~ FRIDAY FEATURE 'WEAVING FAMILY HISTORY INTO FICTION' ~

 ~ FRIDAY SPECIAL FEATURE ~ --  'WEAVING FAMILY HISTORY INTO FICTION'  -- AUTHOR GUEST POSTS:June McCrary Jacobs & Carrie Schmidt

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    As I waspreparing to write this article, I realized just how much my readingpreferences as a child have informed my reading habits throughout my life.Historical fiction is still my go-to genre.

    My favoriteauthors as a middle-grade reader were Louisa May Alcott and Laura IngallsWilder. Besides the fact that their stories were historical fiction, both ofthese women wove their personal family histories into their work. When I was ateen I read 'Christy' written by Catherine Marshall; it remains my favorite historicalnovel to this day. This author was inspired by her family's history to write apoignant story of a young teacher serving an Appalachian community by educatingtheir children.                                                                  

     In two of myown original Christian historical romance works, 'Handmade Hearts' and'Christmas in Bonita Creek,' I wove a thread of faith, love, and militaryservice based upon my extended family's journeys through life. 

    'HandmadeHearts' was inspired by my aunt and uncle's love story which began in NewOrleans during World War II. My uncle was a wounded Marine who met my aunt bychance at a church social one evening after he returned from Guadalcanal. Inthis short story the main character tells his new friend (my aunt) about theservice records of his two brothers.

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In'Christmas in Bonita Creek,' I wove different aspects of my uncle's World WarII and Korean War military experience into the lead male character and onesupporting male character. 

When we worked together on his narrative for theVeterans History Project at the Library of Congress in the early 2000s, myuncle shared many deeply emotional and painful events from his combat years inthe South Pacific and Korea. He emphasized with great feeling how much hemissed being at home for Christmas (which happened four times in his longcareer in the military). As he related his experiences, I gained valuableinsight into the toll that combat takes on our soldiers. These insightsprompted me to approach the feelings and actions of my characters in adifferent light.

 

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My shortstory written for middle-grade readers, 'Penny Says Goodnight,' was published in my 'Banjo & More Pet Stories for Children' story collection and was inspired bya true story shared with me by two of my aunts about the family's pet Cocker Spaniel in New Orleans in the early to mid-1940s. They told me that theirbeloved pet, Penny, wandered through the house each night to make sure everyone wastucked into their own bed before she would snuggle down in her basket in thekitchen for the night.

Personallyknowing my relatives my entire life and hearing the excitement in their voices as they told metheir stories when I was a child and an adult gave me a deeper connection tothe characters I later created for my fiction. I've been told by readers thatmy heartfelt ties to these beloved relatives shines through in my writing.

Thank you for letting me share some treasured family memories with you! I have a special treat for all of you! My dear friend, Carrie Schmidt, is here to share her thoughts about this subject with you! Enjoy her guest post below. 

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I reachedout to author, blogger, influencer, and co-founder of JustRead Publicity Tours,Carrie Schmidt, to ask her to share her perspective on authors weaving truefamily history into their fiction writing:

  "Ithink readers love it when they know an historical fiction author has (looselyor otherwise) written a book based on their own family history. Pepper Basham,Laura Frantz, Amanda Wen, Patricia Lee, Marguerite Martin Gray, and CarrieFancett Pagels, among others, have written novels like this. For Basham andFrantz in particular, nearly every historical story each writes has a bit ofthe author’s family history in it, but it’s most prominent in Basham’s 'Laurel’sDream' and 'The Heart of the Mountains' and Frantz’s 'TheRose and the Thistle.' Wen’s 'Sedgwick County Chronicles' – a series ofsplit-time novels – is inspired by the author’s ancestry, as is Patricia Lee’s 'TheDescendant’s Daughter,' respectively. Marguerite Martin Gray tells her familystory in her 'Revolutionary Faith' series, and Carrie Fancett Pagels expands onher own ancestors from a similar era in 'Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter.'For readers, this personal connection to an author’s story gives us a feelingof community and camaraderie that in turn leads us to continued investment inthat author’s career."

CarrieSchmidt isan avid reader, book reviewer, story addict, KissingBooks fan, book boyfriendcollector, and cool aunt. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot.Carrie started the popular blog ReadingIsMySuperPower.org in 2015 and sincethen has had the honor of co-founding the Christian Fiction Readers’ Retreatand JustRead Publicity Tours. In addition to these endeavors, she is a regularcontributor to Seekerville and has written for magazines such as RT BookReviews and Christian Market. Carrie now lives in Georgia with her husband,though her roots range from East Tennessee to Central Kentucky and northernIllinois. You can connect with Carrie on ReadingIsMySuperPower.org, Facebook@meezcarriereads or @meezcarriewrites, and everywhere else social at@meezcarrie

Carrie's book:

 

💠💠Please feel free to leave a comment on this post using this prompt:

Doesknowing that an author has woven her or his family's history into a novelinspire you to read it?

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