Amid the flurry of the holiday season every year comes a day with sobering reminders of what can happen when you least expect it. December 7th. The attack on Pearl Harbor. We are often inundated with pictures from this horrific incident, and then the next day go back to planning events and making sure little Susie has what she wants under the tree. I have to admit to being no different until a couple of years ago...
Around the same time, a dear friend gifted me with a fascinating documentary, a chronicle of Italian prisoners-of-war housed in America during World War II. They were clothed, fed and, for the most part, treated much better than when they were part of Mussolini's army. In fact, most of these POWs thought they'd landed in paradise. The story fascinated me, and I couldn't forget it.
Thoughts of POWs and Pearl continued to simmer at the back of my brain while I wrapped presents and planned festive meals until finally, January rolled around. The tree was gone, the decorations put away and most others around me had settled in for the long stretch of snow storms and cold days here in Vermont. It was then I sat down to write.
I write when and where I can...before work, after work, Saturdays. Some days the story flowed, some days not so much, but by the end of April, I finished telling the story of Elizabeth Wellman and Dante Montenari. As always, I've become invested in these characters' lives and wanted to linger with them. My world is a better place because this story now exists. I'm hoping you'll become invested too.
TO THEE I SING is historical fiction set against the backdrop of World WII. This story honors all who've sacrificed for their country, including those who've come home to fight the even bigger battle of putting their lives back together.
Coming: Fall 2018