Q&A with Murdo Morrison discussion

I would like to welcome you all to my question and answer session. I have to admit, I am curious to discover what questions and comments await. I will try to respond as promptly as possible. Some of you are in different time zones and may experience a lag time. Everyone will get a response. I am really excited to get a chance to share ideas with you. It should be a fun experience.

Murdo Morrison
Roses of Winter
A Hole Without Sides

Hi, Murdo Are all the characters in Roses Of Winter based on people you remember from growing up? and How long did it take to do research for the naval battles.

David wrote: "Hi, Murdo Are all the characters in Roses Of Winter based on people you remember from growing up? and How long did it take to do research for the naval battles."

In some cases characters were inspired by people I knew growing up. However, they were only a starting point in most cases. I often went off in different directions in terms of personality and behavior. Some of my favorite characters are completely invented. I would say that the majority of the 'cast' are totally fictional. The characters that probably most resemble real life prototypes are Charlie Burns and his daughter Ellen.

The research for the naval battles and for the Dunkirk scenes was time consuming. I had to portray the real history as accurately as possible. The convoy to Murmansk is based on the real convoy PQ17. My father was an engineer on the rescue ship Zamalek in that convoy. The Zamalek is the model for the Izmir in the story. In the book I have a section at the back that describes some of the real history behind the fictional story.

There is a response on the other topic in this group that also deals with similar issues. You might also find that interesting.