Friday Conversations With A Self-Publishing Writer 10/25/13

When talking with a neighbor today, I mentioned my appreciation for novels of “historical” fiction and how much I’ve learned from them.  She asked for an example, and I immediately thought of an exceptionally well-written book about how many Christians—living in Germany at the time Hitler was coming into power—“looked the other way” when facts were revealed about the treatment of their Jewish neighbors.  My neighbor then showed me a book she’d just read, a self-published novel titled Barbed Wire and Daisies by Carol Strazer.  “It is the story of a mother and her children trying to escape the hell of German occupation in WWII,” she said.  “And it’s so visually written that I could almost stumble over the rubble of destruction.”

She continued,  “The sadness I feel today when reading books like that goes beyond the horrific truth of those events because I become even more aware that we humans haven’t learned much from those experiences.”  Then she asked me if I’d read any of the “soldier blogs” that pepper the Internet.  I had to admit that I haven’t.  “These are the real life histories that need to be developed into books,” she stated.  “Only the truth, told from the perspective of these soldiers—these boots-on-the-ground—can make the world taste the dust storms and feel the pain of war.”  After that conversation, I have a lot more to think about.

Personally, as one of the millions of people who breathe in our FREEDOM every day because of the sacrifices of our military men and women—and their families—I can only agree with my friend.  I have no immediate knowledge of what it really feels like when bunk-mates don’t return from a mission.  I never stood to attention at a desert memorial service as my platoon saluted each of the lost soldiers whose kevlars had been placed on their weapons, their dog tags hanging below their helmets as they should have been hanging around their necks.

So, today, I have no specific writing advice to share with you; only the hope that someone who is reading this will begin writing the true stories of the real life histories they’ve lived.  Or, if you’re a writer and know one of our soldiers/warriors, maybe they could tell you their experiences and you could develop the book.  Our world is being forever changed by these events.  We need to know what has happened—from many perspectives—so that we have the real opportunity to make the future better and brighter.

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.