Blog Four: New Book

I’ve taken a bit of time over the winter to finish my newest book. Still untitled, it is about a strong woman, named Lila. Here’s the synopsis:

"Behind every great woman...is

Another great woman."

Kate Hodges

            Lila Michaels was a strong girl growing up on a farm in North Dakota. She was just coming into her own when she moved to Chicago to live with her sister and brother-in-law in 1935. She loved people, family, friends, dancing, and men. Chicago was a rich environment for all she loved. Her natural tendencies to trust those who spoke the truth, who dared to try something new, and to work together to achieve goals pushed her to the top of the workforce at pre-war Cook County Hospital. A fiancé pilot for American Airlines might have been her future, her goal, her fate. But the war in Europe came to the US, and all that changed.

            Crawling under barbed wire, donning gas masks, and marching in formation, Lila went through basic training for the WAACS. Gone were the working clothes and heels, gone the long walks along the Lake Michigan shoreline. She could change the oil and sparkplugs in a jeep or a tank and also sit quietly and decipher coded messages from the enemy. She was disciplined and could keep secrets. She was valuable to the Army.

            Leaving newfound friends and compatriots along the way, she trained and one day woke up as a WAC Corporal in a hammock on a transport ship to North Africa. New friends, close calls, proving herself over and over, took her through the war in Europe. But she wasn't done. She had just begun.

            Her training and experience matured her, making her someone who had to search for a special place to feel she was contributing. Alaska, that's the place.

            Three periods of her life shaped Lila. Be part of her journey.

"Strong women aren't born, they're forged

in the fires they've had to walk through."

Silver Ravenwolf

Like The Image Maker, the idea for the book came to me from a dear friend, who was talking about her great-aunt. Kate had me hooked in her first three sentences. The woman was what might be called a Renaissance woman, amazingly good at everything she did. except maybe for her love life, but that’s in the story, too. Lila's life spanned from 1906, when she was born in North Dakota, to the late 1980s in California. Lots of history happened in the world, and particularly in the US, during that time: WW I, the Spanish Flu, the Depression, Prohibition, Pearl Harbor, WW II, and the post-war period of the emerging middle class. She saw it all.

As a writer and a woman, I couldn’t wait to sit down and write each day, excited about how Lila would fill in the loose timeline I'd made before starting the book. This is another book, like The Image Maker, where I am working with family members to represent their people as true to form as possible while still moving the story forward. So far, the families have loved this type of story. I write in dialogue, and it sometimes flows so well that I have trouble catching it all in print.

I would encourage other writers who are searching for a topic or a character to center a good storytelling novel around to go to your friends and acquaintances and ask if they have any colorful characters they could tell you about.

Writing a single main character novel this time (The Image Maker had three equally main characters). It was more relaxing and fun than trying to piece a puzzle together of the lives of three very different men.

Now is a time of political chaos and financial worries for many, making escape into a novel of any description a good antidote for the stressful times we are in. The amount of historical research for this novel was intense and absolutely necessary for its success. I went to AI to corroborate my own research, and it was a big help. I used the free ChatGPT app and will state that fact in the published book.

I do have a side story about using ChatGPT. I asked my question and was happily writing away, my phone beside the computer. After about 30 minutes of typing and rechecking notes, a man's voice came from my phone, gently asking, “Is there anything else you need me to do for you?” The hair stood up on my arms, and I just stared at the phone. I turned it off, all the way, and continued writing. When talking with friends, I refer to ChatGPT as he; he fixed this, or he didn’t agree with my timeline, or he was right on the money, adding something that was equally helpful as the question I asked. Stay in the real world, and don’t get sucked into thinking you are dealing with a person. I only typed 'Thank you' once before kicking myself.

I’ll write more about the new book, title pending. It was sent to the publisher yesterday, my fingers and toes crossed for good luck. Happy writing this spring.