturing in Germany to where they couldn’t produce enough weapons, tanks, planes and ships to meet the need. Germany brought in millions of slave laborers from the nations they had conquered. But by then, it was really too late to catch up to the surging American War Machine.)
Cosmetics and appearance took a turn in the 30s and 40s as women imitated their favorite Hollywood stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Gretta Garbo and Mae West. Women were bleaching their hair at home with peroxide to get the Jean Harlow look.
Researching details like the clothing and styles of the time period are as important as knowing the difference between “Defense Bonds” and “War Bonds.” (Trick question: War Bonds were called Defense Bonds prior to America joining the war.) Novels create an atmosphere for the reader, and as historical fiction, must be true to the period.
There is always so much to learn and absorb, whether it is through library books, documentaries or web searches. Research, research, research…then write, write, write.
Research Tip:
If you like the movies of the 30s and 40s, here’s a fun Web site of “Movie Maidens.” The true gold mine of information, as always, is your local library. Have fun exploring the past!
The technology of today…
I normally don’t do this: I prefer to look at the positives in life and keep this blog writing and history-oriented. But today I need to complain. Just a little.
I spent the entire weekend trying to get my wireless internet back online. There was nothing wrong with my actual internet connection, just the wireless router, which was just more than a year old. So, I call the company’s tech support line, but since it was past the one year warranty, they wouldn’t help me. After seeking help from friends and more tech-savvy people than I, I had done all the troubleshooting I could possibly do.
So, I went and bought another. At the sales associate’s insistence, I purchased the same brand because it was “the best.” Flash forward another several hours later of installing, re-installing and hours spent on the phone with their tech support…it still wouldn’t work. I return that brand and go with another.
Zoom forward another half a day and I finally get it installed. Then, I pop open the internet and it takes a good minute to download a page…And this was the “faster” router! Another half hour with their tech support and we get it figured out.
I’m not completely technologically incompetent compared to some. I have a fairly good understanding of how things all work, and I do my homework on these products. Still, it was a mess of a weekend thanks to this debacle. It all worked out, and now the internet is running smoothly, and I now know much, much more about wireless routers.
To wrap up my whining, I wanted to boil this all down to my lesson learned. Technology is something we vastly take for granted. Until the microwave dies, the washing machine dies, or the wireless router dies, we don’t really know how much easier that gadget makes our lives.
I think this is one reason I love historical fiction so much: life was simpler back then. No internet, no 200+channels, no cell phones or even smart phones. Life moved at a slower pace, without such devices demanding our attention. The few nights where I didn’t have internet access were actually the most peaceful I’ve had in a long, long time. I was able to just listen to music and write without the distraction of Facebook or e-mails.
I’m eternally grateful for how far we’ve come, technologically speaking. I enjoy connecting with old friends through Facebook and my family via e-mail. I will still always prefer a face-to-face meeting to an e-mail, a phone call to a text message. I guess I’m just old-fashioned in that sense.
My advice: turn off your computers, TVs, cell phones for a night and just enjoy the peace and quiet. 
I can’t rave enough…
Shameless free advertisement for History Channel here. The recent WWII in HD special, a 10-hour series of full-color, restored WWII footage, was simply amazing. The series follows the lives of 12 men and women who served in the 4 years of America’s involvement. Everything is beautfiully interwoven and a master upon master of story telling.
Bert Stiles, B-17 pilot
I believe as writers we can learn from films and movies because in today’s world, that sort of story telling is what readers expect. This series used each soldier, pilot, nurse and seaman’s story to illustrate the major battles of the war, from Patton’s campaign in North Africa to Iwo Jima and D-Day.
Aside from the beautiful footage, narrators read diaries of the soldier’s own words. How real it all becomes when you hear the emotion through such brave men and women.
One of my favorite stories is of the B-17 pilot, Bert Stiles. He dreamed of flying the P-51 Mustang fighter and hated each of his bomber missions. As an aspiring novelist, he wrote down his experiences into several stories that were published. Of the hundreds of B-17 raids over Berlin, many planes never returned. At one point, he wrote, “If I ever have to return to that bomber, I’m going to beat my brains against the instrument panel.” He persevered and after completing his required missions with the B-17s, he had the chance to go home. Instead, he remained in Britain and was able to finally fly the coveted P-51. On his first dogfight with German Luftwaffe, he made his first kill. You’ll have to watch the series to hear the rest of his story.
Nurse June Wandrey
Another story that stuck with me was of Nurse June Wandrey, a fiercely patriotic woman who enlisted right after war was declared. She served in North Africa and up through the invasion of Sicily, France and the push into German. Her memoirs were published in “Bedpan Commando: The Story of a Combat Nurse During WW2.” She wrote with so much emotion, with such poignancy.
“What do you do, when you have no more tears?”
She felt for every wounded soldier and sometimes all she could offer was a smile. She was part of the medical teams that tended to concentration camp survivors, where she was unprepared for the horrors and loss of life. Still, her bravery and service never wavered.
The other 10 stories are equally moving. These are the stories we all need to hear. The stories we can never forget.
I encourage you to check out this series. It is not yet available on DVD, but you can be sure I’ve got my name on the list! It is available through Historychannel.com or on Amazon for around $20. As a warning, many of the images are quite graphic, but thus are the realities of the war that changed the world.
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