Kay Blue's Blog

I've had some readers ask me where my ideas for The Decoration Day Committee came from. As noted, the book is dedicated to the women of my mother's generation who lived through WWII as young adults. Some ideas came from her stories and from other women relatives and acquaintances who had experienced those times first hand. Other ideas came from my own observations and experiences growing up in rural WI. The book is fiction. Many of the events were germinated by real events and memories. But I took those stories one step further and asked, "What if?" to add conflict and drama. For example, I remember my mother tell how she accompanied her father, the town's police/fire chief to a fire at the excelsior (a product made from wood) factory. I took that story and made the location a lumber mill and added the element of Eddie believing the fire may have been started by Nazi spies. Another example is the Little Savoy dance hall. Dance halls were prevalent social locations and one near my home had a rather exotic wall painting that I reference in a description in the book as well. Asking "What if?" generates a lot of ideas. The trick is weaving them together for plot and character development.

I finished reading The Nest last night. It is an entertaining read with lots of twists and unexpected character connections. It's difficult to like many of the characters, but they are interesting. It is sort of like watching a prime time soap opera where even the more despicable characters can enjoy a little popularity just because they are so charmingly despicable. For the most part the characters live somewhat privileged lives and take money for granted until they find expected funds are not going to be realized. The author does a good job of exploring what the desire for money will lead people to do. The biggest weakness I found in the book is the lack of development for some of the secondary characters. I really thought the story thread for Matilda and Vinnie was left hanging and too conveniently dismissed. While I did enjoy the book, I don't think it's going to be one of those titles I will think about very often in the future.

It's happening. I'm finally getting some substantial writing done again. Even though The Decoration Day Committee is not selling at all, I find I am energetically writing its sequel. Maybe if I have two books out there, marketing will be easier--or maybe twice as hard. Anyway, at this point, it is more fun to write than to market. I think I'm going to call my new book The Choir's Secrets. It brings back Jo and Fiona along with some new characters. I got to 3,499 words to day. Only about 80,000 words to go.