This is my first
question for you. I know you love writing historical fiction, especially
stories set during WWII. Do you think we can
learn the truth about our past and roots reading historical novels more than or
as well as researching on documents?
Reading a story set
in a historical context can help stimulate interest in historical events, and
further our understanding of our own path through the present. This places an unusual duty on the
author. The context within which your
story takes places must be historically accurate - balanced against the need to
simplify overly complex interactions and create a story people will read and
enjoy. I research my novels as if I were
writing a “real” history. I write the context as accurately as
possible, and then insert my characters into lessor known pieces of that
history to create a plausible story.
Good historical fiction is a challenge and a joy.
I found my
grandfather’s
WWI journals from when he served in France in 1918. On my next trip to Europe, I made a point of
visiting all of the places he wrote about - walked down the same streets in
Paris and took photographs at the same spot where his friends photographed
him. Laced between the lines were key
historical elements - the German Spring Offensive of 1918, the bombardment of
Paris by the “Kaiser
Wilhelm” gun,
the American army attacks, and the armistice.
As I vacationed in
Normandy, I stayed in Courseulles-sur-Mer, the small port at the center of the
Juno Beach landings by the Canadians. I
felt there was a way to connect these two events into a unified story that
explored the personal lives of people caught in this chaos. In the process, I discovered the catharsis
that led my grandfather - an engineer by training - to dedicate the rest of his
life to being a chaplain.
The result was The
Juno Letters.
How interesting! Who are the protagonists of your series? Tell
us about them.
Antoine Bouchard is the main character of book
1- The Juno Letters. A Frenchman living
in the Alsace region, he was forced to serve in the German army in WWI. Sent to the Western front after the collapse
of Russia, he is taken prisoner and forced to serve the American army. He befriends a young American, and his
friendship forms the basis of The Juno Letters.
The story follows his journey through the post-war chaos, finding love,
and the tragedy of the German occupation.
He is forced by circumstance to help British intelligence gather
information for the invasion, at a terrible personal cost.
Andy Anderson, my grandfather in real life as
well as the story, must face the brutal reality of a world at war - so
different from the world of Rockford, Illinois.
His friendship with Antoine is reflected in a series of letters found in
a tin box in the foundation of a cottage in Normandy in the present - letters
to Andy Anderson that were never mailed.
Who is the mysterious "Antoine" of the letters, and why does
he fear for his life?
Marianne - the beautiful baker's daughter who
marries Antoine, and who is innocently caught up in a web of police corruption
and victimized by the French Holocaust.
The story of Marianne is they key to unraveling the mystery of The Juno
Letters.
Ariéle Bouchard - Antoine and Marianne's daughter,
is ripped from her mother's arms and sold into slavery to a German colonel in
Paris. Ariéle's story is the thread that binds the three
books of The Juno Letters together as it shifts from present day to period time
as Ariéle
tries to close the circle on the truth of her family.
Police
Captain Charest - Captain Charest of the Police Nationale is the central
antagonist in all three stories. He
personally arranges the kidnapping of young Ariéle, operates a corrupt looting network in book 2, and
in the final book plans to double cross his fellow conspirators to flee Paris
with a king's ransom - and the beautiful Ariéle - for himself.
Plausibility. The story must move from one reality to
another in a way that could have happened given the complex web of
possibilities of the historical period.
To do this, one's research must be impeccable, the story line carefully
edited for continuity, and characters developed based on the thoughts and
prejudices of the period, not today's sanitized and politically correct world.
So, in your opinion, what are a historical
fiction writer’s main
task and talent ?
My
main task is to blend fact and fiction to where the line between the two is
impossible to discern. This takes
skillful storytelling and research. What
I do is discover some little-known activity buried within a well-known
historical event and substitute my characters for the actors in real life. This way, those that check my facts - and
believe me, my readers do - find the larger context to be true, but can neither
confirm nor deny the actions of my characters within the smaller, more personal
story.
How important is
accuracy in writing historical fiction?
Accuracy
is a thin line we all must walk carefully.
History is messy. Nothing happens
with the clarity and certainty we would like to find. We must make difficult decisions to simplify,
trim, and truncate historical realities for the sake of the story. I work very hard to be accurate, to the point
of selecting real locations, real people, and real situations to place my
characters within. Where I must make
changes for the story's sake, I document these in my introduction.
I print my
manuscripts and read them aloud to feel the cadence, and live the dialog with
my characters. Even after all the time I
spend with the words, there are parts I cannot read aloud without being reduced
to tears.
Is there any other
historical era you are fascinated by and you’d like to write
about?
I have always been
fascinated by the late 19th century. The
traditional world of empire is beginning to show the first signs of collapse
under the onslaught of technology, transportation changes, and science. Empires worldwide responded like caged
animals, creating the dynamics that evolved into the great world wars.
I tend to live in the past more than in the present as a
teacher of English literature as well as a fond reader of historical fiction
and watcher of costume drama/movies. You do the same as an author dedicated to
research and to write about the past. What I’d like to know from you is, do the lessons we get from the
past more alienate us from reality or more help us to face it?
We are inundated by
commercial media that tells us how to behave, what to believe, and how to
act. This is just an illusion, of course
- for these people simply want to sell you something. They sell their media air space, and have no
connection to the result of their incessant propaganda. Have we lost the ability to make judgements
for ourselves?
Living with history
helps me keep my focus, or so I would like to think. But is that just an illusion, too? Am I any better able to face the future armed
with knowledge of the past? I often
question my own view of reality in my writing - a reality I am constantly
seeking.
Now back to your The
Juno Letters. How many books are already out and how many have you planned to
complete the series?
I have three titles:
Book 1 - The JunoLetters
Book 2 - Cross ofFire
Book 3 - Clan of the Black Sun (due out March 10)
I have started Book 4
- The Lost Children. It is about Kindertransport,
the attempt to save the children of Europe from the Nazis in 1939-1940.
Book 5 - Untitled;
the main character, Sid Woodard, was introduced in Book 3. The character is based on my real friend and
mentor, Sid Woodcock - an original memebr of the American OSS in WWII. This incredible story is one he told me I
could only write after he passed away.
Sid warned me I could never prove it was real - a story in itself - so I
am writing it as fiction.
Will there be
more?
Probably.
Do you think it is possible
to write an add for The Juno Letters as briefly as in ... about 50 words?
Letters discovered in
a tin box hidden in the foundation of a cottage in Normandy reveal a terrible
secret. The lives of thousands of Allied
soldiers preparing to storm Juno Beach on D-Day literally are in Antoine’s
hands. The Juno Letters - stories of
innocent people caught in the hell of war.
Well done! What
are you up to next, Larry?
I have started
writing book 4 based on material I cut from Cross of Fire. I am also ready to publish Book 3 - I just
finished the final draft literally minutes before this interview. And the audiobook of Book 1 - The Juno
Letters is soon to be ready - likely by the first of the month.
I will be bundling
all three books in a special “70th Anniversary
D-Day Edition” planned
for this June 6, and hope to be in Normandy for the celebration to do a book
signing. The Canadian museum in
Courseulles-sur-Mer carries The Juno Letters in print.
That’s
all, Larry. It’s
been a great pleasure to chat with you and thanks a lot for being my guest. I’ll
wait for you back at FLY HIGH! soon.
About the author
 |
| Larry's Office at the Oly Club |
I have coffee most
every morning at my "office" - a small table in a 1920s style
restaurant and hotel called the Olympic Club in Centralia, Washington. Visitors assume I work there, some think I am
the manager. I direct people to the
bathrooms - the urinals in this place are a tourist attraction all by
themselves. This is where I write. The chaos and atmosphere prepare me for the
day, and everyone in town knows if you need to talk to me, just drop by the
"Oly Club."
Most don't know that I
have a master's degree in business, and have run my own technology company for
nearly twenty of my last forty working years.
I won a national championship on horseback, raced sailboats, wrestled
octopus, baby-sat a killer whale, and once was a cook on a salmon purse seiner.
I have read "A
Soldier's Burial” aloud over General
Patton's grave in Luxembourg, and said a prayer of thanks at the very spot at
Margaret in Belgium where the German panzers were stopped outside
Bastogne. I cried on Omaha Beach in
Normandy and in the gas chamber at Dachau.
I wear a silver Stetson and boots when I travel and answer to "Hey,
cowboy!' in several languages.
I have led an
interesting life - married thirty-plus years, have three children, five
grandchildren, and twenty-five foster children.
I am now free to pursue my passion for writing - especially about the
two great wars of the twentieth century.
I cherish my role as "author-in-residence," or that crazy guy
at the table by the urinals - it depends on your perspective.
About the series: TheJuno Letters
The Juno Letters series
tells the stories of innocent people caught up in the ravages of war and the
French Holocaust. They are stories of
tragedy and hope, loss and triumph of the human spirit. I have grown to love my characters as if they
were family - I hope you love them as much! ... L.W. Hewitt
The Juno Letters
series is available at Amazon.com and its overseas stores, Smashwords.com,
iTunes, and all major e-book retailers, including the subscription services,
Oyster.com and Scribd.com. The print
version is available at CreateSpace.com (Amazon); the audiobook at Audible.com
(any day now).
Visit the junoletters.com - links to all of my books and resources
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