Ask the Author: Herb Williams-Dalgart
“Hey gang! Now the Jingle Boys is out in the world, I'd love to answer your questions! What would you like to know?”
Herb Williams-Dalgart
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Herb Williams-Dalgart
Carrie Fisher's Princess Diarist
Herb Williams-Dalgart
As with “The French Girl’s War,” my ideas for “Jingle Boys” were rooted in my own family’s personal history. My mother was raised in New York and her father, after whom I was named, was killed in combat during World War II. My grandmother was grief-stricken and never wanted to discuss my grandfather, so no one in my family really had a full story of what his life was like or what it might have become. In a way, by creating stories drawn from this era, I guess I’m creating a living history of my own. It gives me a lot of fuel to dive into the research, to explore the human details, and to ponder the thoughts and ideas of people like my grandfather.
Herb Williams-Dalgart
In speaking with a lot of writers and artists, I think my inspiration is much like others – I draw from my own musings, my personal experience, my thoughts on the human condition, and a general impulse to make an impact on others. Specific stories come to me from a variety of places and just kind of germinate in the greenhouse of my mind. When the story grows and grows and dogs my waking thoughts, I know it’s time to start writing.
Herb Williams-Dalgart
My time now is split between launching “The French Girl’s War” to the world and starting my new novel, “Jingle Boys.” Like “The French Girl’s War,” this new novel takes place during World War II, this time in New York. We follow the story of three aspiring jingle writers from Brooklyn who risk their lives when they agree to help the war effort by including secret transmissions to the Allies in their jingle music, broadcast over American airwaves overseas. There’s intrigue, danger, romance, and some fun, too!
Herb Williams-Dalgart
The best advice I can think of would be to focus first, and exclusively, on writing a story you love. Don’t worry about marketability, publishing, sales, or any of that noise. If you’ve told a memorable and compelling story, the rest will come in due time. You can deal with the marketing and business stuff later. Write first! That’s what writers should do. The initial response to The French Girl’s War has been humbling, inspiring, and rewarding, and not because of the marketing. To feel like you’ve done your best and produced something you can be proud of is, for me, the most important thing.
Herb Williams-Dalgart
I think telling stories is a primal impulse. It carries a tradition as far back as the dawn of language. So part of the excitement of being a writer is playing a role in this most human endeavor of transferring ideas through story. It also provides a creative outlet or escape, much the same way it does as a reader. In fact, I think you have to love reading first to love writing – really two sides of the same coin.
Herb Williams-Dalgart
I can’t say that I have experienced writer’s block (thank goodness) and I attribute that to a few things: 1) I have a full-time job outside of writing and use my commute time to explore story and plot in my head. When the time comes to write, I usually have a lot of content pent up to work out; 2) “Writing” historical fiction is really a combination of real writing, research, plotting, and editing, so if I find myself stuck creatively, I can switch over to researching, plotting, editing, etc. 3) I typically start each writing day by editing the last thing I wrote. That gets the juices flowing, engages me in the story right where I left off, and feeds the energy for more writing!
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