It's time! Time for the next book in our Stained Glass Legacy series to release. Regina Rudd Merrick is guesting on my blog today to talk about the memories and research done to write a book set in the time when she was a little girl. Do you think you could do the same? When I began writing Window of Peace, all I had was a story outline for the Stained Glass Legacy series, of which mine is second. Heather Greer’s Window of Opportunity is book one (1920s), mine is book 2 (1970), Amy’s Window of the Heart is book 3 (current day), and Erin Howard’s Window of Time is book 4(dystopian future). How hard could it be? I was alive in 1970. I remember it well. Tip #1. When you think something’s going to be easy, hold that thought. Yes, I was alive, but I wasn’t an adult in 1970, like my characters. I was six. Six years old. My PARENTS were in their 20’s! I started researching the time period. The clothes, I remembered. I’d just been going through old photos of my family, so that wasn’t hard. The cars? My dad and husband are car lovers and can point out minute differences in model years in certain cars. Dad could identify the 1960s and 70s, Todd the 1970s and 80s. Actually, the truck MC’s grandfather drives was my grandfather’s truck – a pink International Harvester pickup. I had to fudge the year because I didn’t know what model it was. The last car in the story is a Galaxy 500—my husband’s dream car when he was a child. (His pedal Fire-Chief car was that model!) It was the car Sherrif Andy Taylor drove in The Andy Griffith Show. But I was writing about young adults in 1970. Adults who had endured war, hardship, and all the trauma that goes with it. It was tough. To research, I put out queries to my Facebook friends. When I asked what Veteran’s Administration healthcare was like for returning Vietnam veterans, the answer was, “Suck it up, Buttercup.” Wow. My female lead is a veterinarian. Not impossible at that time, but there was still the idea that a woman should relinquish a job that a returning veteran needed. My character, Nancy Jean Baker, had endured abuse at the hands of her father and a family friend, which could have either crushed her or made her a force to be reckoned with. I chose the latter. She was determined. She left home and accelerated her education. She could outperform any male veterinary student at Auburn University. It was hard, reading some of the accounts of men my father’s age who took on and suffered from the ravages of war. They faced these things because their country called them. My main character was a K9 handler, and I found out that at this time, there were over 5,000 dogs in service in Vietnam, and the vast majority were considered “surplus equipment” at the end of the war. They saved countless lives, both military and civilian, but they didn’t get to come home. Most were either euthanized or left behind to fend for themselves. I can’t imagine having worked with a dog, depending on it for your very life, and having to abandon it. What do you think? How hard would it be for you to have to research the years you grew up in for a book? Ready for the next book in our Quadrilogy? Regina's book is on pre-order through today (save a $1 on kindle if you order it before it releases tomorrow). And feel free to click the picture below to be taken to the first three chapters for a sneak peek. ;) Window of Peace Before being drafted, U.S. Army Lieutenant K9 Handler Michael Connor (MC) Dunne led charmed life. He had a plan. He would finish veterinary school, get married, and take over the local animal clinic. Enter the Vietnam War. When MC arrives, injured, back in Park Haven, Tennessee, there’s a new vet in town, Nancy Jean Baker, hired when the local veterinarian suffered a heart attack. So much for his plan. Violent flashbacks and nightmares pull him away from his faith and turn him into a hermit, fearing that he will hurt those he loves. His safe place is the family farm, working on the old cabin and chapel that his great-uncle built in the early 1900s. He assists his grandfather in repairs to the buildings and the stained-glass window that is a family treasure from Ireland. Regina Rudd Merrick is a multi-published author, church musician, wife, mother, former librarian, lover of all things fun, beachy, and chocolate, and grateful follower of Jesus Christ. Married to her husband of nearly 40 years, she is the mother of two grown daughters, and lives in the small town of Marion, KY. Connect with Regina on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or on her website at https://www.reginaruddmerrick.com .
3 Comments
4/17/2023 07:45:23 am
Thanks for hosting me today, Amy! I’d love to give away a free ebook copy of Window of Peace, so anyone who comments, be sure to say if you want to be in the drawing!
Reply
Donna Kay Duffy
4/17/2023 06:40:30 pm
I have been wondering
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
Categories
All
Authors I Love to Read (in no particular order)
Archives
April 2024
|