My current book! I could write for days about it. I'm writing about something near to my heart, the Mennonite community in my mother's small hometown, a hamlet in Kansas. Mom's dad was born into a Mennonite family in the 1880s. He was kicked out of the church as a young man for playing baseball on Sunday for money. He was a baseball fanatic all his life and at one time managed the championship 1928 Wheat League Team.
My grandmother was a descendant of settlers from Quebec in French Canada. No longer Catholics, they were Baptists (long story).
 |
| Grandparents House |
My novel is set in two periods, 1953 and 2019. The protagonists are a present day woman (2019) and her grandmother (1953). It is a murder mystery and just a couple days ago I figured out the who an how of the murderer.
63,000+ words and I didn't know these things. Now I do. Whew! It's fun to write about 1953 with the language and culture so different. It was definitely a different century. My 1953 character is a Mennonite widow, a former missionary, a teacher, a painter, a quilter, a journal writer and now an amateur detective. She amazes me I'm nothing like her.
 |
| French-Baptist Cemetery |
Her granddaughter is a journalist who has lost her job and left her stalker boyfriend. She has inherited her grandmother's house and is writing a book about the Plains. Nothing like me, either, but I know them well.
A couple years ago I visited the county and the town and talked to everyone. Something that surprised me a lot was how friendly and helpful everyone was. It was humbling and also made me cry.
 |
| Santa Fe Railroad Crossing |
As part of this adventure, I discovered the breed of tomatoes my grandfather grew in his garden. Sioux. They are now heirloom an have even been improved. I found some plants and had them shipped from California. Again, the woman running the nursery was so nice. One of the tomatoes is ripening, like my story. This is personal.
 | |
| Local college- everyone so helpful and kind |
I'm sure the other bloggers have interestings works in process. Writers love to talk about their writing.
Take a look:
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blo
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1EW
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspo
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/b
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.co
Posts
This story sounds very interesting, probably due to your research, imagination, and creativity, plus all the helpful people you run into.
ReplyDeleteYour grandparents' house looks lovely and how marvellous to found your grandfather's tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes have such interesting varieties. Hope things look up for you.
ReplyDeleteWow! Even tracking down, ordering, planting, and eating the same tomatoes as are in your story? Now that's real commitment! Talk about immersing yourself in your writing. Good luck with what is so obviously a personally fascinating book to write!
ReplyDelete