Thursday Thirteen - The Dark Side

 

This Thursday Thirteen covers a few of insights into the dark side. First to clarify, there are two dark sides.

1. The first dark side is non-fiction. Namely the articles I've written on the topics of American and military history, antiques and collectibles. The reason for the name is that (a) at the time journalists were looked down upon, (b) history was considered hidden in the fog of the past, and (c) writers of non-fiction were told they couldn't write fiction, and vice versa.
   
   
2. When I started writing, my published non-fiction paid more than fiction.
   
   

   

   Using archaeological techniques
   to discover history
   

3. Researching a history book is fun. The pictures are interesting as are the materials uncovered. A problem with researching non-fiction (and could also be a problem for fiction) is falling into a time sink and getting lost in the past.
   
   
4. Researching and writing non-fiction gives me an excuse to dress-up at military re-enactments.

   

   In civilian period clothes
   I could get close to the front
   lines to take pictures.
   

   
   
5. The most unusual greeting my press pass generated.  At an air show in Reading, Pennsylvania, I was met at the entrance gate by a uniformed soldier riding a vintage motorcycle who was there to "present my orders."
   
   
6. Coming from an aviation background, getting paid to attend air shows and watch talented pilots put their craft, both big and small, through their paces was a bonus.
   
   

   

   Although some members of the press laid on
   the grass verge alongside the runway for the best shots,
   I drew the line at being on the pilots side of the fence.
   
   

7. Did you know when a B-17 fires its engines, they give off a deafening roar and black smoke? Even the engines in smaller aircraft can cause a scene. At one event the pilot fired up the engine of his T-6 Texan Trainer in preparation of taking to the sky. The backlash started blowing the smaller planes of an acrobatic team out of line. The pilots scrambled to prevent their craft from crashing into each other or blowing onto the tarmac.
   
   

You are liable to get weird looks when you're riding in the back of a jeep while dressed in a vintage olive drab uniform. Especially when the jeep is part of a convoy of antique and vintage military vehicles.

What was probably my most unusual non-fiction moment was learning that a crowd of thousands of people can be silenced. What did it? A broadcast over the airfield's public address system of the original announcement of the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Even after the attendees realized it was a moment from the past, if you looked around at the audience rather than the PA speakers, you would see the majority of people rubbing their arms to remove the goosebumps. It should be noted that this event took place before 9-11-2001.

My mother-in-law sold my local histories with a very subtle technique. When walking around town she carried whatever of my books was the most recent release in her purse with the cover showing. No pushiness, just a quiet approach, but it was very effective. We used the same approach during the Memorial Day Parade. Dressed in colonial-era garb, we walked on opposite sides of the street carrying wicker baskets with the local history. More than a few were sold that day also.

The best signings were at the town street fair. Not only could you get cotton candy or some other snack of your choice, there was a built-in lure. When people walked over to the table to ask about the artifacts that were on display, it provided the perfect opening to talk about the books.

For many years I carried a favorite cartoon to every history book signing. In the first frame, the writer is interviewing the town old-timers. To a man they all said, "nothing happened around here." Then in the final frame when the book was published, these same gray-beards were bracing the writer asking why this or that event wasn't included.

I had called non-fiction the dark side, but there is another, specifically the dark fantasy, Imprisoned in Stone. Excerpts, blurbs and a free read of the first chapter can be found by clicking on the book's cover in the banner.

I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Thirteen and that you will come back again. If  intrigued, use the "Non-Fiction / Dark Side" pull-down menu for more information on the published histories, and of course, buy links.

~till next time, Helen



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