For My Better Half With Love: For Women Who Fought And Still Fight The War At Home

I was about to repost the blog post I initially wrote when this blog was brand new, the one about my Grandfather's service during WWII and how there were letters he'd sent my grandmother found under the floorboards in the attic of my Great-Grandparents' house after it was finally sold out of the family in 1996.

That is a post worth reading if you haven't seen it- it could be a movie, honestly, for the sheer heartbreak and romance of it. Those letters were returned to my grandmother by the kind new residents, who went out of their way to find her, and I know they were a tremendous gift to her in what would turn out to be the final year of her life.

They were a tremendous gift to us all.

I am one of the two people left on the planet lucky enough to have copies of those letters, and some originals from his commanding officers too talking about his diligence to his duties. The paper is thin and crumbling but I won't part with them.

I also have his Good Conduct medal which makes me smile because I can't imagine him ever capable of anything BUT good conduct.

But then...as I was about to post it I started thinking about my Grandmother.

I started thinking of all the military wives, and I wanted to thank them.

My mother was three weeks old when my Grandfather shipped out- and he wouldn't see her again until she was four years old.

My Grandmother went to work on a factory floor immediately but when the boss came round one day looking for a 'girl who could type' for the office, she took him aside and told him she could do that and take dictation and do the books too but she couldn't afford the pay cut. He told her that he'd pay her the same salary if she'd run his office if she kept it quiet, and so she did.

Her sister Helen took care of my mother and her own two children. Helen's husband was not drafted due to some health issue, but he really didn't help out much at home- liability, not asset as I understand it--Helen and my Grandmother were the team that got them through the war on the home front.

The English spelling of my grandmother's name was close to the male "Johan" and the bank mistook her application for a mortgage for that of a man. They gave her the house, and she and Helen lived there with the children while my Grandfather was overseas. This is a picture of her in her father's field.

My Grandfather actually sent home hundreds of letters, many photos, and wax records of him singing (not that he was particularly good at it but it was awfully sweet) so my mother would get used to his voice.

Grandma didn't save any of them.

When I asked her why, once, she kind of shrugged. I think looking back now, I realize that it must have been too difficult for her to remember the time he was gone and in so much danger.

He tried to downplay that in his letters (and you'd think from some of the pictures he sent home he was at a tropical resort on vacation) but the fact is once, through no fault of his own, he was late getting back from leave locally, and his unit shipped out while he was gone.

They did not survive.  If he had been with them neither would he and I wouldn't be here.

My Beloved Grandfather

No, Grandmother never did like to look back. She was a force of nature in perpetual motion; always working, always cooking and sewing, hugging, kissing, wiping messy chins and tucking into bed. She never held still.

She's been still, now, so long, and God I do miss her. She left us in 2004 and I still think sometimes I'm going to look out my peep hole in the door and see the top of her little fuzzy, permed head. She was always tiny, I towered over her, and I remember kissing the top of that head more times than I can count. I remember exactly how she smelled, a beautiful combination of Ponds Cold Cream and White Rain Hair Spray and Revlon face powder and Wind Song perfume. I can close my eyes and remember, so clearly, how she and my grandfather adored little me as no one else in the world.

Today, on this day that I wish more people would remember is about reflection instead of throwing a party, I would ask that you give some time to thinking about the soldiers (even and also their service dogs, please...) and especially this year I would ask you remember the families- the wives and kids at home. They are often fighting a battle long after their soldier comes home, as he brings the demons of war home with him- and that is their soldier comes home at all.


And if you have a little more time today, please do read my original post.

I don't believe in wishing people a "happy" Memorial Day, I don't think that's the point. So I'll wish you a mindful one instead, and hope that with each one that passes we all become that much more determined to see a world without war in our lifetime, or at the very least, in our children's.

~bru

Why Do You Still Blog? (Or, "Is Anyone Out There?")

Lately I have been questioning the reasons I go on with this blog. It seems like the 'old gang' of friendly bloggers just doesn't hang together any more.

I have a beautiful new blog all set up and ready to go for GODSPEED should the interest in my still having a  blog be there. Of course I would post about the book there, not about my life, as I primarily have here.

I find myself more on Twitter and even flirting with the idea of Pinterist ONLY because it seems where everybody is heading and I don't want to get left behind (again). Though I'd only pin my own stuff and even then, the idea just worries me.

It really feels more and more like blogs are going the way of the Dodo. There are just so many writers, writing about writing. Writing about their own books, though there are a few kind souls writing about other people's books (something I did a LOT when I had more strength a couple years back and still plan to do when I can.)

Still.

Why blog? Do you even care, honestly, about reading other people's blogs anymore or do they seem a burden, another thing on your 'to do' list?

I keep hearing people say they 'haven't recovered from April' and that makes me sad. It seems like a lot of the blogging community is suffering from burn-out and I don't see them turning around as quick as usual this time.

I miss the people who used to visit here, I try to still visit as many blogs as I can by the people who have come to be real friends to me.  But I'm curious, if you're reading this what do you think?

Is it time to prepare to say goodbye to the blog- this blog in particular, and move on to the next, new thing?

Walt Disney said "Keep moving forward.," and lately I just feel like blogging is going in reverse.

I'm curious to know what you think- and how you feel, about your own blog, this one, and just blogs in general.  Do you prefer Twitter (as I find I do now) FB or another social media outlet?

Curiously,
bru

PS Don't forget to look in the post below this one, at the end, to read about my Reader Appreciation Contest in which I am giving away three copies of GODSPEED in print and also a unique piece of artwork. The only catch to enter? You have to have read, and enjoyed, the book.  Contest closes June 1 so hurry!

First Choice Not Last Resort AND a Reader Appreciation Giveaway

How ever other people feel about Indie publishing these days, for me it simply came down to this: publishing GODSPEED myself was my first choice, not the choice of last resort.

I've spent years writing, honing my craft, telling stories.

I've spent the past few years reading everything imaginable about the industry, beginning back in 2010 with agent blogs (the good, the bad, and the nasty) and progressing from there. I've listened to many bloggers talk about their experiences with querying and rejection and I had my own short-lived run with the process before I realized it was not for me (very short- yet not without hope and that's all I'm going to say about that today).

Thing is, I realized through all my trials of health and emotions the past few years that I knew what I wanted when it came to my writing, and that was to get it out there, the way I intended it to be.

So in the end I guess you'd have to say that the thing that appealed to me the most about Indie publishing was that control. Over not only the story but the cover art, the title, everything.

I wanted the work to stand or fall on its own as my work, not as something drilled down by a committee with focus groups taken into consideration.

I didn't try to take a 'short-cut'. I'm not lazy. In fact anyone who has gone the Indie route will tell you that to see it through you can't possibly be lazy. And to do it right, you can't do it alone.

You need a professional copy editor. I don't care that they cost money, most things in life worth having cost money. Save up for it. I did.

Same with a cover artist. Hire a professional.

Craft your story to the absolute best of your ability, then edit it some more. Do all you can to make it the best it could ever possibly be.

Then whatever route you go with the book, print or ebook only, Amazon or Barnes and Noble (or both)...you will know you chose the right path for you, and in the end that is, I think, where the deepest satisfaction comes from in all of this.

We can't control how many people buy or read our books.

We can't control what they think of them when they do or what they say in the reviews.

We can only control what we put into the process, and then know that whatever route we've taken, legacy, small press, or Indie, that we've gone the way we were meant to. I am grateful to know that I have.

NOW, on to the giveaway!

I am at this moment awaiting a Fed Ex truck which has a nice sized box of print copies of GODSPEED riding around in it. Trust me when I tell you they are be-yoo-tiful. 




And as you know, if you've looked them up online they aren't cheap.

So.

I want to give a few of these bad boys away, but not just randomly to people who may or may not like the book at all and then it just ends up being a pretty paper weight or worse- leveling a coffee table somewhere *shudder*.

So after putting much thought into this, here is how it will work:

I will hold a reader appreciation drawing and give away THREE copies of GODSPEED in print but here's the catch: to qualify to enter you must read the book.

You heard me right: You must already have bought the ebook, read and enjoyed it to enter this contest.

I want these babies going to good homes where they will be loved: so here are the details.

You email me at fireworksflowers at g mail dot com and either 1. take a pic of the book on your Kindle/computer/other device and send it to me or 2. send me your favorite quote from the book that comes after chapter five and provide the location of that quote (so that no one can sneaky quote from the Amazon sample.) Tell me in a couple sentences why you loved the book so much you want it in print.

Then you will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win one of three print copies of the book. Note: this contest is only open to those in the contiguous 48 US states (sorry).

BONUS!

IF you have read the book, enjoyed it, AND left a review and/or star rating at Amazon and/or Goodreads, you will additionally be entered into a drawing to also win this piece of GODSPEED inspired art:

I call it a clockwork flower, and one lucky winner will receive it in addition to their copy of GODSPEED.

Blogging, Tweeting, or otherwise passing along the idea that the book exists and you enjoyed it can earn you additional entries into the artwork drawing if you show me where such plugs are posted.

So- to recap: to enter you must:

1. Buy the ebook, read it, and (hopefully) love it.  (all purchases of the ebook to date qualify.)

2. Show me that you've bought, read, and love it.

3. By doing so you are entered in random drawing to win a print copy, which I will sign for you if you like.

4. If you also do something (or things) to promote the book you can increase your chances of winning not only the book but the fabulous one of a kind piece of GODSPEED inspired art, created by yours truly.

So there you go! You must act fast: the contest closes June 1 2012 at 12 midnight EST.  GOOD LUCK!

Hart and Soul

I'm lucky enough to be visiting over at Hart's blog today, Confessions of a Watery Tart, so please stop by and see what it is that Hart asked me to speak about! See you there, and thanks so much to Hart for the honor of the invitation.

xoxo
bru

News From Civilization

(Trivia: That title was once the name of a really adorable gift shop I remember being in the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World when I was a child, my father used to go there for a newspaper and let me buy peppermint Life Savers, which my mother didn't allow...)

Happy Tuesday, everyone. First off I want to thank everyone who commented yesterday (hi to the new visitors, so happy to have you, thank you.) and apologize for not responding, it was a long exhausting day emotionally and I was just not able to find the words. But I just want to say to everyone that knowing you're here means more than I can say (Andrew, I am a firm believer sometimes "I'm here." is the best thing you can possibly say to someone who is grieving. Thank you.) So again, thank you all.

A few quick things today then I'll let you get on with whatever you were doing: One, the long awaited Spring 2012 issue of Rose & Thorn Journal is out, and I was lucky enough to have my work included in it. A prose piece called Excess Baggage (a piece that is intensely personal) and the accompanying painting that was inspired by it both appear. Thank you to everyone at R&T for this honor.  You can find the link here or it'll be linked to my sidebar too if you lose track of it here.

Also, I want to say that stop two on the "bru unplugged acoustic blog thingie" in support of the release of GODSPEED is tomorrow, and I am honored to have been invited by Hart at Confessions of a Watery Tart to visit. Specifically she asked me to speak on a certain topic, and so I hope you'll come by tomorrow to see what that topic is. I look forward to seeing you there.

That's it from here. I'm going to stare at the beautiful issue of R&T some more, then see if I can give some friends a few shout outs on the networks. All of us writers, indie, legacy, or otherwise, have got to stick together.

I hope your Tuesday is treating you well.

xoxo
bru