WWII POW Submission Update

The hot tub soak was not only a "feel-good" experience, it generated a helpful idea, too. I sent a message off to my daily email group (a small, select group of children's writers who share everything - sometimes including the kitchen sink - with each other) and one of them came up with an ingenious solution to the problem of all the images I need to have editors see with my submission. (Thanks, Molly!)

Of course, this solution is long and laboring and torturous. It involves several major steps. The first one is the easy one - it will take a bit of time, but I know how to do it, so it's not technologically challenging. It's putting all the images in the proper order onto a website page with appropriate captions so editors can simply open the page and scan down them as they read the manuscript, easily matching up the scanned photos, letters, telegrams, etc. that go with each verse in my printed story.

P.S. Here's just one of the images I want editors to see with my submission. This is the second page (of seven) of the Mission Diary my dad kept before he was shot down in his P-38 fighter plane. This is about his very first mission! Talk about drama....

If you can't read it, here's what it says:

...and rolled out just in time. If it hadn't been for that break in the stuff I guess I'd have gone right on in. Scared me pretty badly. Watched gyro horizon like cat watches a mouse until I broke out of it a 11000 ft. Sweat was running down my nose and chin and my hands were dripping. Went on oxygen and called for homing. Homing didn't work. Belly tank ran dry switched to main tanks which were almost empty. Reserve tanks gauges read almost empty. Over strange country in ship almost out of gas sitting on top of 11000 ft. overcast is not fun. I figured I'd have to bail out. Wouldn't try to make a let down over strange terrain in that soup. That's what Clark tried to do. He hit a mountain. Suddenly found a hole. Dropped the bottom out and went through. Leveled out at 200 ft. just under overcast. Didn't recognize terrain. Getting dangerously low on fuel. spotted a large plowed field. Buzzed it and it looked O.K. So dropped my gear and landed. Nose wheel strut broke. Slid a few feet on the nose. Very little damage. Me unhurt.

NOTE: The next page tells how he walked back to camp, arriving 9+ hours after he'd taken off and how happy "the fellows" were to see him. They figured he'd hit a mountain trying to make a letdown. And this was just the first of 40 missions he flew before being shot down. It's also just one of the 103 images I have for this book. Can you see why it's so important for them to be included with the submission? They tell "the rest of the story," which my signature cryptic rhyme can't possibly tell alone.

And now... back to my original post....

The second step is the one that will be the "killer" step. That's learning how to make the web page restricted to only people with a password (which my agent will supply to the editors who have the submission in their hands.) I haven't a clue how to do this, and the instructions in my Dreamweaver CS4 The Missing Manual instruction book aren't clear at all on how to do this. Well, they are probably clear to someone that can understand them, but to a rank novice at this kind of procedure, they look a lot like instructions on how to do brain surgery on a website page to me! I know I'll persevere, (I'm an extremely stubborn person!) I just haven't a clue how many hours, days, weeks, and/or months it might take me to figure it out.

The third step may take me the rest of my life. That's uploading all 103 photos and the restricted website page onto the web so editors can see it. Again, I know HOW to do it, but it will take many, many hours to get it accomplished.

And here I thought I was through with this story until I heard that it had been sold.

{Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Rolls onto the floor in hysterics. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!}

Ah... the joys and frustrations of the writing life.

I wouldn't have it any other way, would you?

WWII POW goes out in the mail TOMORROW

After five long years my father's WWII POW story is finally ready to submit. It's under 450 words long which means I've written about 90 words per year, or 2 words per week. It's been revised and honed until every verse is "squeaky clean." They all roll effortlessly off the tongue, telling a compelling, gritty, real-life story with no extra words to weight it down. Each verse paints a vivid picture of a piece of the story. I have 103 images of letters, telegrams, photos, and other memorabilia that I've scanned into the computer (at 300 dpi) and turned into 72 dpi jpgs so they would fit easily onto one CD and be quick to open for editors. These images tell "the rest of the story" behind my 44 cryptic rhyme verses and they are numbered on the CD to go along with numbers above each verse in the story. It's been a massive effort from start to finish, but I'm SO excited about finally getting it into the mail to my agent. Now if she will just be as excited about it as I am....

Suddenly, I feel so... empty! Whatever will I work on next? Perhaps I should take the advice of a student at one of my first school visits. He wrote a letter to me after my presentation and said, "Why don't you write a book about cats? I bet THAT wouldn't get rejected!" :-)

POW WWII Interviews

What an exciting time I've had in the past month or so. My daughter found a website that had some email links to men who were in the same prison camp with my father during WWII. He was in Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany -- a camp for airmen who were prisoners of war. During the past few weeks I've had a chance to talk personally with a couple of the men, and have been in contact with a son and a niece of two others. What a treasure trove I found in these men for the picture book biography I'm doing of my dad's war experiences! Since my father died when I was only 13, I've never had a chance to ask him the kinds of questions that would make his story "come alive."

The wonders of this story are all of the incredible prime source materials he and my mother left behind -- many of which I never even knew existed until a couple of years ago! I have a huge box of letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, ration stamps, his flight logs, the diary he kept while in the prison camp, some very limited addition books that were printed just for the men and distributed only to the men, etc. Now, thanks to my contacts with some men (and/or men's relatives) that he was in the prison camp with, I've gotten a lot of additional information to make his story even more realistic and more compelling than it originally was when I first wrote it.

One of the men who is no longer alive left behind a memoir with specific details about an escape tunnel my father helped build. I've always known the tunnel was attempted (and that it failed) but until now I never knew how it was constructed, what happened to all the sand they dug out of it, or what made it fail. Now I do!

Both of the men I talked to told me details about the underground newspaper that was printed daily and circulated throughout the camp. The Germans were never able to silence the POW-WOW paper, although they were sure it existed and did their best to intercept the radio and the paper that was printed from the news gained from a hidden crystal radio set. Both of them also said the one thing they missed the most was food. They were very hungry all the time, especially towards the end of the war when Red Cross packages couldn't get to the camp because all the rail lines were being bombed to help keep the Germans from being able to easily transport supplies to their troops.

I can't tell you how exciting it has been to actually speak with men who were in the camp with my dad. I have yet to find one that remembered knowing him. Perhaps the next person I contact?

Perhaps....

Beyond the Basics of Historical Fiction Picture Books w/Verla Kay

Research:

• Accuracy of all facts is vitally important because children believe what they read in books.
• Thorough, careful research impresses editors - especially if you manage to use prime sources.
• ALL facts are important in a historical story, right down to what kinds of flowers grew there, what animals were prevalent, and how the people talked. Make sure if you have your main character saying, "Look at my brand new clothes," that there were "brand names" of clothing in stores back then - or that phrase wouldn't have existed yet! (I almost used that phrase in my Homespun Sarah book for the final line, until someone in my critique group mentioned they didn't have brand names of clothing back in the middle 1700's. I had to change the ending of my book.)
• All important facts should be backed up by at least three prime sources, and I recommend that two of them should be printed or oral resources - one can be from the internet.
• If some of your facts cannot be verified by three sources, you should either not use the facts in your story, or should mention in an author's note in the book that you couldn't confirm this fact, but it was so interesting, you decided to use it in your story anyway.
• Most importantly of all, BE ACCURATE in your facts. Be SURE that what you are saying is correct.

Printed Resources:

• Encyclopedias are good resources for basic ideas and facts such as historical dates, maps, etc. But you need to find much more information than what can be found in encyclopedias to impress an editor - or an informed reader.
• Older books often have very accurate information about the time period you are researching. Books, diaries, letters, etc. from the actual time period you are writing about are considered prime source materials as they are the next best thing to actually interviewing a person from that time period.
• Use current books to find prime source material, rather than for the information found in the books. The information in these books would be considered "second hand" information - information that someone else had compiled/researched. Often newer non-fiction books will have bibliographies in them that will lead you to prime source materials - the same places the authors of those books found their facts.
• When available, take time to go through old newspaper records. You will discover weather patterns, how lawful (or lawless) a community/town was, what people had to pay for everyday products, and what those products were, as well as events of the times that were important to the people who lived there.

Oral Histories:

• One of the best prime sources of information is to interview someone still alive that lived in the time period you are writing about. Of course, this is only possible when you are writing about fairly recent history. Be sure to take accurate notes, and always give the person interviewed a chance to read what you have written and make sure it's historically correct before sending it to an editor or agent.
• Interview historians and docents at historical societies and museums whenever possible, as they normally are sources of a wealth of information and can sometimes lead you to other, little-known sources of information that will give your story a special sparkle of originality and uniqueness that will catch an editor's eye.
• Search for depositions, diaries, letters, and affidavits of people from the past.

Internet Resources:

• There are many sites on the internet that contain oral histories, facts, just about anything you could ever want to know. Just be VERY careful when using internet resources, as anyone can put up a site with anything on it - accurate or highly inaccurate.
• Some sites are built by individual people or students who have done very shoddy research, and the information on them cannot be depended upon to be at all accurate.
• When using internet resources, look at everything, but only rely on and list official library and museum sites, etc. in your bibliography.
• Be careful of university sites, as some information on them may done by students - again, this may or may not be accurate information.
• Whenever using information from the internet, PRINT IT OUT, because if you need to refer back to it later, it might not be there. Sites are taken down, and content is changed on them all the time. Be sure to note the URL of the site on your printout, as well as the date you got the information from the site. File the printed pages in your research files after "backing it up" with two other sources of information.
• Use search engines to quickly find relevant sites. I think most people today are aware of (http://www.google.com), but another search engine I've found to be just as useful, if not even more so, for finding lots of relevant information fast is (http://www.webcrawler.com).

Bibliographies:

• A good, accurate bibliography is extremely important! It shows editors that you have "done your homework," that a story is going to be accurate, and that they won't have terrible headaches with fact-checking later on, when the book is well along its way to publication.
• List your sources in alphabetical order. List books, museums, letters, newspaper articles, interviews, everything that is a pertinent and informative source for the facts you have used in your story.
• List your sources, and gather your information for your bibliography AS YOU FIND THE FACTS! (Remember to find at least three sources for all important facts.) It's much easier to do the bibliography as you are researching, than to try to remember later all the sources you used for your facts.
• I like to copy pertinent pages from research books, along with the title and copyright pages of the books. (Yes, it's legal to copy pages from copyrighted books for your own research files. You just can't publish or copy them in any form.) I highlight the information I need right on the copied pages, staple them to the title and copyright page and put them in a file. Later - often years later - when the book is in the copy-editing stages of publication, and my editor calls or writes to me asking about certain facts in my book, I can go back to the file, and the needed information is right there - along with the source where I found it, in case I need to go back and locate that book or other item for more information for the publisher.
• Don’t bother to put frivolous sources in your bibliography, and go "lightly" on internet resources. Pick just the three most important sources of one fact to put in your bibliography, and leave out the rest. At least one of the three sources for each fact should be a "prime source."

Working with an Editor:

• Be accurate in your facts. Expect to have to verify and confirm every fact in your story - no matter how minor.
• Ask your editor if you can see illustrator drawings at each stage of the process to check them for historical accuracy. Then don't comment on ANYTHING else (or you may never get to see any more!)
• If your illustrator has been inaccurate in his/her drawings, be tactful when mentioning it to your editor.
• You may to have to rewrite and change facts to match something an illustrator has drawn.
• If you try to always accommodate editorial requests with a professional, cooperative attitude and respond as quickly as possible, you may discover you have an editor that wants to work with you again and again.

Don't ever rush non-fiction. Take the time it needs to get it completely right and you will have a "winner" when you are done. Some manuscripts can be done in a matter of weeks or months, but many will take a year or sometimes many years before you have all the facts and a story that is truly wonderful. It's very rewarding to see something you have worked hard on get published, and non-fiction is just as satisfying -- and possibly even more so than fiction because you not only have written a great manuscript, but you also spent a lot of time researching it to make sure all your facts are correct. So... enjoy your next non-fiction project. May it turn out as wonderful on paper as it is in your mind. :-)

Ten Writing Tips - Part Three by Verla Kay

9.   Write. Write. Write. Unless you are writing, and writing a lot, you won’t improve, you won’t complete stories, and you won’t have anything to submit. To be published, it’s necessary to submit stories. (Oh, yes, I’m sure there will be the occasional person who happens to be talking to an editor in the grocery store line and gets published without ever first submitting a story, but that’s going to be a very, very rare occurrence and you might as well wish for lightning to strike you as to expect that to happen to you!) So submitting stories is key to getting published, and unless you are writing stories, you won’t have any to submit. Ask any established writer if they thought when they first started writing that their writing was wonderful and they will probably tell you, “Yes!” Then ask them if they look back now at that same writing, have they improved since then? Is their writing better now than it was when they started, and most likely, they will answer, “Yes!” No matter how well you write now, you can improve with practice and experience. So write and revise what you have written. Write often and write lots for success.

10.  Never give up. If you believe in yourself, if you are writing and learning your craft and the business of writing for children, if you are working hard to become a published author, then NEVER GIVE UP. It’s not necessarily the best writer who gets published – it’s the writer who never stopped writing, revising, and submitting that eventually perseveres. So if you truly want to be published, don’t quit. But don’t continue submitting stories if they are getting form rejections. You don’t want to flood editors with work that isn’t ready yet to be published. Instead, each time a story comes back with a form rejection, revise it to make it better, so the next time it goes out it is either accepted or gets a “personal” rejection. (That’s when an editor writes a personal note with the rejection – or better yet, sends a letter obviously written only to you about your specific story.) Success comes to those who continually improve their craft, learn the business end of writing for children, and write, revise, write, revise, then write and revise once again before sending their work to publishers. May your future hold much success, and when it does, don’t forget to “pass along” the joys and experience you have learned to someone else.  What goes around comes around, and helping others find the joys of writing for children is one of the most satisfying joys ever!

Happy Writing!

 

 

Ten Writing Tips-Part Two by Verla Kay

6.   Revise. One of the best ways to improve a story is to share it with other children’s writers. Find or start a critique group. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on line or in person, but it does matter who is in it. Try to find people who love the same kind of writing you do. Make sure they are people who want to write for children, too, as there’s a vast difference in writing for children and writing for adults. The differences are not only in the content, but also in how stories are structured and what “rules” make the stories work. Because of the major differences between good writing for children and good writing for adults, that is why it’s best (at least at first) to share your stories with other people who are also writing for children.  Then spend time revising your stories. Sometimes, a story comes out right the first time it’s written, but more often than not, a little consideration on your part can make that good story even better. The first idea you have for a story is probably a pretty “ordinary” idea. Most likely many other writers have thought of the same thing. To make your story the strongest it can be, play the “What if?” game with it. What if your main character got mad at her best friend? What would happen then? What if the little girl lost her favorite pet? What would happen then? What if her whole world suddenly shifted to another time dimension? What would happen then? Taking a great idea and playing “What If?” with it can turn a good story into a superbly fantastic ready-to-be-published one, and revision is the key ingredient. Even if you think your story is perfect just the way it is, make a new copy of it and revise it. If the first version was better, you can revert to it easily enough. But more often than not, your revised story will be stronger and better.

7.   Perfect your stories. A “good” story is not good enough. To be published in today’s market, your stories need to be perfect in every way. They need to have a strong story line, with a big problem for the main character. Right at the beginning of the story you should “hook” readers with this problem, drawing them into the story so they “have” to know how it will turn out for the main character. Everything the main character does to solve his problem should make things worse in the middle of the book. The end of the story needs to have a conclusion that will satisfy readers, leaving them with the feeling that this is the way this story just had to end. For older children, most anything goes, but for younger ones, endings need to leave children with a positive feeling. Even a sad ending should leave young children with hope that things will eventually get better, or that the main character will be able to cope with whatever has happened in the story.

8.  Learn about the business of publishing. It’s not enough to write a fantastic story – one that will captivate children and editors and leave them sighing for more. You need to know how to effectively market your stories once they are finished. It would be a very rare story from a new writer that would be published without ever being submitted to an editor! You need to learn not only how to format your stories on the written page to make them acceptable to editors, but also where and how to effectively submit them to give them the best chance at getting published. There are many good books that can help you learn the business end of writing for children. Even if you eventually get an agent, it’s good to have some business experience of your own. That way you will know that your agent is doing the best possible job for you. (Check out the Getting Started page of my website for suggestions on some books that I highly recommend for learning the craft, as well as the business end of publishing. http://www.verlakay.com/34getting_started.html)  

(Part three of Ten Writing Tips will be posted tomorrow. Enjoy!)

Ten Writing Tips by Verla Kay - Part 1

1.   Believe in yourself. Believe that what you are writing is worthy of being read. Believe that you can do this, that you can write and finish a story so compelling, so entertaining, so special, that editors and kids will love it and “have” to read it. People who believe in themselves don’t give up. They never stop learning, they never stop trying and they never quit. Writing for children is not a quick and easy way to make money or become famous. It’s a difficult and complex business. Like any new skill you want to learn, it can take time and effort to perfect. In order to succeed, you need to truly believe you can do what it takes to learn both the craft and the business of writing for children. You also need to believe -- sincerely and honestly and deeply believe -- that you can reach the goals you have set for yourself.

2.   Set goals. If you don’t have specific goals set, then you can’t possibly reach them! Remember that a goal must be something you can reach without anyone else’s help. You cannot set a goal to be published by a certain date, because you can’t control that – it takes an editor saying, “Yes,” to one of your stories to accomplish that. But you can set a goal to write and submit X number of stories in the next year, because that’s a goal you can reach, no matter what anyone else does. If you make enough productive goals for yourself, the publication of your stories will follow. Do the actions, believe in yourself, never give up, and success will eventually be yours.

3.   Learn your craft. Learn what makes a good story for kids then practice what you have learned. Try new things, new methods of writing, new plot structures. Stretch your writing skills. Examine carefully the books you read that you enjoy then try using the skills you learn from those books in your stories. Read “how to write for kids” books and apply what you learn from them to your stories. Never stop learning! Never stop stretching your writing skills!

4.   Study your genre. Read. Read. Read. Read current (not old classics!) books in the form you want to write. If you are writing for young adults, read the newest books out for those children today. If you are writing picture books in rhyme, read the latest picture books published that are written in rhyme. Especially examine books that are not written by “big-name” authors. Well-established authors can sometimes get things published that a new writer can’t, just because of their name. You want to know what writers like you – new writers who aren’t already entrenched in the business – are getting published. What is being published today in your area of expertise? What is lacking?

5.   Be unique. Find the “holes” in your genre and seek to fill them with your stories. Don’t necessarily follow the beaten path – instead, look for a different way. It can sometimes take longer to find a publisher willing to step outside the proven path, but when you do, your work will stand out as unique and special. Write something that no one else could have written. Remember Dr. Seuss and how he wrote something totally outside of the norm? It took many, many rejections before he found a publisher willing to take a chance on a writing style so very different from what everyone else was writing, but look where it eventually got him. His success is now legendary – and all because he dared to be different. Dare to be different.

(Watch for part 2 of this article... coming soon!)

Writing Tips: Who Wants to be a Children's Author?

Have you ever wondered why anyone would want to be a children’s author when adult authors make so much more money for advances?  For the most part, writers of adult literature also get much more “respect” in the adult community. I can't even count how many times I have been asked, "When are you going to write for adults?" 

I used to hem and haw and not know what to say to that question, but after a lot of soul-searching, I finally figured out the answer. When asked that question now, I simply respond, "When I can no longer write well enough for kids, then I'll start writing for adults."

Think about being an author for a moment.  For many, the very word, "author," conjures up the image of a romantic, prestigious, famous, eccentric, rich person, hiding away in a remote cabin somewhere, tapping out story after incredible story.  But the truth is, most children's authors are hard working, stubborn, persistent, sometimes eccentric, sometimes famous, frequently very underpaid, normal people just like anyone else you might meet on the street.  They live in ordinary houses, often full of kids and pets, and sometimes they even have a husband or wife – just like me. 

When people say, "Oh, you are so lucky to be published," I know that I am.  

When they say, "It must be wonderful to be a real author,"  I know that it is.  

But when they say, "Wow, you have had so much success so fast," my instant response is, “NOT SO!” 

I never set out to be an author.  I never wanted to write.  Actually, I hated writing as a child and never dreamed I would grow up to be a writer. As a teenager, I wrote many poems and stories and tucked them away in a folder, to be shown only to my very best of friends.  None of those poems were written for publication, and none would ever have seen anything but a form rejection had they been submitted to an editor.

It wasn't until I was in my 40's that the "writing bug" bit me.  A well-published journalist (Willa) would come to my laundromat each week and spend several hours washing, drying, and folding her clothes.  And we would talk.  I was fascinated by her.  A REAL person was a published writer?  It amazed me.  I was in total awe of her. 

The fact that Willa couldn't afford her own washing machine and had to come use my laundromat should have been a warning sign to me that I shouldn't go into this writing business for money, but I was too naive at the time to recognize this as a financial symptom of her career and too fascinated by her to care, even if I had.   And so every week we talked.

She asked to see some of my work, and I reluctantly dug up a few of my old stories and brought them to the laundromat for her to read.  She loved them and told me, "You should be a writer." 

After that, every week, I heard the same thing, over and over.  "You should be a writer."  

"You should be a writer."

The next year, we moved away and I opened a licensed daycare in my new home.  Every day I nurtured, loved, and read to six toddlers, and as I read to them, I kept hearing Willa's voice in my head, "You should be a writer. You should be a writer."

Then one day, I saw an ad in a Writer's Digest magazine.  It was from the Institute of Children's Literature (ICL) and it said, "We're looking for people to write children's books."  That correspondence course was the beginning of my writing career.  It was the best investment I ever made in my quest to become a published writer.  My first short story sold shortly after I finished my correspondence course with ICL. 

But selling books was more difficult.  

It took a mere two days to write the first draft of my first book, and two long years to revise it to perfection. Then it was another three and a half years before it found an editor willing to “take a chance” on this new, unknown writer and her "different" way of writing history in a rhyming style she dubbed "cryptic rhyme." 

If you are a slow writer, like I am, I highly recommend writing more than one book at a time.  If  I weren't working on several books at a time, I'd only be able to produce one book every two to five years, since it normally takes me that long to write each of my little 150 to 300 word picture books. 

There is an undeniable joy in writing.  The thrill of completing a story, of seeing your words printed out on a piece of paper or, better yet, printed in a magazine or book, defies description.  Writers of all genres can have this thrill.  But writing for children goes beyond this - it goes into a dimension all its own. 

Children are very passionate, and their enthusiasm and excitement spills over into their reactions to books they have read.  One of the greatest joys of writing for children is getting letters from them about your stories.

A few of my favorite comments from their letters about my school visits and  my books are as follows: 

•     "Thank you for coming to our school.  It was nice of you to bring your author friend.   Can you and your author friend come again?  If you can, bring your friend, too."  

(It seems that my "author friend," -- Linda Joy Singleton -- who didn't talk at all to the students, but just accompanied me, made a bigger hit with this student than I did.)

 •     "We probably all want you to come back to our school.  Well, at least, I do." 

(Who could possibly get a “big head” with a comment like this?)

•     "I loved the book of Gold Fever. If you had sent it to me, I would have published it right away."  

(Yay!  Now I know where to send my unsold manuscripts!)

•     "I hope you feel better about all those rejection letters."  

(So do I.  Children are really impressed when you show them a huge folder filled with rejections.  It’s a great dose of “reality” for them to realize that you didn’t necessarily “get it right” the first time.)

•     "I was wondering if you could write a book about cats.  I bet you wouldn't get any rejections on that."  

(Ah HA!  Now here’s a great writing tip - straight from the source.)

•     "Now do you like writing now that you are older?" 

  (Ha, ha, ha! I love this comment.)

The looks on children's faces as I stand in front of them and talk about my books is unforgettable.  They sometimes treat me as if I am a real celebrity.  Probably my most memorable moment of any of my school visits was when a 4th grade girl came up to me after my presentation and asked to shake my hand.  When she walked away, she held her hand up in the air with her other hand, and stared wide-eyed at it, softly chanting, “She touched me.  She touched me.”  I still get tears in my eyes thinking about her reaction.

Children don't seem to know or care what the truth is about authors - that we're just ordinary people who happen to have written something that got published.  To them, we are very special people and being an author and talking to children can have a lasting impact on them.  We - children’s authors - can make a real difference in their lives. We can show them that there's more jobs out there for them than working at a fast food chain or attending four to eight years of college in order to have a high-powered career. There are also creative jobs - like being an author. There are jobs, like writing, that ordinary people can do, with or without a college education.

The joys of writing for children is more wonderful than money, more lasting than duct tape and as heart-warming as holding a newborn baby. 

So why do I want to be a children's author?  Because it's the most wonderful, satisfying job I've ever had, that's why.  I highly recommend it to anyone who loves children and also loves to write.

WWII POW Excitement

My father was a prisoner of war in Barth, Germany during WWII. He flew P-38's and was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea in Italy. He was captured by the Italians, escaped and was recaptured by Germans a few months later and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I prison camp, along with several thousand other airmen.

He died when I was 13 years old, and it wasn't until after my mother died in 1973 that I discovered he had kept a diary, as well as many other memorandums from that time of his life. Two years ago, his story was augmented for me when I discovered one of my cousins had a large package of letters my father (and others) had written to his parents during his war years.

For several years now I've been working on a way to write his story for kids and it's finally nearly ready to submit to my agent. Hooray!  But then... last week my daughter found a website on the internet that had listed the names of the men in the different barracks and rooms in the prison camp... and some of the names had emails listed for them!  After sending out several emails, I've gotten three responses that I'm extremely excited about.

One was from a man whose father was in the same room with my dad. Although his father died a number of years ago, he left behind a wonderful memoir that tells in great detail about the escape tunnel I remember my father once mentioning that he had participated in that didn't succeed. How exciting it was for me to learn the details of this escape attempt after so many years!

The other two emails are from men who were in rooms near my father's. Neither of them remembers him personally, but both are willing to talk with me on the phone about their experiences. I plan to send them his photo first, as they might remember him by his face even if his name doesn't ring a bell after all these years.

Now I just have to have a list of things to ask them before I call them and I'm at a total loss. What should I ask? What would YOU, as a reader, want to know about his prison experience if you were reading this book for the first time? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I need to call the men right away, though, so please make your comments as soon as possible!

Thanks, Everyone.

Back Home

Hi, Folks,

I'm back home after a two week trip down to California to visit with friends and relatives and "share the juice" with them. (If you don't know what I'm talking about and want to find out, let me know how to contact you personally and I'll send you a private email.)

We had a wonderful trip and I ended up being very productive (writing-wise) during the many hours we spent in the car traveling. After months of agonizing over my WIP (current Work In Progress) I've finally realized what I need to do to get my father's WWII prisoner of war story ready to submit to my agent. Hooray! Now I just have to DO it. (Blinks twice, rolls eyes up in head and looks blankly around at the walls and ceiling of office....)

I'm still bouncing around in excitement at finding an email link on line that led me to the son of one of the men that was in my dad's same room (cellmate) in the German prison he was in after his capture during the war. This man gave me permission to use excerpts from his father's war memoirs and one of the things his father wrote about in detail was an escape tunnel my father participated in during that time. I remember my father mentioning it once when I was a little girl, but I never (until now, 50 years later!) knew any of the details of that escape attempt. Talk about feeling like you just struck a gold mine -- that's how I feel about finding this man. It's so exciting!

It's not easy coming back to everyday life after being on a two week trip, but I'm working on it. The laundry is done, I have some meat thawed for dinner tonight, and today we'll probably make a trip to town (an hour from us) to stock up on fresh groceries for the next week. My granddaughter and 7-month-old great grandson (Bryan) spent the night with us last night so we could all watch American Idol together. Bryan loved the music and bounced on my lap all the way through the entire hour. Now he's sitting on his Grandpapa's lap helping to play a video game. (We start them young around here.) If only he would quit throwing the keyboard off the desk into Grandpapa's lap, it might be easier on both of them. (And less painful for Grandpapa. LOL!)

I hope everyone is having a good day today. The sun is shining (although more rain is coming tomorrow) and my tomato and bell pepper seeds have turned into little one-inch tall sprouts in their greenhouse starter box. Life is good.