History, Real Life, and Faith
My uncle had his DNA “done” recently and to the shock of my Sicilian relatives, we’re Greek. Oh, not 100% Greek. He’s only 53% Greek, but it shocked us, none the less. That means my generation is “only” 26.5% Greek, but that’s higher than the others for me. “You don’t really take that seriously, do you?” My sister-in-law asked. Of…
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Can you imagine what Paris was like on Armistice Day in 1918? Delirious with joy would work as a description! Sobered, but relieved. Triumphant yet mourning. It was all those things and more. That chapter, the final one, was the easiest and most fun to write in A Poppy in Remembrance. 11 in the morning on the 11th of November,…
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Why did six Christian authors write about WWI–the Great War? Bestselling novelists Carrie Turansky, Pepper Basham, Kate Breslin, J’Nell Ciesielski, Roseanna White, and Michelle Ule all released a WWI novel during 2018-2019. Why the Great War? For many reasons. Downton Abbey inspired several writers. Kate Breslin “My interest in WWI and the early 1900s was sparked a few years ago…
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I wrote Biddy’s biography because of A Poppy in Remembrance. As I’ve recounted elsewhere, I spent several days researching Biddy and Oswald Chambers’ lives. Two intense days focused on the World War I period at Wheaton College, brought the two alive. As I wrote the novel, I knew Oswald would influence the storyline. What I did not anticipate was how…
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Celebrating A Poppy in Remembrance on launch day. The word “launch” truly describes what it means for a book to be published for the first time. Just as with a child, you send your “baby” off into the world to meet it on her own terms. I spent years writing, studying and traveling to make A Poppy in Remembrance an…
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How does a writer make real characters come alive in a novel? Very carefully. You do not want to misrepresent a historic figure. It was an interesting exercise to write intelligently and honestly about several World War I people in A Poppy in Remembrance. My real characters included Mary Lee, Winston Churchill, T.E. Lawrence, Black Jack Pershing, Oswald and Biddy…
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