Getting a start on summer

Summer, I think it is safe to say, is not the productive season. People take vacations in summer. They set school aside. They leave the heavy lifting for fall. Unless, of course, they are the hard-working audiobook producers who have recently helped me bring three new titles to the listening public. In that case, they work as hard as ever.

Thanks to Chaz Allen and Patrice Gambardella, Mercer Street and Class of ’59 are now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. Thanks to Allyson Voller, The Mirror, which is now in the final stages of production, soon will be. All three talented producers beat their production deadlines by several weeks, for which I am especially grateful.

I have been busy myself. Three months after starting River Rising, my eleventh novel and the first of the Carson Chronicles, my third time-travel series, I have completed a first draft. I hope to publish the Kindle book, my longest at 138,000 words, by early October.

Finding answers in Johnstown

Like most writers of fiction, I prefer to see a town before I write about it. There is nothing like walking the streets, smelling the air, and speaking to the locals to get a feel of a particular community.

For that reason, I traveled to Wallace, Idaho; Galveston, Texas; Princeton, New Jersey; Evansville, Indiana; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, before writing novels that brought their features to the forefront.

Last weekend, I continued that tradition by visiting Johnstown, Pennsylvania. As was the case with the other towns, I'm glad I did.

When you step into this mountain community of 20,000, you step into history. For much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Johnstown was synonymous with the steel, coal, and railroad industries. It was a symbol of America’s strength and spirit. It was also a reminder of one of our greatest tragedies, a disaster of nature and man that captured my attention long before I considered writing my current book.

Much like Wallace before the Great Fire of 1910 and Galveston before the hurricane of 1900, Johnstown in 1889 was an accident waiting to happen. Located 14 miles downstream of a reservoir held in place by a poorly maintained dam, it lived in fear of a breach. One hundred twenty-eight years ago today, those fears were realized.

Unlike the other towns, Johnstown had little warning of impending doom. By the time a forty-foot wall of water and debris reached the city, the fate of more than 2200 people was already sealed.

I went to Johnstown not because I needed facts and figures but rather because I needed understanding. I found it in visits to two museums, conversations with area residents, a walking tour of the town, and even the rainy weather, which provided an authentic backdrop.

I am currently about halfway through the first draft of River Rising, my eleventh novel and the first in my third time-travel series. I hope to finish the draft by early July and publish the book by November.

Review: The White Queen

I like history. I like it so much that I majored in history in college, read a hundred historical fiction books as an adult, and wrote ten more as a novelist. I revere the past like some people revere fine wines.

Television is another matter. I tend to avoid it unless the network news is on — or a baseball game or a particularly good movie. Like a lot of people, I would rather devote my time to other things.

Every once in a while, however, I find a program or series worth watching. More often than not, it is a drama rooted in the past, like Homefront, American Dreams, or Downton Abbey.

The White Queen, a 2013 British drama based on three bestselling novels by Philippa Gregory, is no exception. I discovered the ten-episode series this month and went through it in a week.

Set against the backdrop of the War of the Roses, a civil war that raged in Britain from 1455 to 1487, the story is told mostly from the perspectives of three women: Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, and Anne Neville. Each manipulates events behind the scenes so that men in their lives can attain or retain the throne.

As best I can tell, the series sticks close to the historical record, though it does take liberties in places. Those who know Richard III through Shakespeare's play, for example, will find a kinder, gentler king in The White Queen. And the fate of one of his nephews, one of history's great mysteries, is made clear in television production.

I would recommend The White Queen to anyone who likes history and intrigue. I hope to find similar series in the future. Rating: 5/5.

Review: The Johnstown Flood

For me, each new novel begins not with a keystroke on my laptop but rather with a book, a web site, or even a movie. It begins with an effort to learn about a place and a time I have often never seen.

My current project is no different. When I set out to learn more about Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889, I went first to the definitive source on that place and time: The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough.

Like The Big Burn by Timothy Egan and Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson, which I read while preparing The Fire and September Sky, respectively, McCullough’s nonfiction work reads like a novel. Thorough, balanced, and fascinating, it guides readers through the deadliest flood in U.S. history and provides a poignant snapshot of western Pennsylvania during the height of the Gilded Age. Personal anecdotes share space with clear — sometimes cold — statistics.

When reading the book, I felt like I was a part of a growing community that thrived on steel and commerce but lived in constant fear that a poorly maintained earthen dam, just fourteen miles up the Little Conemaugh River, might someday fail and take that prosperity away.

Like Egan and Larson, McCullough does more than describe a historic disaster. He provides a veritable college course on an era. I would recommend The Johnstown Flood to any student of history or anyone who simply likes a good story. Rating: 5/5.

Review: The Black Widow

When it comes to reading thrillers, I must admit I’m a creature of habit. I am far more likely to read the ninth novel of an author I like than try a first novel by someone else. And so it was this month with The Black Widow, the blockbuster bestseller by Daniel Silva.

Silva begins the novel, the sixteenth in the Gabriel Allon series, in the aftermath of a devastating terrorist attack on a Jewish cultural center in Paris. Allon, the legendary Israeli operative, responds to the attack by recruiting and training an agent he will send into the heart of a global terror network. The agent, a beautiful young doctor who poses as a "black widow" out to avenge the death of her husband, is at the center of a story that held my interest from the first page.

One reason I enjoy Silva’s novels is that they are relevant to the times. The author writes stories that are torn from today’s headlines and present a frightening and seemingly realistic take on safety and security in a turbulent world. He has no peer in the genre.

In The Black Widow, Silva presents Allon, the aging spy, in a fresh light and opens the door to new possibilities in this seemingly endless series. As before, I look forward to the author's next read. Rating: 5/5.

Book tag: a new Q and A

As a blogger and an author, I am occasionally invited to participate in activities designed to raise the profiles of bloggers and authors. So when I was "tagged" by fellow novelist Maureen Driscoll this week on Facebook, I knew my time had come again.

Driscoll, author of the Kellington and Emerson regency romance series and a longtime friend, challenged three others to answer a specific set of questions making the rounds. I thought the questions were pretty good, so I jumped right on them. Here they are:

What book has been on your shelf the longest?

Truth be told, I don't have many books on my shelves or in my Kindle. I borrow most of the books and audiobooks I read from local libraries and have done so for decades. Two books I have kept over the years are anthologies of short stories I read in college.

What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

I am currently listening to The Black Widow by Daniel Silva, one of my favorite authors. When I finish, I plan to reread The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough and other books on that historic natural disaster. All are part of my research for my next novel, set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1888 and 1889. Before The Black Widow, I read Deceived, the debut novel by Heena Rathore.

What book did everyone like but you hated?

I don't know that I've ever "hated" a book that most people loved -- or even liked. I do know that I never warmed up to the Harry Potter series, even though I read the first book, saw most of the movies, and appreciated the brilliance that went into them.

What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read but you probably won’t?

I put The Fault in Our Stars on my reading list several years ago, in part because of its astonishingly good reviews, but I doubt I will ever get to it — or at least get to it anytime soon. I saw part of the movie based on the book and did not care for it much.

What book are you saving for retirement?

There is no one book I am saving for retirement or even the distant future, but I do hope to return to the classics at some point. I have read only a few of the hundred or so great books people are supposed to read in their lifetime and want to remedy that.

Last page: Read it first or save until the end?

I never read the last page first and can't understand why others do it. The fun of reading a story is not knowing how it turns out in advance.

Acknowledgement: Waste of paper and ink or interesting aside?

I think the acknowledgments section is important because it tells readers a little about what went into producing a book. I like to know how an author got from Point A to Point B in a book that I liked.

Which book character would you switch places with?

I wouldn't mind spending a day in the shoes of John Corey, the cynical, wisecracking detective in several novels by Nelson DeMille.

Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?

I still have a copy of The Pacific, Hugh Ambrose's non-fiction account of World War II and the companion to the celebrated HBO miniseries. I did some research for Mr. Ambrose when he was writing the book and am listed in the credits as a minor contributor.

Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

On a few occasions, other authors have emailed me entire books for review. Otherwise, I have obtained almost all of the books I've read through a library, Amazon.com, or a bookstore.

Have you ever given a book away for a special reason to a special person?

I recently bundled all ten of my novels in a Kindle and gave them to my daughter Heidi for her twenty-fifth birthday.

Which book has been with you most places?

Without a doubt, it has been the two anthologies from college. They have survived a dozen moves and are still in mint condition.

Any required reading that you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later?

I didn't like The Catcher in the Rye when I read it the first time. I liked it and appreciated it more when I read it the second time.

Used or band new?

I like new books, but I almost always read used books — whether obtained from a store or the library.

Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

Yes. I have read five: Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Digital Fortress, and Deception Point.

Have you ever seen a movie you liked more than the book?

Yes. The Bridges of Madison County comes to mind.

Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks included?

My wife purchased Taste of Home Slow Cooker Classics a few years ago. I often open it just to look at the pictures. It's that good.

Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

As an author, I solicit advice all the time, but I don't always take it. That said, I almost always take advice offered by my wife, Cheryl; my editor, Aaron Yost; and Maureen Driscoll. All three have steered me away from literary trouble on more than one occasion. As a reader, I'll take advice from almost anyone who is passionate about a book.

Is there a book outside your comfort zone you ended up loving?

I don't read much non-fiction, but I recently read and loved Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I am looking forward to seeing the movie.

Okay, now I get to do the tagging . . .

Michele Bodenheimer at www.mikishope.com

Angela Kay

Heena Rathore at thereadingbud.com

Mike Siedschlag at mikestheaterofthemind.blogspot.com

These are all thoughtful, interesting bloggers and blogs. Give them a look when you have the opportunity.

March roundup and more

If there is one thing I’ve learned about readers in the past five years, it’s that they like books in bunches. So for the second time in two months, I have bent to the market and compiled a boxed set.

Northwest Passage: The First Three Novels offers The Mine, The Journey, and The Show in one package. I released a set of the first three American Journey books on January 4.

Planning continues on my next novel and series. I hope to start writing in May. In book one, five siblings will begin a time-traveling odyssey in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the eve of its 1889 flood.

I also hope to complete at least one more audiobook project by the end of July. Veteran actor and voice over artist Allyson Voller will begin work on The Mirror in the next few weeks. Indiana Belle debuted on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes on February 20.

Finally, a big thank you to the bloggers and readers who have read and reviewed Hannah's Moon. In large part because of your efforts, the book had the best first month of any of my ten novels.

Here's to a happy spring for one and all!

An American Journey ends

Like every other writer on the planet, I am often advised to write what I know. For more than five years, I have proudly ignored that advice and written what I didn't know. Or at least know firsthand.

I have written about times I’ve never seen and places I’ve never been. Only when writing The Journey, a novel based loosely on my high school years, did I draw more from personal experience than from reading and research.

Hannah’s Moon, the final book in the American Journey series, is different. Inspired by actual events, it is a deeply personal work — one that takes readers through the peaks and valleys of difficult pregnancies, adoption, and parenthood. It is a tribute to the mothers and fathers who have traveled the same road, including the protagonists of my tenth novel.

In 2017, Claire and Ron Rasmussen find themselves at a crossroads. After trying for years to start a family, they turn to adoption — only to find new obstacles in their path. Then they get an unlikely phone call and learn that a distant uncle possesses the secrets of time travel.

Within weeks, Claire, Ron, and Claire’s brother, David, take a train to Tennessee and 1945, where adoptable infants are plentiful and red tape is short. For a time, the three find what they seek. Then a beautiful stranger enters their lives, the Navy calls, and a simple, straightforward mission becomes a race for survival.

In Hannah’s Moon, readers will see America in the tense final months of World War II, when victory was assured but the safety of soldiers and sailors was not. They will also see the end of a series that began with September Sky and continued with Mercer Street, Indiana Belle, and Class of ’59. They will get the answers to many questions and see every major character from the previous books one last time.

Filled with suspense, romance, humor, and heartbreak, Hannah’s Moon is a poignant snapshot of an unforgettable year in American history. The novel, available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com and its twelve international sites, goes on sale today.

Having fun after five years

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I clicked a button on a web page in the morning, waited impatiently for several hours, and finally noticed a subtle change shortly before taking my wife to dinner.

The Mine, the first novel in the Northwest Passage series, was no longer "in review." It was no longer an idea or a rough draft or a work in progress. It was live on Amazon.com. It was a published book that was subject to the scrutiny of potentially thousands of readers.

I've learned a lot since February 13, 2012, when I joined the ranks of published authors. I've learned that covers matter, that marketing is a never-ending job, and that readers like happy endings and characters they can relate to. I've learned that producing a novel is time-consuming, humbling, often frustrating, and infinitely rewarding.

It is also a lot of fun. For that reason alone, I intend to keep at it and steadily add to a collection that now consists of ten Kindle books, a boxed set, and six audiobooks. As long as stories keep popping in my head, I will keep turning them into full-length novels.

To mark The Mine’s fifth anniversary, I am offering five selected audiobooks and compete sets of both the Northwest Passage and American Journey series. Each set consists of five ebooks. The giveaway invites participants to suggest settings for novels two through five in my next series. I plan to set the first book in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on the eve of its great flood in 1889.

The contest is open to the first forty entrants and will run no later than February 15. To participate, go to my author page or contest page.

Planning a series the right way

The first thing I learned when creating the American Journey series was that writing a series was much different than writing a single novel. I had to observe different rules and plan much further into the future or run the risk of painting myself into a corner.

Having more or less cobbled together the Northwest Passage series around a few common themes, I tried to do better with the AJ series. The result, I think, was a better collection, one that comes to a conclusion with the release of Hannah’s Moon in February.

Now, as I consider yet another series, I’m faced with the same challenges. How do I map out three or more books that meet the minimum requirements of a compelling collection of fiction? One way is to look to others for guidance. One of the best resources is online.

Now Novel’s How to Write a Series is filled with commonsense advice that every author should take to heart. The writer’s group, which offers a course and resources for budding novelists, advises authors to avoid eight specific mistakes when crafting a series. Its guide stresses continuity, consistency, and openness to change.

These tips resonated with me. When I plotted the American Journey series in 2014, I knew how it would begin and end but not how it would develop. The order of the books was left open every step of the way. Even as I followed a fairly tight script, I wanted flexibility.

I will take the same approach when I create my next series. Set initially in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1888, the collection of stories will revolve around five modern-day siblings, all young adults, who search for their long-missing parents in the corridors of time.

I plan to begin the third series in June. In the meantime, I hope to put the second series to bed and convert The Mirror and Indiana Belle to audio. All three projects should be finished by the end of April.

New goals for a new year

I have never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. All too often, they are not realistic. They are things we should file under "Good Intentions," "Wishful Thinking," or even "Mission Impossible."

Even so, they serve a purpose. When we make resolutions or set goals, we force ourselves to evaluate our respective situations and consider what is possible in the coming year.

As an author, I have several goals for 2017. Some I expect to meet in the coming three months. Others may take longer or prove to be more of a challenge, but I will pursue them nonetheless.

One objective in easy reach now is the publishing of Hannah’s Moon. With a first draft in hand and several beta readers lined up, I should be able to release the novel, the fifth and final book in the American Journey series, in March.

Then I'll have to decide what comes next. Though I'm still keeping all options open, I've started to sketch out another five-book series that will focus less on time travel and more on historical fiction.

The idea I have in mind now is a family saga that begins in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1888, the year before its historic flood. I hope to make a final decision on the series by April 1.

I also intend to do more with my current books. Sometime this month, I will release American Journey: The First Three Novels, my first Kindle boxed set. In the middle of next month, I will sponsor some giveaways in conjunction with the fifth anniversary of The Mine.

If all goes as planned, I should also have two more audiobooks by the end of April. Chaz Allen has already begun production of Indiana Belle. Angel Clark will do the same with The Mirror in a few weeks. I hope to have all ten novels in audio by December.

For now, that’s all. But like anyone who has ever vowed to travel more, lose weight, read certain books, or work on a bucket list, I reserve the right to change my mind. I hope 2017 is a happy and productive year for all of you. Let the resolutions begin!

Behind a holiday masterpiece

One of the things I like most about this time of year is that people and organizations focus more on disparities in society and the needs of the have-nots. They give generously of their time and money and often find creative ways to improve the lives of others.

We are used to seeing acts of kindness at Christmas time because they are a part of our traditions and culture. For this, we can give many thanks to a troubled man who published one of the great treasures of English literature 173 years ago today.

When Charles Dickens released A Christmas Carol in 1843, millions of people in Great Britain and America, including a great number of children, lived in poverty and squalor. Life, for them, was a daily battle with joblessness, hunger, and disease.

Dickens’ classic, published at the end of the Industrial Revolution, directed public attention to populations that this revolution had left behind. The result was a legacy of awareness and compassion that is still with us today and manifests itself in countless ways.

The novella, which has never gone out of print, has been adapted many times to film, television, radio, and theater, among other media. I recommend the 1951 film, starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge, but many other adaptations are worthy of attention.

Some background on the book and the author can be found online at Literary Traveler, the (UK) Telegraph, the British Library, Wikipedia, and TIME magazine, which produced a fine article on the classic this month. I encourage you to check the sources out.

So in the spirit of Charles Dickens, his causes, and his signature work, I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(Credit: Image of Charles Dickens from Wikimedia Commons.)

A first draft for a last book

Fifty-five days after telling others I would not begin writing the fifth American Journey book until January 1, I have finished its first draft. Weighing in at just over 100,000 words, it is the fifth longest of my ten novels, the second to complete a series, and the first to feature chapters set in another part of the world.

Set in Chattanooga, Southern California, and the Pacific Theater of World War II, Hannah’s Moon will follow a childless couple and the wife’s brother from 2017 to 1945. I hope to find a suitable cover in the next three weeks and begin the editing process in January. The projected publishing date of April 1 remains unchanged.

Starting down the final road

There is nothing like bringing a series to an end to focus the mind. Authors pay more attention to details and getting it right because they know they won’t have another chance to get it right. When a series is done, it is done. There are no second takes.

With that in mind, I have paid attention to the little things in writing the fifth book of the American Journey series. Questions will be answered — including a big one — and problems explained. In the series finale, I will bring back each of the time travelers from the first four books and borrow a few names and themes.

I am currently 35,000 words into the 100,000-word work. Set mostly in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the novel will follow a young childless couple from 2017 to 1945. Driven to adopt a baby in an age where babies were plentiful, the couple and the wife’s brother will find themselves caught up in the tense final months of World War II.

I hope to finish the first draft of AJ5, as I call it now, by Christmas. I intend to publish a Kindle edition of the book by April or May.

Review: Edge of Eternity

I am not a fast reader. I almost never finish a book before it’s due at the library and usually max out my renewals before bringing it back. Even so, I normally finish a work before the seasons change.

That was not the case with Ken Follett’s Edge of Eternity, part of his Century trilogy. I started listening to the audiobook on May 17, when green leaves began to appear on trees, and finally finished the novel on Wednesday, when those same leaves started to yellow.

One reason was that I simply had other things to do — like write and edit Class of ’59. Another was that Follett’s latest work was long — as in 1,136 print pages or nearly 37 audio HOURS long.

But the biggest reason I didn’t rush to finish the book is that I didn’t find it as compelling as Follett’s previous works. I have read nineteen of the Welsh author's novels and loved most. I consider The Pillars of the Earth my all-time favorite book.

Edge of Eternity, unfortunately, did not measure up. Unlike with Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, the series’ first two novels, Follett tried to take on too much. That can happen when you try to follow seven families and dozens of others, including real historical figures, through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War, Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the fall of Communism.

But Follett compounded his challenge by turning his characters into cliches and giving his work a partisan edge it didn’t need. For much of the book, it seemed the author was more interested in sending a message to his readers than in connecting with them.

I hope Follett returns to writing shorter, more focused novels, like Eye of the Needle, Jackdaws, Hornet Flight, and Night Over Water. I know I will be ready to read them when he does. Rating: 2/5.

Review: Timeless

Like a lot of people, I love time travel. I’ve written nine time-travel novels and read or watched everything from A Sound of Thunder, Timeline, and The Time Machine to Outlander, Somewhere in Time, and The Time Traveler’s Wife. In short, I can’t get enough of it.

So when I heard that NBC was rolling out a new time-travel series called Timeless, I knew I had to check it out. As it turned out, the series, or at least its first episode, lived up to its considerable hype.

Goran Visnjic stars as a sophisticated criminal who steals a time machine in order to change the course of American history and destroy the country. In last night’s series pilot, he goes back to May 6, 1937, in an attempt to prevent the Hindenburg disaster.

Kept in the dark until Visnjic takes the time machine from the private company that developed it, the Department of Homeland Security quickly assembles and deploys a team to retrieve the criminal and the device. The team includes a history professor (Abigail Spencer), a soldier (Matt Lanter), and a scientist (Malcolm Barrett).

Almost from the beginning, the best-laid plans go astray for both the hunters and their prey. People live who were not supposed to live, timelines are changed, and little is resolved. The butterfly effect and the grandfather paradox are trotted out like show ponies.

There were a few things I didn’t like about the pilot. Timeless relied heavily on trendy sayings and cliches and its pursuers more often resembled cookie-cutter action heroes than normal human beings, but the story itself was superb and the visuals arresting.

I have been looking for a quality television show to watch since Downton Abbey faded into the English countryside last season. Thanks to NBC, I think I’ve found it. Rating: 5/5.

Review: Brooklyn

I don’t watch a lot of movies these days. One reason is that I don’t take the time to watch them. Another is that I don’t find current offerings all that compelling.

Every now and then, however, I see a film that makes me think I should give more motion pictures a chance. Brooklyn, a romantic drama directed by John Crowley, is one such movie.

Set in Enniscorthy, Ireland, and New York City, Brooklyn is the tale of Eilis Lacey, a humble young Irish woman who immigrates to the United States in 1951. She finds employment in a department store and love with Italian-American plumber Anthony "Tony" Fiorello.

Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen are magnificent as Lacey and Fiorello, respectively, but both take a back seat to the story itself. In Brooklyn, one gets a sense of what thousands of Irish and Italian immigrants experienced in the early postwar years.

Though Lacey makes a fairly smooth transition to American life, she feels the constant pull of Ireland in the form of a controlling mother, an ill sister, and a would-be suitor. From the moment she arrives in the U.S., she struggles to reconcile her two worlds.

Based on Colm Tóibín's novel, Brooklyn wowed audiences at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress. I strongly recommend it to any fan of historical fiction. Rating: 5/5.

Finding fun in the Fifties

In every series there is usually one novel the author looks forward to writing the most. For some, it’s the first book, the one that sets the tone. For others, it’s the last book, the one that brings a story to a conclusion. For me, it’s the book that brings the most enjoyment.

And this one, folks, was just plain fun.

Say hello to Class of ’59. The fourth novel in the American Journey series and my ninth overall, it is a book that breaks new ground, answers old questions, and takes readers on a T-Bird ride through the era of Happy Days, Pleasantville, and American Graffiti.

Like in September Sky, Mercer Street, and Indiana Belle, people from the present access a portal to the past in a Victorian mansion in Los Angeles. Unlike in the first three books, they do so without the knowledge and assistance of Professor Geoffrey Bell.

On March 21, 1959, Mark Ryan, 22, is a focused college senior, an engineering major with an eye on building rockets and missiles. Then he explores an old desk in his family’s new home and finds a letter and two crystals that give him the means to travel through time.

On June 2, 2017, Mary Beth McIntire, 22, is an Alabama woman headed to medical school. Her life seems set when she takes a trip to California with her family. Then she sees a man in 1950s attire outside her vacation house and her world turns upside down.

Mark and Mary Beth share their startling discoveries with his adventurous brother (Ben) and her sensible sister (Piper). Within hours, four young adults throw caution to the wind and plunge into the age of sock hops, drive-in theaters, hot rods, and jukeboxes.

Class of ’59 is the first of my books set almost entirely in the Golden State. Instead of scattering across the country to places like Texas, New Jersey, and Indiana, my time travelers stay put.

From the streets of Hollywood to the high schools of Pasadena to the beaches of Santa Monica, they see Southern California in its storied prime. They experience the fifties up close and personal.

Filled with history, romance, humor, and suspense, Class of ’59 provides readers with a nostalgic snapshot of an unforgettable era. The novel, available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com and its international sites, goes on sale today.

Giving a nod to my better half

She is usually the first person I consult on writing matters and the contributor I trust the most. She is the person most likely to recognize problems in my books because she has read them all and helped fix them all — more times than I can count.

No one else, I think it is safe to say, knows me better as a writer than my wife, Cheryl Fellows Heldt. Then again, no one else knows me better as a person.

Her support for my “hobby” goes back to the beginning. Long before I even dreamed of writing my first novel, The Mine, in the summer and fall of 2011, Cheryl encouraged and supported my career as a newspaper sportswriter, reporter, and editor.

She went through my manuscripts, attended events I covered, and occasionally provided me with story ideas. She also put her own career ambitions on hold for many years so that I could achieve my goals as a journalist, a librarian, and finally a novelist.

Even now, when she is extraordinarily busy blazing her own trails as an educator, Cheryl sets aside blocks of time to help me with various projects. In the past year alone, she has listened to and offered input on the narration of three audiobooks.

So it’s with much love and respect that I recognize my wife today. On our thirtieth anniversary, I have never appreciated her more.

A finished first draft and more

It took seven weeks, a lot of sweat, and some swearing at the cat (just kidding), but I finally got it done. The first draft of Class of ’59, the fourth book in the American Journey series, is a done deal.

I have forwarded the manuscript to the first of eight beta readers and hope to have a finished product by September 20. A cover for the book is also in the works and should be out within a week.

I am also pleased to report news on four other books.

Midwest Book Review, a highly respected and influential book review site founded in 1976, reviewed Indiana Belle this week. The review can be found online in the MBR’s July newsletter.

Narrator Sonja Field is two-thirds of the way through The Show audiobook. I expect to release that title by September.

Chaz Allen, who narrated the recently released September Sky audiobook, has started an audio production of The Fire. I hope to submit that work to Audible by October or November.

Downloads for Mercer Street, yesterday’s featured book on e-Book-Daily have been brisk. The second novel in the American Journey series is available as a free download through Saturday.

Getting a jump on novel nine

Those who know me well know that I rarely keep my word when I say I will take a long break between books. The temptation to jump into the next novel and start writing early is almost always too great.

Such was the case with the untitled fourth book in the American Journey series. I had hoped to put off the project until July 1, but I started early last week when I finished my initial marketing campaign for book three, Indiana Belle, well ahead of schedule.

In book four, two vacationing Alabama sisters, ages 22 and 18, will travel from 2017 to 1959 Los Angeles, meet similarly aged brothers, and immerse themselves in the age of Sputnik, sock hops, drive-ins, and cars with fins. I hope to complete the first draft by Labor Day and publish the novel -- my ninth overall -- by Thanksgiving.

Progress also continues on two audiobook projects. Both The Show, narrated by Sonja Field, and September Sky, read by Chaz Allen, should be available to consumers by early fall.

Review: Friction

There’s a reason Sandra Brown, author of more than 50 New York Times bestsellers, is still going strong 35 years after publishing her first novel. Like a lot of authors, she can write a first-rate thriller. Unlike a lot of authors, she can infuse one with a first-rate romance.

So it was with enthusiasm that I downloaded the audio edition of Friction, Brown’s 2015 novel about Crawford Hunt, a troubled Texas Ranger who saves the life of a gorgeous newbie judge moments before she rules in the custody hearing of Hunt’s daughter.

In the week that follows, Hunt carries out a clandestine and ill-advised romance with the judge (Holly Spencer), battles his vindictive father-in-law for custody of five-year-old Georgia, and aggravates lawmen and outlaws alike as he pursues the people responsible for a deadly shooting in a small-town courthouse.

In Friction, Brown gets it half right. The crime drama is gritty and compelling. Though the identity of the ultimate culprit is never in doubt, the roles and motives of Hunt’s many other detractors are. Brown offers two twists at the end that lend poignancy to Hunt’s story as Georgia’s father and the neglected son of a town drunk.

Hunt is less sympathetic as a Romeo. His relentless pursuit of Judge Spencer is comically crude, a Lone Star version of “Me Tarzan. You Jane. Tarzan want Jane. Now!” Spencer, for her part, seems more like a schoolgirl with a crush than a rising legal star.

Even so, I liked Friction enough to recommend it. Sandra Brown may sometimes prompt readers and listeners to roll their eyes and shake their head, but she rarely leaves them bored. Rating: 3/5.

Two more for the audio files

As a reader for the past couple of years, I have really been a listener. More often than not, I have selected audiobooks over print and digital books because they are flat out more convenient.

With audio, I can “read” a novel while driving my car or walking the dog or resting my eyes after a long day. I can can consume quality literature at times that work best for me.

Aware that many other readers prefer to do the same, I have sought ways to turn my Kindle novels into audio novels. Thanks to reader Aaron Landon and Podium Publishing, I succeeded in 2014 with the release of The Mine. Thanks to reader Caroline Miller and an unexpected stipend from Amazon's Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), I succeeded again, last fall, with the release of The Journey.

I am pleased to report that two more books will soon join their ranks.

Chaz Allen, the producer of Little Known Facts, a nationally syndicated radio program, is about a quarter of the way into September Sky, my longest novel and the first in the American Journey series. The Oklahoman has narrated fifty-four audiobooks.

Sonja Field, a classically trained actress from Philadelphia, has just started recording The Show, the third novel in the Northwest Passage series. She has narrated twenty-seven audiobooks.

I hope to release both novels this summer. When completed, they will be available through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.

Putting disaster on center stage

One of the things I enjoy most about writing time-travel novels set in twentieth-century America is learning about the people, customs, and events that defined particular eras. This is particularly true with events like natural disasters, events no movie studio could improve.

I found many of these cataclysmic events to be fascinating stories in their own right and did my best to incorporate them into my books. In four of my eight novels, in fact, I have used natural disasters as backdrops, starting points, and/or climactic turning points.



In The Journey, I bring my protagonist in close proximity to the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. In The Fire, I devote several chapters to the Great Fire of 1910, a relatively little known but widely destructive inferno that charred three million acres of pristine forestland in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

In both books, the main characters know a disaster is coming but can do little more than spare a precious few from harm. The same is true in September Sky, where a reporter and his college-age son try to minimize the impact of a hurricane they know will strike Galveston, Texas, in 1900 and claim several thousand lives.

I like incorporating natural disasters into my stories because they provide added drama, sharpen distinctions, and bring out the best and worst in people. Timid men and women become heroes in an instant, while some of the cocky and powerful become cowards.

I learned this when researching The Fire, set in Wallace, Idaho. As the flames closed in on the isolated and vulnerable mountain town on August 20, 1910, many men helped women and children escape by loading them onto trains. A few acted less nobly. They pushed others out of the way in an effort to save themselves, much like some men did on the RMS Titanic less than two years later.

I didn’t use a natural disaster to draw out heroes and cowards in Indiana Belle, but I did use one to get the novel off to a roaring start. A few chapters into the book, my protagonist comes face to face with the Tri-State Tornado, a mile-wide tempest that killed nearly seven hundred people in the Midwest on March 18, 1925.

Reading about these disasters made me appreciate modern technology all the more. People who confronted wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes in the early 1900s did not have television, smartphones, the Internet, or Doppler radar to alert them to pending doom. They faced nature’s wrath blindly.

Part of the fun of researching the books that featured the disasters was visiting the disaster sites themselves. I visited Wallace in 2013, Galveston in 2014, and southwest Indiana earlier this year. The first two venues offer several museums, historical sites, and attractions that commemorate their respective calamities.

I visited Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument -- pictured above in 2005 -- several years before writing The Journey. It is an attraction no one with a memory of the May 1980 eruption or its aftermath should miss when visiting Washington state.

A book with a bit of everything

If there is one thing I’ve learned in four years as an indie author, it’s that people like certain things in the books they read. They like appealing characters, drama, humor, history, a quick pace, and a healthy dose of intrigue. They like a satisfying ending.

While it’s easy to incorporate all of these elements into a series, it’s not easy to incorporate them into a single book. Doing so requires planning, patience, and imagination. It means finding a balance.

With Indiana Belle, I think I found that balance. My eighth novel, the third book in the American Journey time-travel series, is one that hits all the right notes.

Like September Sky, Mercer Street, and the novels of the Northwest Passage series, Indiana Belle looks at the past through the eyes of the present. Unlike the other books, it offers a glimpse of the distant future too.

On Valentine's Day 2017, Cameron Coelho, 28, is a quiet loner working on his doctorate in history in Providence, Rhode Island. Then he receives a package from an old woman in Indiana that turns his world upside down.

Armed with revealing letters, diary pages, and a mesmerizing photograph of Candice Bell, a society editor murdered in 1925, Cameron follows a trail that takes him to Geoffrey Bell, the “time-travel professor,” and the age of flappers, jazz, and Prohibition.

Readers who like natural disasters, like those presented in The Journey, The Fire, and September Sky, will get one here. The Tri-State Tornado, one of the most destructive storms in history, gets ample play. So do speakeasies, car races, and religious revivals.

Readers who like murder mysteries, like the one in September Sky, will get that too. They will also get a love story and a snapshot of a rebellious era that is still firmly etched in the American imagination.

In writing Indiana Belle, I pulled the best elements from each of my first seven novels and put them in a story that I hope will entertain, inform, and amuse. The work, available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com and its international sites, goes on sale today.

Touting the tools of the trade

As one who came of age in the early 1980s, I remember what writing was like before Microsoft Word, spell check, and the Internet. I remember manual typewriters, correction ribbons, card catalogs, and clunky, dog-eared monstrosities called dictionaries.

Even as a newspaper editor as in the mid-1990s, I kept a dictionary close. It was the last line of defense against errors that readers -- usually elderly Scrabble-loving women -- liked to circle with red pens and offer as proof of Western civilization’s decline.

Things are much better now. When I write a book, I can count on a number of Internet resources to make an otherwise difficult task easy and even enjoyable. These resources include not only online dictionaries but also search engines, grammar guides, and specialty web sites that don’t get even a fraction of the love they deserve.

My Elite Eight, ranked in no particular order, are as follows:

1. Google Books: Ever wonder whether a phrase has been used by others, is still in vogue, or is even grammatically correct? This is one place to find out. I often use this tool to see how publishers treat words and phrases. The Ngram Viewer is a nice side feature.

2. Library of Congress: Though I wrote about America's library last year, the institution deserves another mention. There is no better place in the world to get an authoritative answer to a question.

3. Thesaurus.com: If you're a writer who strives to avoid repetition, this is a site you cannot do without. In two or three clicks, you can go from a good word to a great word to one that is perfect.

4. Grammar Girl: There are more grammar sites on the Internet than adverbs in Stephen King’s proverbial road to hell, but few are as enjoyable or helpful as this one. Creator Mignon Fogarty provides useful tips and guidance in language anyone can understand.

5. Wikipedia: Some people consider this Internet mainstay an unreliable ending point. I consider it a useful starting point. Most articles are thorough and clearly written and feature extensive bibliographies that can be used to explore a topic in depth.

6. OneLook: Why search just one dictionary when you can search a thousand at the same time? This versatile tool provides quick, clear results. And, unlike many other dictionary sites, it is not cluttered with annoying advertisements or cumbersome graphics.

7. Online Etymology Dictionary: This is an indispensable resource for any writer of historical fiction. Want to know when carpetbagger and scalawag were first used in literature? OED has the answer.

8. Daily Writing Tips: On the rare occasion I stray from Grammar Girl, I head to this site. Operated by a team of credentialed writers and editors, the resource is user-friendly and highly informative. The contributors regularly tackle grammar issues that others do not.

I recommend these sites to those who take writing seriously and want to improve their craft. They are as essential now -- at least to me -- as the typewriter and dictionary were a generation ago.

Review: The Martian

When it comes to movies and books, I’m not a first-run or first-edition kind of guy. I will almost always wait until the works are inexpensively available before taking a look at them.

Such was the case with The Martian by Andy Weir. I wanted to jump into the story as early as 2013 -- when I first became aware of a self-published novel that was taking the nation, or at least its science-fiction community, by storm -- but it wasn't until recently that I did so. And when I did, I picked the picture over the words.

I finally saw the movie, based on the New York Times bestselling novel, last night and must say it is every bit as good as most people say it is. With an 8.1 average rating on IMDb.com and 92-percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, it has drawn almost universal acclaim.

The story of Mark Watney, an American astronaut stranded on Mars, The Martian covers familiar ground. It is a little Robinson Crusoe on Mars and a lot of MacGyver with some high-tech spin. Watney survives by using his wits and does so with humor and flair.

The Oscar-nominated movie, directed by Ridley Scott, succeeds on several levels. The cinematography is breathtaking and the acting is compelling. Matt Damon is superb as Watney, a wisecracking loner who looks at every deadly challenge as an opportunity.

(Those who watch this film, released last fall by 20th Century Fox, will never again look at potatoes and duct tape the same way.)

As one who knows the challenges of writing, publishing, and marketing an indie novel, I can only admire Weir’s rags-to-riches success. In fact, I am somewhat indebted to him.

When Podium Publishing contacted me three years about turning The Mine into an audiobook, it noted a link between readers who liked Weir’s self-published work and those who liked mine. Ten months later, in January 2014, The Mine was released on Audible.

I don’t know if Weir, a California computer programmer, plans to write more books, but I hope he does. His first novel, and the blockbuster film it inspired, are each worthy of a sequel. Rating: 5/5.

Pictures, words, and covers

According to a saying popularized by newspapers, a picture is worth a thousand words. It can say things that even a hundred words cannot. It sends messages, creates impressions, and sets tones.

But when I set out to find a cover image for my eighth novel, I did not need one that was worth a thousand words. I needed one that was worth only two: Candice Bell. She is the wholesome but flirtatious 25-year-old society editor who is at the heart of a time-travel story set in Evansville, Indiana, in 1925.

I found the right picture last month on a stock image site. Thanks to illustrator Laura Wright LaRoche, the photo is now the centerpiece of a cover that does justice to a lively character and her times.

In the past, I have shied away from using photographs on covers or have used only ones that show people in shadows or silhouette. The reason is simple. It is difficult, if not impossible, to find images that even loosely resemble the characters described in a book.

I made an exception this time because the woman in this photo matches my heroine to a T. The faded sepia image also resembles a photo mentioned in the opening chapter, a portrait that draws Cameron Coelho, my time-traveling protagonist, to 1925.

Indiana Belle, the third novel of the American Journey series, is now in the hands of editors and beta readers. It is set for a May release.

Review: Of Mice and Men

I barely remember the first time I read Of Mice and Men. It was one of those classics I read in school because I had to. As a teen in the 1970s, it was not easy to relate to two drifters in the 1930s.

But when I read — or listened to — the novella again this month, I needed only a few minutes to see why so many consider it a masterpiece of literature. Published in 1937, it is the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, California migrant field workers.

As is so often the case, the friends are polar opposites. George is “small and quick and dark of face.” Lennie is a mild-mannered giant with a low IQ and penchant for petting small animals to death. Together they work toward a shared goal of financial independence.

When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, this goal appears to be within reach. But it isn’t long before Lennie’s habits and limitations invite trouble and put a happy future at risk.

The thing I liked most about Mice was the author’s description of time and place. I could almost smell the stench in the bunkhouse and see the dust roll over the fields. No one described the United States during the Great Depression like John Steinbeck.

I also liked the narration by Gary Sinise, one of my favorite actors. He nailed the accents and demonstrated impressive vocal range, though I must admit his portrayal of Lennie sounded an awful lot like Patrick Star, the dimwitted starfish in SpongeBob SquarePants.

I didn't care as much for the novella's rough language, which I found authentic but distracting. It is one reason that Mice, unfortunately, is among the most challenged of books in schools and libraries.

That said, the virtues of this timeless work, both the print and audio versions, outweigh its vices. I recommend it to anyone who likes stories about a difficult time in American history. Rating: 4/5.

Review: The Nightingale

Near the end of The Nightingale, a novel by Kristin Hannah, the protagonist, an old woman, makes an observation in 1995. Looking back at her life and her role in the French Resistance during World War II, she observes that war is essentially a guy thing.

When it comes to remembering wartime contributions, it is men who get the parades and the medals. It is men who write the books, make the speeches, hold reunions, and seek the glory.

It is men who get the credit.

But as The Nightingale reminds us, women -- in this case, civilian women -- fight wars too. They do it quietly, bravely, and usually with little fanfare. They do it in ways that are no less important than the men fighting for God and country on the front lines.

In The Nightingale, the No. 1 New York Times bestseller, two French sisters, Vianne and Isabelle Rossignol, take up the fight against their Nazi German occupiers in different ways and at different times. Both succeed to different degrees.

Vianne, the go-along-get-along school teacher, at first seeks accommodation with the enemy. She tries to ride out the war from the family home as she takes care of Sophie, her young daughter, and awaits the return of Antoine, her French soldier husband.

Isabelle, the rebellious younger sister, jumps right into the fight. A beautiful misfit battling a host of personal demons, stemming from a lifetime of neglect, she joins the active resistance and repeatedly risks her life guiding downed Allied airmen to Spain and freedom.

Telling the story from the perspective of both sisters, Hannah produces a novel that is poignant, captivating, and informative.

Many have compared this book to All the Light We Cannot See and The Book Thief, the recent and widely celebrated novels by Anthony Doerr and Markus Zusak, respectively. All three works paint a compelling picture of occupied Europe during World War II.

I think The Nightingale holds up well against the other books. As a work about the role of women in the French Resistance, it also compares favorably to Jackdaws, a novel by Ken Follett, and Charlotte Gray, a 2001 feature film starring Cate Blanchett.

I recommend The Nightingale not only to readers who like riveting accounts of civilians in wartime but also to those who are drawn to celebrations of the human spirit. Rating: 5/5.

American Journey, Take Three

I didn’t quite match the frenetic pace of some in the NaNoWriMo crowd. It took me five weeks to write fifty thousand words and eight to write eighty, but I got it done. On the fourth anniversary of the release of my first novel, I finished the rough draft of my eighth.

AJ3, as I often call the third book in the American Journey series, is now ready for a revision process that will take twelve to fifteen weeks. At eighty-two thousand words, or about 275 Kindle pages, it will be my second-shortest work, after The Journey, and the first that takes on not only the past but also the future.

It is the story of Cameron Coelho, a loner who stumbles upon an old photo while studying for a doctorate in history. Mesmerized by the beautiful woman in the picture, a society writer murdered in 1925, he contacts Geoffrey Bell, the “time-travel professor,” and soon finds himself on a train to Evansville, Indiana, and the Roaring Twenties.

I hope to choose a title and a cover image by early March. In the meantime, the drive to turn a good draft into a great book begins.

One (hundred) is not enough

There are days I think Nora Roberts isn’t real. No one, I am convinced, could write 214 books, including 195 New York Times bestsellers, even over thirty-five years. Any novelist that prolific must surely be a software program or a committee of twenty authors writing with a common purpose and a common voice.

Yet writers like Roberts really do exist. They produce full-length novels at a pace that is both mind-boggling and inspiring.

Stephen King has more than sixty full-length works and 200 short stories to his credit. R.L. Stine has penned hundreds of children's books. For them, National Novel Writing Month is every month.

And that’s just the current crowd. A few writers from the past have set records that may never be broken. Barbara Cartland wrote 723 romance novels, including twenty-three in a single year. She left 160 unfinished manuscripts behind when she died in May 2000.

Charles Hamilton, another Briton, wrote 100 million words, most in short stories for magazines. That's the equivalent of 1,200 books.

Science fiction legend Isaac Asimov published more than five hundred works in half a century. His output covers nine of the ten classes, or primary categories, in the Dewey Decimal system.

Corín Tellado of Spain wrote more than four thousand novellas before her death in 2009. That's thousand with a T.

I don’t plan to write four thousand of anything. I like sleep too much. I do, however, plan to write several more books, including at least three more novels in the American Journey series.

Work on the untitled third book of that series, set in Evansville, Indiana, in 1925, is under way. I hope to have a first draft out by the middle of March and a finished product out by June.

The best in Christmas movies

I like the Christmas season. I like the music, the lights, the festive spirit, and, of course, the holiday itself. No other time of the year quite compares to the stretch between Thanksgiving (some would say Labor Day) and New Year’s Day.

A favorite activity for me growing up was watching an endless steam of specials, such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, which turned 50 today, and Rankin/Bass productions like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Later on, movies became part of my holiday regimen.

Some programs were one and done. I never warmed up to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, for example, or 1983’s A Christmas Story, despite its off-the-charts reviews. Home Alone, Elf, and The Santa Clause have lost their appeal over the years.

Other movies and programs, however, continue to grow on me, including several I consider holiday essentials. Here are ten I would strongly recommend to get into the Christmas spirit.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). There’s a reason NBC shows this twice in December. Flat out one of the best movies ever made.

2. A Christmas Carol (1951). Dickens’ novel has been adapted many times to film. This version, starring Alastair Sim, is the best.

3. The Polar Express (2004). The animated classic, based on the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, is cinematic eye candy.

4. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). This animated musical TV special has no peer. Boris Karloff beats Jim Carrey seven days a week.

5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947). A must-see for fans of the late Maureen O’Hara. Natalie Wood’s first major role.

6. The Holiday (2006). Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet exchange homes over the holidays. A movie that will stick with you.

7. Trading Places (1983). My favorite comedy is set against a Christmas backdrop. Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy at their best.

8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). If there is a bad Muppets movie out there, this is not it. Michael Caine is perfect as Scrooge.

9. Holiday Inn (1942). This is worth seeing for Bing Crosby’s performance of “White Christmas” alone.

10. Holiday in Handcuffs (2007). Melissa Joan Hart stars in this made-for-TV comedy, the one guilty pleasure on my list.

Review: Unbroken

As a reader, I am not easily impressed. I have read more than 500 books and wouldn’t consider more than 30 great works of literature. Every now and then, however, I read — or listen to — a book that makes me shake my head in awe.

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, is one such book. Subtitled “A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,” it is a triumph of storytelling, one I would recommend to anyone who is drawn to celebrations of the human spirit.

The story of Olympic runner and prisoner of war Louis "Louie" Zamperini, Unbroken is a mix of history, drama, and inspiration. Like many, I was vaguely familiar with Zamperini’s story. I had read reviews of the 2014 movie based on the book, but nothing quite prepared me for the book itself. It was, in a word, an experience.

Three things stood out for me.

The first was Hillenbrand’s prose. Lean, direct, and yet sufficiently descriptive, it brought Zamperini’s story to life. Hillenbrand exceeded even her effort with Seabiscuit: An American Legend, another non-fiction work that made its way to the big screen.

I also enjoyed Edward Herrmann’s narration. Herrmann, the late American actor, director, writer, and comedian, brought gravitas and sensitivity to a story that demanded both.

Both author and narrator did justice to a man whose life was just flat out amazing. Zamperini, who died last year at age 97, deserved a book for his athletic career alone. An aimless, troublemaking teen in the 1930s, he made a nearly seamless transition from the streets of Torrance, California, to the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin.

But it is Zamperini, the U.S. Army airman, crash survivor, and POW, who shines in this book. He quickly becomes larger than life as he fights a multitude of battles, both large and small, just to stay alive.

When listening to this book, I was constantly reminded of the saying that “cats have nine lives.” In Unbroken, Louie Zamperini has no fewer than twenty. He is the dictionary definition of “survivor.”

I plan to see the movie, starring Jack O'Connell and directed by Angelina Jolie, at the earliest opportunity. Until then, I will savor one of the best stories I’ve ever consumed. Unbroken should be recommended reading in every American classroom. Rating: 5/5.

Remembering our veterans

If there is one American holiday that never seems to get its due, it is Veterans Day. Lost in the maze between Halloween and Christmas, it is often confused with Memorial Day — if it is remembered at all.

Which is a shame, of course. If anything, we should dedicate a week to those who have served in the armed forces. Even a month would not be too much, at least not in my opinion.

I don't mention Veterans Day or even Armistice Day, as it was known from 1919 until 1954, in any of my seven novels, but I do play up the event that inspired it in one of the books.

In Chapter 35 of The Show, time traveler Grace Vandenberg comforts a friend by telling her that a war raging in Europe will end "on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” She is later witness to an impromptu parade that breaks out in Seattle when the armistice of November 11, 1918, is announced.

Grace's love interest in The Show is a wounded officer who has just returned from the battlefields of France. John Walker, a U.S. Army captain, plays a small but relevant part in a book that is, in some respects, a tribute to those who fought in World War I.

Jack Hicks, a retired admiral, plays a similar role in Mercer Street. He serves his country admirably by advocating peace through strength at a time (1938-1939) when many Americans preferred to ignore or play down growing militarism in Germany and Japan.

In other books, I mention veterans of the Civil War, the American Indian wars, the Spanish-American War, World War II, and the conflict in Vietnam. Those serving in more peaceful times also get their due. Brian Johnson, the nerdy high school senior in The Journey, tests his mettle by joining the Rangers in the 1980s.

I have also used civilian characters to honor vets. In The Mine, Joel Smith, a 22-year-old time traveler in 1941, wonders whether he can measure up to those who have served. He is haunted by memories of grandfathers who fought valiantly in World War II and by knowledge of the fate that awaits his Army-bound best friend.

I don't know whether I will feature veterans in the remaining books of the American Journey series, but I do know I will look for opportunities to do so. I think it's important to draw attention, even through fiction, to those who have done so much for so many.

Happy Veterans Day to the millions of men and women who answered the call. This civilian is grateful for your service.

A Halloween treat for the ages

If there was one event that dictated the primary setting of Mercer Street, released last week, it was a radio broadcast that was supposed to be no more than an early Halloween treat.

When Orson Welles took to the airwaves on an otherwise quiet Sunday evening seventy-seven years ago, he intended merely to entertain an audience. Instead, he turned a nation upside down.

On that night, Welles directed and narrated a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. The realistic performance, broadcast to 12 million listeners on the CBS radio network, sparked a mass hysteria unmatched in American history and catapulted the 23-year-old Welles (pictured below) to international fame.

I played up the event in Mercer Street because I thought it perfectly captured the tenor of the times. Many Americans believed "Martians" had invaded New Jersey, despite numerous disclaimers, because they lived in a world where scary things happened every day.

Hitler had just annexed a chunk of Czechoslovakia and looked at the rest of Europe with hungry eyes. America was militarily weak and still mired in a decade-long depression. Fantastic claims could not be disproved by searching Google or even turning on the news. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles WAS the news.

As a result, many people took what they heard seriously. Motorists near Grovers Mill, New Jersey -- the extraterrestrial invasion's launching point -- jammed local roads and highways. Others overwhelmed switchboards with frantic calls to police. People in other parts of the United States responded in similar fashion.

The radio performance even created a stir in Concrete, Washington, nearly 2,400 miles west of Ground Zero. Some residents fled into the mountains when a power failure during the broadcast plunged the small community into near total darkness. Chaos reigned.

Researching the episode was a memorable experience. When reading dozens of newspaper, magazine, and online articles describing the event, I was able to immerse myself in a simpler, less cynical, more innocent era. I was able to easily understand how up to one million people had simply lost it, if only for an hour.

Much has been written about the broadcast, its aftermath, and its impact on everything from Welles’ career to the radio industry itself. I encourage those interested in this fascinating chapter in our nation’s history to learn more.

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can even listen to the entire War of the Worlds broadcast. It can be found at Archive.org.

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

Driving down a different Street

I admit I resisted writing this book. Even as one who had written six novels set in the twentieth century, I resisted writing about the 1930s. The thirties, I thought, were too drab, too colorless, and far too uneventful for the kind of story I wanted to write.

Then I researched the year leading up to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and found that the United States was anything but drab, colorless, and uneventful. It was a deceptively interesting and active place, a cauldron of political, cultural, and social activity in a world that was slowly but surely coming apart.

In Mercer Street, the second novel in the American Journey time-travel series, three strong-willed Chicago women, representing three distinct generations, jump into that cauldron and commence vastly different journeys of discovery.

For one of the ladies, the leap is a tentative first step as a widow. Weeks after her husband dies in the midst of an affair, Susan Peterson, 48, seeks solace and hopes to find it on a Santa Barbara vacation with her mother Elizabeth and daughter Amanda. The romance novelist, however, gets more than she bargained for when she meets a professor who possesses the secret of time travel.

Within days, the women travel to 1938 and Elizabeth's hometown of Princeton, New Jersey. Elizabeth begins a friendship with her refugee parents and infant self, while Susan and Amanda fall for a widowed admiral and a German researcher with troubling ties. Each finds love, adventure, and intrigue in the age of Route 66, Big Band music, mesmerizing radio broadcasts, and frightening headlines.

Like September Sky and the five novels of the Northwest Passage series, Mercer Street presents the twentieth century on a twenty-first-century stage. Like the other titles, it is available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com. It goes on sale today.

Back to the Present Part II

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Back to the Future Part II. Maybe twenty years, in fact. But today, the movie is fresh in my mind, if not front and center on my television screen. Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled to October 21, 2015, in the popular 1989 flick.

Many news sources are commemorating the day with feature stories. Some of the best are from CNN, CBS, The Telegraph, and Vanity Fair. Most focus on the accuracy of the movie’s depiction of life in 2015. Several predictions, it turns out, were spot on.

I’m still holding out on Part II's most famous claim. The Chicago Cubs, down three games to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series, have some work to do if they hope to meet the film’s lofty expectations. They must win four straight to reach the World Series for the first time since 1945.

I plan to publish Mercer Street, a book that mentions the Cubs, once Chicago’s playoff fate is known. Look for a weekend release.

Making The Journey to audio

Of the six time-travel novels I have published in three and a half years, The Journey is perhaps the least like the rest. It is easily my shortest work at 244 pages, by far the most contemporary, and arguably the most serious and poignant. It is the only one of my books set in a fictional town and the only one inspired by personal experience. It also offers the fewest points of view at two.

Published as a Kindle book in November 2012, it is the story of a 48-year-old Seattle widow who finds a second lease on life in 1979 Oregon, the time and place of her senior year in high school. Only Mercer Street, scheduled for publication later this month, features a similar theme. No other novel has a comparable ending.

The Journey was also the last of the five Northwest Passage books to receive a cosmetic makeover. Illustrator Laura Wright LaRoche produced a new cover, based heavily on the original, just last month.

Today, the book, the second in the series, gains yet another distinction. Thanks to Caroline Miller, a veteran voiceover artist from Missouri, The Journey is now available in audio.

Miller, the narrator of more than 90 titles, recorded the novel more than three weeks ahead of schedule, making an October release possible. I found Miller through the Audiobook Creation Exchange, an Amazon.com program designed to match authors with audio professionals. This was my first experience with ACX.

The Journey is available through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. It joins The Mine, released by Podium Publishing in 2014, among the Northwest Passage books that have been converted to audio.