Hi, and welcome back to my Tuesday short blog on Goodreads. It’s been a busy week for me.
The giveaway on Too Long Among the Dead
has ended. There’ll be more to come I promise around the release of my new lesbian fiction, Getting Gertie Out
. The release date is November 23rd from JMS Books.
First, I don't want to forget that today is Veterans Day. I want to take time to thank all veterans for their dedicated and loyal service to their country. Maya Angelou said it best: “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” I couldn’t agree more.
On another front, I’m thinking of ending my WWII gay historical romance series, Lovers and Liars
. I’m thinking maybe one more novella might tie up the series.
Right now, here’s how I view the overall story arc for Lovers and Liars :
Act I: Bomber’s Moon
Act II: Weep Not for the Past
A Manx Tale
A Christmas in Kent
Act III: A Deadly Game of Malice
Q: Q: Any thoughts from those of you who’ve read the last installment, A Deadly Game of Malice? I’d love to know what you think about where we are right now.
I’m not sure how one knows when a series has ended, but I think I’m on the right track. Either A Deadly Game of Malice will be the last novella or there’ll be one more wrap up installment. I’ll be thinking more on this issue as I plan a guest post for December 30th at ARe Cafe. Hope you’ll come check it out. I’ll remind you as we get closer to the posting date.
A Little background on Lovers and Liars:
Two books set during WWII, inspired Lovers and Liars. I highly recommend them both to you.
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters “follows the fragmented lives and the strange interconnections between Kay, Helen and Julia, three lesbians, Viv, a straight woman and Duncan, her brother, a gay man—their secrets, shames and scandals that connect them despite their different experiences. The war, with its never ending night watches, serves as a horrifying context, backdrop, and metaphor as a constant reminder of the morbidity that surrounds life and love.” From Wikipedia.
Although the tone in Ms. Waters’ amazing book--she tells her story backward from 1947-1941-- is very different from mine, I wanted to explore gay life during the period by reimagining private conversations people might have had about post traumatic stress to marriage and gender equality and even to smoking while pregnant.
Mrs. Miniver
by Jan Struther is another wonderfully written book set in rural WWII England. The central character, Mrs. Miniver, is a British housewife who, along with her family, struggles to survive the hardships of war.
Ms. Struther wrote a small postscript of a short story, "Mrs. Miniver Makes A List," that inspired my series short novella, A Christmas In Kent.
Okay, that’s it for now. Thank you for stopping by and I’ll see you next week. We’ll talk more about Getting Gertie Out and why I just had to write it. See you then.
The best is yet to come,
Paul