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



http://newthursday13.blogspot.com/

History ReWritten

A Note and an Explanation: I really had nothing to write on the next several weeks of challenge topics. So I'll be going off topic. This post was originally written to protest the proposed desecration of Civil War battlefields. It was revised and put out into the world as part of the 52-week challenge. However adding the #mfrwauthor tag couldn't be added without breaking the existing links, so it will be coming back in future posts. I could, however, add the linky lists without messing anything up so I did.

A prayer and the press of the return button and my latest novel, Windmaster Golem, flew into the publisher's hands. Normally I don't look for a new project for at least a few weeks to allow the brain to reset. Especially if it is the last book in a series because I need a little time to start separating from the characters and to grieve their loss. However I read a news article that literally stopped me dead in my tracks.

Those of you who know me, know that I am not political. I keep my views to myself. However, the historian part of my background can't remain silent on the latest attack on historical monuments. HR 7608 includes the provision to remove all Confederate "commemorative works," such as statues, monuments, sculptures, memorials, and plaques from Federal lands within 180 days of passage. Now it is up to the U.S. Senate to stop the immeasurable loss.  

Why do I call it a loss? After all it is just a statue or two somewhere? The bill applies to any and all places under the control of the National Park Service. The order does not distinguish between generic plaques that state "X happened here" and emotive works of art. The instruction to the National Park Service also does not differentiate between cemeteries or battlefields. This includes sites like Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania), Shiloh(Tennessee), Antietam (Maryland) Manassas, Fredericksburg, Appomattox and Petersburg (Virginia) and Chickamauga (Georgia) among others. One report has the removal of over 300 monuments, almost 1/4 of the statues, monuments, and memorials at Gettysburg alone.

How will this work into a storyline? I'm not sure yet. It could be a time travel where the trigger is the removal of a monument. I would probably base it on one of the statues or memorials at Gettysburg National Military Park. It has been a while since I walked the hallowed ground however the feeling remains with you. And a walk through an old cemetery will renew it.  Or maybe a time travel romance utilizing Gettysburg National Cemetery as the locale.

Image by Dan Urban from Pixabay

Or the setting could be a distant future where the monuments were removed, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was forgotten, and a handful of activists control what you see, read, or are allowed to buy.

The storyline that resonates the most considering the current state of the world would be a dark fantasy. One of the pictures for inspiration would be the five-figure sculpture group at Gettysburg’s North Carolina Memorial, a masterpiece that depicts the emotions of men facing a desperate attack. With each memorial moved, those who fought and died return to take their vengeance on those who disturbed their eternal rest.

I want to end this post with a thought from decorated combat veteran Elliott Ackerman. His words speaks to me amidst the increasing cry not to interpret, but to remove and destroy all historical monuments because the people or their time weren't perfect or for some other reason. 

“An area of our complex past that should be left untouched are battlefields... Blood consecrates a battlefield, and it is never the blood of only one side.”

~till next time. Helen

For my take on honor, duty, loyalty, click on the covers below for a free read of the short story Echoes From The Valley. Or check out the anthology, Stories From The Front Lines and the Homefront (available at Amazon and elsewhere.)

   

Echoes From The Valley -- When the valley echoes with the sound of a popular Civil War tune, two reenactors encounter a soldier from the past and learn the true meaning of duty--in this life and the one beyond. 

Hearth and Sand -- Twelve tales of those who served on the battle front, and the stories of the loved ones left behind who preserved the homefront.

The Home Front -- A Different Side of War

Programs by local experts are great ways to acquire information. A favorite tip of mine is to take a topic and look at it differently--to write about a different aspect.
 
Traditionally, Memorial Day and Veterans' Day programs cover an individual soldier, a unit, or a particular battle or conflict. To change the perspective, consider what “Total War” was like for those who were left behind in town when others went off to fight in distant parts of the world, to defend our way of life. All residents were involved in different ways from selling war bonds, to planting victory gardens, or even working in factories.

Letters connect home and hearth. They may be saved in a shoebox in the back of the closet, and  years, or even generations later, published in a book. One of my favorites is Upon the Tented Field: An Historical Account of the Civil War as Told by the Men Who Fought and Gave Their Lives.

Others letters including a father's advice to his son were included in Hearth and Sand: Stories from the Front Lines and the Homefront. (buy links.)

To all who served on the frontlines, thank you for your service.


~Till next time. Helen