Standing in the Argonne Forest at the End of World War I - 1918

In June of 1918 my grandmother was in an industrial accident and lost her arm from just below the elbow. Not long after that, she married my grandfather. You might wonder why I’m telling you this. In honor of Memorial Day I’m going to share two letters with you that were written by a young soldier who was a pen pal of my grandmother. I thought about editing them because there are a couple of personal comments, but decided you might like to read them as written.

This young man was stationed in France, and I’m presenting you with his letters exactly as they were written – misspellings, commas, periods, no periods and all. These letters are a small piece of history, and I’m thrilled that my grandmother never threw anything away.

Thanks to one of these letters, for a brief moment I stood with a young soldier in the Argonne Forest on Armistice Day on November 11, 1918. Yes, this is Memorial Day, and I’m remembering those who served our country. David was one of them.

“November 12, 1918

Dear Dolly,

I received your letter yesterday and was very, very sorry to hear of your terrible misfortune. Peace articles were signed yesterday and hostilities ceased at eleven oclock. We are in the Argonne Forest on the ground that the Germans have just left and will be glad to get back out of the lines again where you can see a civilian. And hope to be on the way home soon. I consider myself very lucky to come out of this great war as well as I am. The guns were firing yesterday right up till two minutes to eleven. Last night we held a celebration of our own the air was ful of star shells and rockets and flares which the Germans left behind. It was like a fourth of July celebration.

Tonight it is the same when a star shell is up you can read a news paper by the light. Well I have had a touch of gas in fact several kinds, tear gas, sneezing gas, clorine and several kinds and been under shell fire a great bit and now it is all over and every soldier has a big smile on his face. I must congratulate you on your marriage and I hope you live happy and I wish you the best of luck. I must close now as it is getting late so I will close now.

As ever your friend

D.B. Gordon

Co.D 16^th Engrs. Ry

A.E.F.”

Second Letter:

“Consenvoye, France

Dec, 7, 1918

Dear Dolly,

I received your letter today and was much pleased to hear from you. I am sorry that I have not any more pictures but if I ever get out of ‘No Mans Land’ and get back to civilization I will have some more taken. I expect to get a furlough in a few days as soon as the bunch now out get back. It must be rather dead at home with all the churches, Theaters and everything closed. Things are worse than that up here where we are all the towns and villiages are almost leveled and no civilians are back here yet. I would like to get back in the S.O.S.

The French Girls are very good looking and they are also very polite and friendly to us. If you see a French farmer Girl on Sunday when she is dressed up you would think she came right from Paris. And when you would see the same girl during the week working on the farm you would not recognize her. France is a very beautiful country and has a lovely climate similar to your state [Southern California] in some parts. We have had no snow here yet and it is quite warm during the day. Of course the rainy season is very disagreeable to us as we have to be out in it all the time. This part of the country that has been fought over there is nothing not a tree but what is dead and most of them broken and the ground is so full of shell holes that you cant go out after dark without falling in a couple of dozen of them and most of them are full of water. There is thousands of German helmets around here, we have one for a wash basin. I would like to bring lots of stuff home but I am afraid we wont be able to carry heavy junk such as helmets. I have lots of German buttons and decorations Well if I get my furlough I will send you some cards. I must close now as it is getting late

Your friend,

David

D.B. Gordon

Co D. 16^th Engrs (Ry)

A.E.F.

P.S. This is German stationary I am using that I picked up in a German hospital.”

My grandmother had several photos of military men, but I have no idea which one is David, so I’m not including a photo.

Until next time, I’m remembering military personnel throughout the years with admiration and appreciation.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

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Choices

From time to time we talk about life getting in the way of work, and that’s what’s been going on over the past couple of weeks. I caught the “Ick,” whatever that is, but things are getting back to normal. Sorry to have deserted you.

This week I’m here to talk about choices in books. We have hardcover books in both regular typeface and in large print. The same goes for some trade paperbacks and we have regular paperbacks. Of course, we have ebooks which seem to be pretty popular right now. I wonder what will come next. And, we also have audio books, which is my subject this week.

        

 

 A Well-Kept Family Secret and Bubba’s Ghost (both Sandi Webster Mysteries) are available in audio format now, and have been for a while. Coming up? Prudy’s Back!, another Sandi Webster Mystery. By the way, the reason there’s an exclamation point in the title is to indicate that it’s not about Prudy’s backside. It’s about her return. She was a private investigator back in the forties and fifties, and she wants Sandi to help her solve the unsolved case that meant the most to her. She just can’t let go of it.

After a narrator (in this case Viv Williams) puts the book in audio format, the author must proof the product. That means listening to the narration while reading along in the book. It’s time-consuming, but kind of a treat. Prudy’s Back! was released in 2009. After its release I moved on to other projects and didn’t give it much thought. Now that I’ve proofed the story, I remember how unique and how much fun it was to write. Sometimes looking back can be a good thing.

Prudy was based on a woman I met through someone my daughter worked with back in the day. Well, she was based on her in that she was a P.I. a long time ago. Her daughter remembered her wearing a long fur coat, cowgirl boots and smoking a long, black cigarette. When I spoke to the woman she laughed because other than the boots, her daughter’s memory was quite faulty. I liked the memory and presented Prudy as the daughter remembered her mother.

However, why would someone choose an audio book when so many other formats are available? Why would someone want to listen to Prudy? Many people like to listen to a story while they’re on a road trip and they certainly don’t want a story that will put them to sleep while driving. My mother-in-law had vision problems and she loved books. Audio stories made her day. I can think of several reasons to enjoy an audio book, like if you’re working out you can listen, but those of you who enjoy them already know why they’re your choice.

My husband and I used to listen to audio books while we traveled, and I have to make a confession. When the narrator was male, and he read female dialogue, it made me snicker. It was simply difficult to take a male voice trying to sound like a female too seriously. The reverse is true for female narrators. It’s a quirk of mine, and I can’t help it. However, I thought Viv Williams did a pretty good job of it with Prudy and the other characters, including the men.

So, if you’re looking for choices, you’ve got plenty in today’s market. I still prefer a paper book, but I find myself reading more ebooks simply because of the convenience (and the cost).

Prudy’s Back! should be released over the next two weeks. I’ll let you know when it’s available.

In the meantime, I’ve been lax about promoting my books and it’s time for that to change. I just need to come up with a new and unique idea. Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. I’m not sure there are any new ideas. Oh, well… Time will tell.

Until next time, give audio books a try. They make great gifts, too. Remember my mother-in-law. She might have had vision problems, but her hearing was fine.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Remember, People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery is waiting for you. Think massive heat and homeless people disappearing.

Dialogue Style

When you write dialogue, are you mimicking anyone? Like yourself? The curious want to know. Someone asked me about this today.

 I honestly don’t think my characters’ dialogue is the way I talk. I generally try to think of the character’s personality and fit the dialogue to that. Do I know anyone with that type of personality that I can borrow from? Sometimes, but not always. There are times I have to think about the average reaction.

There are times that the protagonist in my books might use a word that I use, and that’s to be expected. We generally create dialogue that’s familiar to us; that we use or someone we spend time around uses. Do you spend time around teenagers? Their dialogue might be quite entertaining.

Hmm. That’s not always the case. For instance, a bad guy probably isn’t going to say, “shucky darn” when he’s caught. Well, I wouldn’t either. It’s up to the individual author to decide whether he might cuss, yell, moan or whatever. On the other hand, I suppose someone might say “shucky darn,” but I don’t know that person.

I have some senior characters in my books and I’ve spent a lot of my life around seniors. Well, I am one now (I like to say barely), but I’m talking about people in their eighties and nineties. They can be quite colorful sometimes. My grandmother used to say, “I can pretty much say whatever I want now and get away with it. People just attribute it to my age.” She was ninety at the time. I have that same attitude about what I eat, not what I say. Think chocolate. Give me time and I’ll probably come around to her way of thinking.

Keep the dialogue real.

“I am going to the store to buy several items. Would you care to accompany me?”

“I’m going to the store to pick up some stuff. Wanna come along?”

Which one sounds right? Either one. It simply depends on your character’s personality.

What about a character who stutters? Let them stutter, but don’t overdo it. The grandmother I just mentioned stuttered. We were very comfortable together and sometimes I’d finish her sentence for her. If it turned out she was going in a different direction than I anticipated, she’d just laugh and start over.

What about a mean or demented character? Can you create dialogue for that type of personality? Sometimes it takes research. I know someone who lives in an apartment building with some very mean-spirited women. She wouldn’t need to research meanness. It’s right there in front of her.

Maybe that’s what it all comes down to. Study the people around you, no matter where you are. Some of the things you might hear in the grocery store are mind boggling. Yesterday I was at the store and I heard a mother and her adult son in the next aisle. I couldn’t see them, but the son just about broke my heart. He was mentally challenged and he was sobbing, crying his little heart out, asking her not to leave him. She was reassuring him that she wasn’t leaving him behind and he should walk with her. She was patient, kind and gentle with him. That was the gist of it, and it was eye-opening. You don’t hear an adult male react to something like a small child every day. How did I know he was mentally challenged? You could hear it in the dialogue and tone of voice. I never saw them, and the male could have been a teenager, but he definitely had an adult voice.

Remember the things you hear. Write notes to yourself if you need to. Sometimes you don’t have to take notes because some dialogue will stick in your mind forever.

Anyway, keep your dialogue in line with your character’s personality, age and gender. And, again, keep it real.

Until next time, don’t purposely be nosy, but sometimes you can’t help overhearing conversations, especially when someone is on their cell phone. They tend to talk louder for some reason. Children often speak loudly, too, and I’ve heard a few give away secrets just because of the volume.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Are you looking for something new to read? Try People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery. Think major heat wave and people disappearing, and you’ve got an interesting and entertaining story.

Change of Pace

I’ve written several posts about finding the inspiration for a story and I think it’s time to move on. I believe it’s time to discuss reading, one of my favorite pastimes. There’s no one quite like an avid reader. We live in our own little worlds. Notice, I said we. I love sitting down with a good book, a glass of iced tea and something chocolate. So read on from a reader’s point of view.

  

I talk about writing a lot on this blog, but realistically there’s another side to books. Surprise, surprise, they’re meant to be read. I can talk about writing until I’m blue in the face, but it doesn’t matter how much I talk if no one reads the books. Readers are the most important part of the book world.

Long, long ago, I was in a rut. I had a set of authors whose writing I enjoyed, and I’d read their books and then wait for the next one to come out. If no one was feeling particularly prolific, or if they were working on something that was time-consuming, I’d become frustrated. Believe it or not, I feel that way sometimes; patience is not one of my virtues. And then it struck me that I didn’t have to stick to my list. Who knew? There are a large number of new and fairly new authors out there, and there are authors who’ve been at it for a long time but haven’t received the break they need yet.

So I started branching out. Anyone who’s been reading my posts knows that my favorite types of books are 1) mysteries, and 2) mysteries with some humor. Consider that we’re talking about murder mysteries. In most cases the entire book can’t amuse you because of the subject matter, although some writers do a pretty good job, but I like one with at least a little humor in it. Why? There’s enough drama in real life without adding more. Easy for me to say. I read plenty of books with no humor, it’s just that I prefer something that can make me chuckle.

I’ve read several authors who are new, or new to me. My whole reading world opened up. I could list several authors here, but I won’t. I did that once and had someone write to me saying they were insulted that I hadn’t included their book and they thought I was playing favorites. I say “they” because I don’t want to name names. Of course, that was a long time ago. I glanced at the list I’d made of new authors and most of them aren’t new anymore.

What the heck? In the future I might share the names of some new authors and their work. Why not? Not all of them write with humor, but they still keep me interested and entertained.

My point is, broaden your horizons. Take a chance. Try some new (to you) authors. I always say that word-of-mouth is the best advertising, so if someone mentions reading a book they just loved, ask who the author is. If you read a book you just love, be sure to spread the word. And don’t always judge a book by its cover, because sometimes they don’t represent what’s inside. Is the title intriguing? Check out the description on the back of the book before you decide to buy or not to buy. Open the book and read the first few pages.

To add a little confusion into the mix, don’t forget your tried and true favorite authors. Just don’t sit impatiently and wait for their next book.

Now, here’s my dirty little secret. My reading time has been cut way back. I won’t go into why, but I miss my favorite pastime. One day soon I’m going to sit down with the iced tea and chocolate, and read all day long.

Until next time, I wish you a week of new (to you) authors and enjoyable reading. Do a search on the Internet for “new mystery writers.”

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Don’t forget that A Well-Kept Family Secret and Bubba’s Ghost (both Sandi Webster mysteries) are available in audio format.

And the newest addition to the family? People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Sandi Webster Mystery.