GUEST World War II Writer LIZ TOLSMA

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Gail

My guest today is Liz Tolsma, author of Remember the Lilies and the other works listed at the end of this interview.

Liz, how did you start writing and what has kept you writing?

I’ve always loved to make up little stories. My fifth grade teacher had us do a lot of creative writing. I remember how much fun it was to write a tall tale because I could be as creative as I wanted. She told me that she hoped to see me as a published authoress one day. That sparked the dream in me. I veered off on other paths for a while, but one day I decided that I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and wish I would have at least tried to follow my dream.

Tell us a little bit about Remember the Lilies.

Interred by the Japanese, missionary Irene Reynolds comes across a mysterious note while working at the censor’s office. She memorizes the parts she must black out and delivers it to wealthy nightclub owner Rand Sterling. Before she knows what’s happening, she’s drawn into a web of secrets and danger.

Rand Sterling wants nothing more than to reopen his nightclubs once the war ends. But slimy Frank Covey wants his hand in the till—and has news that could threaten Rand’s reputation if it became public. More importantly, beautiful and intriguing Irene Reynolds cannot discover this information if he expects to persuade her to become his wife.

When Irene is attacked by a sinister Japanese guard and their secrets are exposed, they must learn the true meaning of forgiveness—if they can stave off starvation until the American troops bring freedom.

What inspired you to write this particular novel? When I was putting together the proposal for this series, my son noticed they were all set in the European theater. As a big Pacific theater buff himself, he suggested I set one there. I had heard about Westerners being interned at Santo Tomas a few years before that, and it was a perfect fit.

What do you like most about the area where you live and/or grew up?

I love that we live in the country, near farm fields and hiking areas and that I have room for a large flower garden and a vegetable garden. But it’s only 20 minutes to town, and so when I need something or want to shop, I can be there quickly.

How does your faith play into your writing?

Either my characters are wresting with their need for God or else their faith is being put to the test. God is stretching and growing them.

The not so obvious way is how it affects me. As I struggle along with these characters, I find myself growing. I spend time in the Word as I develop them and find my faith strengthened.

Any upcoming projects you can share with us?

Nothing set in stone yet, but I do have a publisher interested in another series, this one following three American women journalists during WWII. The first one is set in England during the London Blitz. Where can readers engage with you?

They can find me at: www.liztolsma.com/

Facebook

Twitter

Thanks so much for joining us, Liz. Readers, Liz welcomes your comments!

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives
Snow on the Tulips August 2013, 2014 Selah Award finalist, 2014 Carol Award
finalist
Daisies Are Forever May 2014
Remember the Lilies winter 2015
A Log Cabin Christmas now available

World War II Interview

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Gail

Yesterday I was privileged to meet an eighty-nine year-old Swiss American. Ruth clearly remembers World War II, when she was a teenager. Eyes bright with recollection, she smiles while relating Switzerland’s “don’t mess with me” attitude. Though completely surrounded by Axis powers, Switzerland bucked the oppressors.

Being a member of the Girl Scouts back then, with girls tramping through the woods, learning primitive cooking, first-aid, and getting actively involved in the war effort, led Ruth to some prime adventures. In the process, she developed her community’s self-sufficient attitude.

Here’s a photo I took yesterday of some self-sufficient Arizona mountain flowers, but back to Switzerland.

Having the Alps as sentinels helped, but the Nazis drew up invasion plans. However, they never occupied Ruth’s country. Resisting them was quite a feat, especially considering all the countries they did occupy.

The Swiss immediately shored up their defenses at the beginning of the war, and all Swiss men served as soldiers from twenty to forty years of age. Ruth’s father kept his rifle handy, like the Minute Men during the Revolutionary War.

Brings to mind something American speed skater Apolo Ohno quipped:

Don’t get mad. Don’t get even. Get stronger, faster and more powerful. Fill yourself with knowledge and empathy and an indomitable spirit, because no one else can do that for you. In the end, it’s your life, your choice and your world. Give 110%, always.”

Boy, did the Swiss ever follow this mantra—their Press openly criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating its leadership. Berlin denounced Switzerland as medieval and called its citizens renegade Germans.

Attempts by the Nazi party to effect an Anschluss, or connection between Germany and Switzerland failed due to a strong sense of national identity. The country’s belief in democracy and civil liberties stood it in good stead.

Case in point: Ruth remembers a German bookstore that sold only Mein Kampf and boasted a huge poster of Adolph Hitler at the entrance. She and her girlfriend decided to investigate (spurred by curiosity and possibly their Girl Scout exploits). The owner pushed them out and slammed the door to his regret. The Swiss home guard instantly absconded him to the authorities and closed down his so-called bookstore.

We’ll never come to the end of all the stories, and writing about these strong survivors strengthens me. Ah . . . to have lived in that time, though I would be far less bold.

But seeing the light in her eyes as she tells the tale makes me feel I was there, a silent onlooker cheering her on.

Any writers out there, has meeting with actual participants in your historical plot events instructed you? And readers, how does an author make you feel as though you yourself witnessed what just happened—on the Swiss border or elsewhere?

Pondering, Plotting, and Present Circumstances

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Gail

Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” Nido Qubein, businessman and motivational speaker

Reminds me of the TV ad where a workshop facilitator tells participants they have potential, even as his wooden nose grows. No-one wants to be that poor guy learning the very opposite from what the speaker intended.

But this quote doesn’t mess with our potential. It merely says we all start in a unique place. I witness this on a writers’ loop I follow. Definitions get tossed around, interpretations vary, and once in a while, tension results. But the moderators know when to step in and keep things under control.

Often, conflicts arise from writers at various places in their journeys. Drastic changes in the publishing world wreak havoc with expectations and dreams–this can be hard to handle, and undesired emotions surface.

It’s good to recall that in writing, so much depends on ideas and timing. As Victor Hugo stated, “All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

Of course, we all want OUR ideas to find their time, but sometimes circumstances seem bent on hindering an idea from blossoming into its potential. Consider Harper Lee’s next release, for example.

We don’t know the whole story yet, but a plethora of questions arise. Is the story closely related to To Kill A Mockingbird? Who is the hero/heroine? Bottom line, we can’t WAIT!

Most of us thought there was no way any second hero could rival Atticus Finch. Drawn into his little southern town and his kind heart, we never want to leave. He’s too wonderful, too wise, too brave.

But now we must say, “We’ll see.” Right? I mean, who can know what delights lie ahead in this second debut? (Can one have a second debut? Due to time’s passage, it certainly seems so to me.)

Where is the “start” this time? Somewhere long after the finish, or what we deemed was the finish. We thought we had it all in order, but SURPRISE! Ahhh….this would be a good topic for discussion on that loop . . . the surprises our writing brings us.

Anyway, it’s obvious this week’s post is pure conjecture, which is fun sometimes. Letting loose and pondering remind us there’s still room for philosophizing. In some cultures, this activity takes place daily, publicly. It’s a valued contribution to society.

Maybe we ought to allow our characters this leisure, as well. How long has it been since your hero or heroine fell into speculation…just plain old pondering? Oh yeah, we’re supposed to keep the plot moving. It was just an idea, but while we’re at it, what do you think Ms. Lee’s next heroine will be like?

Showing and Telling

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Gail

The other day I had a lesson in hatcheting. Well, using a hatchet to create kindling. I missed camping 101 in my youth, so here we are.

My friend demonstrated, and tonight, the stove boasts fresh-shaved kindling waiting for a match. Sounds like success, eh?

I could describe the details, but most of you probably know how to make kindling. What struck me during this experience was the parallel to creative writing. Explain, demonstrate, describe. Isn’t that what authors do?

It’s one thing to explain, but action often shows better than telling. How much explanation would have been necessary without the actual hatchet in my friend’s hand, sunk into a chunk of wood?

And describing . . . that’s a level deeper, as if teaching a lesson on making kindling, now that I understand the process. I’ve mulled it over and now, it’s time to share with the waiting world.

This week my husband also took a picture of his culinary creation. He wrote, “It’s a four-egg omelette, whether it looks like one or not.”

What do you think? I can make out most of the ingredients I normally use, but the look, as my husband acknowledges, is a bit different.

Still, all the elements are here–eggs, mushrooms, sausage. What’s missing?

It’s the mulling, the organizing, the arranging, I suppose. And no matter how innovative our writing style, a little structure often does wonders.

Scene Visits and Perseverance

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Gail

Recently, I met the man who built our house, and he said during the excavation, workers found a Native American matate, or grindstone. I’d been having Abby, the heroine of a novel set here in 1870, watch for the natives–now I have evidence they were really here–nice to spend some time in the setting, as Tracy Groot shared with us last month.

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In the past two years, someone already unearthed a pumice pestle, perhaps the one used with that grindstone. Pretty cool, eh?

And here are a few pottery shards found in front of our place. Our friend gathers them when she comes up here, in an area where water washes down.

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I have yet to discover one, but I’m getting the idea of what to look for, and enjoy the “hunt.”

This past couple of weeks my writing has brought a few bumps in the road: a rough critique of a would-be novel’s beginning and word from the editor of my first contracted women’s fiction novel: your file’s been corrupted. Send me another. Oops.

Well, that’s the writing life, I’m thinking. Take the downs with the ups and keep at it. Some day, you’ll hold your fiction book in your hand, just as some day, hopefully, I’ll find some pottery shards right in our front yard. Yes, this is a picture of what I peruse in my search.

Anybody want to share how you’ve persevered in your writing life, or in anything else, for that matter? I’d love to hear your stories.

Setting and Scenarios

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Gail

Our neighbor Roy, 93 and a World War II veteran, feeds the elk regularly. One of them even allows him to stroke her muzzle. What a great hobby for someone who sacrificed so much building airstrips on Pacific Islands seventy-some years ago.

Yesterday I heard him croon to an elk, “You back again? Getting a little selfish, aren’t you? You know I like to feed the deer, too.”

Roy writes his story one day at a time and the elk act it out. He just supplies the grain, or shall we say, fodder?

There’s so much novel fodder here under the Mogollon Rim. One of my novels (hopefully publishable at some point), tells the story of a young woman desperate to belong. After losing her family in freak accidents, she’ll pay any price, and does. Every day, she watches the sun climb DOWN the Rim, since it first has to peak over the other side to reach this valley.

Ah, how life twists things around! Dottie, the World War II heroine I’ve mentioned before, experiences the topsy-turvy effects of a horrendous war.

But both of these characters, and all of us, find courage and tenacity during these tough times. The question is, will our characters make changes necessary to their well-being?

Soren Kierkegaard wrote, “All change is preceded by crisis.” And for fiction writers, crisis is integral to the plot. And as Tracy Groot shared with us the past two weeks, so is the setting: feeding Arizona elk or working at a 1947 small-town Iowa boarding house demand different mindsets. In both Dottie and Abby’s lives (and our own), character and setting meld with plot as crises arise.

I’d like to hear your favorite fiction crisis . . . Scarlet O’Hara’s dilemma, the harried chase in True Grit, or some other difficult situation? Or share how you blend setting and scenario in your own writing.

Sara Goff won the giveaway of Tracy Groot’s The Sentinels of Andersonville–congratulations! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great, creative week!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Gail

Jan 12, 2015 Back from the Brink

Yes, I’ve returned. The holidays, miserable winter weather, and a nasty bout with influenza during Christmas week took me away, but through it all, I remembered my promise to blog more faithfully.

The brink could also refer to a close call I experienced the other day. Thanks to my EMT husband’s expertise with the Heimlich manuever, I survived a serious choking episode. I’ve learned to say I’m grateful in Spanish: Yo estoy agradecido . . . mucho!

So here we are again, seizing the day.

And I have exciting news—since my last post, I’ve received my first fiction contract for a women’s fiction book called In This Together. A new online author friend, Elaine Stockhttp://elainestock.com, allowed me to borrow this graphic from a blog article by Edie Melson describing a necessary attitude for writing success.

Essential

Believing in yourself and your work don’t always come easily. In This Together is not my first completed novel, but when its heroine Dottie, a widow and WWII Gold Star mother, entered my life, I couldn’t resist writing her story.

Who knew she would win my first contract? I’m very grateful to the Vintage Rose line for considering Dottie and crew worthy of publication.

I think you’ll enjoy getting to know Dottie. She’s come through a lot, and now works at a boarding house owned by a not-so-pleasant curmudgeon.

Losing her only son Bill in a North African battle devastated Dottie. When her husband died at the end of World War II, she began working at the boarding house. Climbing the stairs pains her bum knee, but her job gives her a reason to get up in the morning.

Every morning, she passes her widower neighbor Al’s house, unaware of his unspoken attraction to her—who would think it? After all, Al still misses his wife Nan, Dottie’s best friend.

Dottie would like nothing more than to help her daughter Cora with the two grandbabies she’s never met, but her fear of closed-in spaces and travel keeps her from even considering a train trip to California. Ah, why does life have to be so confounded complicated?

Clearly, Dottie’s challenges intrigue me, and there are more. A new employee at the boarding house could either drive Dottie to her own brink or force her to move past some limits she’s set for herself.

Sometimes, believing in ourselves means allowing for alterations.

Also, I now have a GoodReads author page and would love to have you visit/become a fan. Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment here, and may 2015 bring you new delights. I hope to see you every Monday morning from now on.

Twas a Week Before Christmas/2014

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Gail

Note: my site has been down. We seem to be back in business, so greetings this December 18.

Today, my dental hygienist described her accident twelve years ago–she swerved for a deer and hit a semi instead, breaking her arm in several places, crushing her humerus, ulna, and wrist, puncturing a lung, breaking some teeth and an ankle, cracking two vertebrae and lacerating her foot. Not to mention brain swelling and about a thousand bruises.

The Jaws of Life went into action, and an EMT attended her when she roused, her main concern returning her overdue library books and notifying her employer that she’d be late. Oh yes–and that her arm zigzagged like a shattered branch.

(This picture is NOT the young woman who had the accident, but it gives us an idea.)

Another detail: somehow, her tied work shoes blew off her feet. Sounds tornado-ish, doesn’t it?

She says the experience changed her tendency to keep everything spotless—of course, that’s the personality type for a fabulous hygienist. But now, if grandchild time is at stake, she can wait to sweep the floor.

One week from Christmas day, I can’t help but notice a parallel. Experiences alter our viewpoints. Accidents, traumas, and even delightful, exciting adventures transform us.

Writers try to clarify these changes in their characters. A small detail, trivial compared with collapsed lungs, can make a huge difference. If I survived such an accident, I’m not sure the flying sneakers would capture my attention. But as a writer, they do—how in the world did that happen?

Which brings us to the mystery of the nativity. Far before modern technological advances, human conception occurred apart from normal means. How could such a phenomenon occur?

There’s no nailing this one down. Some things, you simply must report and entrust to your reader.

Gratitude and A Lesson from Football

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Gail

Not much profundity comes from football, imho. However, today, I heard an announcer say, “So this team made a lot of mistakes today—what matters is their ability to put the past behind them and move forward. What happens in the next two minutes is what counts.”

And there you have it-just the truth one of my characters needs to hear. She’s never watched a football game in her life, but oh, well!

In her circumstances, forgetting how it’s always been and plunging ahead is truly all that matters. But can she do this? I really hope so, because I like her a lot and want her to succeed. Besides, what reader will stay with her if she continues to bemoan the past and sink into depression?

Not a lot to write for the day after Thanksgiving, but at least it’s something. And it certainly beats going out into our four-degree deepfreeze here in Iowa and trying to find a bargain!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend—and by the way, gratitude is one key to my character’s success in forgetting past mistakes and trying something new!

The writing life/November 24, 2014

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“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Annie Dillard

My post-World War II heroine Dottie, a gold star mother and widow, and I have been together three years, but two weeks ago I deleted fifteen thousand extra words from her story.

I also said good-bye to my garden, after moving parsley, rosemary, oregano, chocolate peppermint, and thyme plants inside.

Both gardening and writing teach me to say adieu. “If you’re brave enough to say ‘goodbye’, life will reward you with a new ‘hello.’ Paulo Coehlo

I used to give fond farewells to excess verbiage, but no longer. By the time this first fiction book comes out, the story will boast more compact sentences and a stronger plot and I’ll be thrilled if raving fans adore it.

But I can’t waste time nurturing my penchant for a multitude of words. Nope—heartfelt phrases I toiled over sometimes have to go.

Dysfunction can help a writer–we think we’ll get different results by trying one more time. Somebody must live out Einstein’s quote, right? This try, fail, try, fail pattern creates resilience to bounce back from rejections.

Next spring, my crocus, day lilies, lavender and creeping thyme will poke through the earth again and I’ll re-plant whatever survived the winter inside–ready for summer’s glory.