Monday, June 29, 2020

Mystery Monday: Daphne du Maurier and Rebecca

Mystery Monday: Daphne du Maurier and Rebecca

Most avid mystery readers are familiar with Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, having heard of it even if they haven’t read the book. Published in 1938, the novel is considered part of the gothic subgenre of mystery due to its gloomy and decaying setting, damsel in distress, psychological terror, romance, and last but not least, mystery.

In 1937, Daphne signed a three-book deal and accepted a £1,000 advance. Stationed in Egypt with her husband who was a lieutenant colonel with the Grenadier Guards, she managed to get about 15,000 words into the novel before tearing up the fledgling manuscript. She cabled her agent to notify him of her anticipated failure to finish the book on schedule. Upon her return to Britain in December of that year, she sequestered herself from friends and family and pounded out the story in four months. After reading the manuscript, her agent predicted that it would be “a rollicking success.” His prediction was an understatement.

Rebecca’s initial print run was 20,000, and sold almost twice that number in the first month. The books has never gone out of print. Between 1938 and 1965, the novel sold almost three million copies. One report indicates that the book continues to sell about 4,000 copies each month, and has been translated into almost two dozen languages. It has been adapted to stage, screen, and radio numerous times, with Daphne herself writing a play in 1939. Hitchcock’s 1940 adaptation starring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, and Judith Anderson won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Hollywood Production Code required Max to be punished if he had murdered Rebecca, therefore, the plot was changed to make it seem her death was accidental.

Daphne’s accomplishments should be no surprise. She was born in London on May 13, 1907 into a creative and successful family. Her parents were both actors, and the author’s official website calls him a “matinee idol of his day.” Her grandfather was an artist and writer. She and her two sisters were raised in a privileged environment in Hampstead, and the family purchased a holiday home in Cornwell when Daphne was in her teens. Perhaps the hours spent there combined with her love of the literature of the Brontë sisters is what inspired Rebecca. (More than a few commenters have noted parallels with Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.)

In intriguing aside involves the use of the book by the Germans during World War II as the key to a book code. Sentences would be made using single words from the book, referred to by page number, line, and position in the line. One copy was kept in Rommel’s headquarters, and the other carried by Abwehr agents into Cairo. It is believed the code was never used because of the radio section of the headquarters was captured, and thus the code suspected of being compromised.

I couldn’t find any references as to whether Daphne found out about the Germans’ usage of her book and wonder how she felt had she known. I would imagine, it was a dubious honor to be so well-known.

Have you read or seen Rebecca?

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About Murder at Madison Square Garden (releasing July 15, 2020)

The dream of a lifetime becomes a nightmare.

Photojournalist Theodora “Teddy” Schafer’s career has hit the skids thanks to rumors of plagiarism. With any luck, a photo spread with Charles Lindbergh at the America First Rally will salvage her reputation. After an attempted assassination of Lindbergh leaves another man dead, Teddy is left holding the gun. Literally. Can she prove her innocence before the police lock her up for a murder she didn’t commit?

Private Investigator Ric Bogart wants nothing to do with women after his wife cleaned out their bank account and left him for another man, but he can’t ignore the feeling he’s supposed to help the scrappy, female reporter who is arrested for murder at the America First rally. Can he believe her claims of innocence and find the real killer without letting Teddy steal his heart?

Preorder Link: https://amzn.to/3fY3CxY

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Welcome back, Jennifer Slattery!

Welcome back, Jennifer Slattery!

Linda:  Welcome back! Congratulations on your latest release, Building a Family. Where did you get your inspiration for the story?
Jennifer: Thanks so much! That’s such a great question, and one I often struggle to answer. Sometimes story ideas just seem to emerge in my brain and slowly build, either as I write or as I think on them. This story touches on foster care through kinship, which is where family members (aunts, uncles, etc.) or those who’ve already developed relationships with children who’ve been removed from their homes take over care.
Our family fostered for a while and got to know others who were fostering, including those who were fostering nieces and/or nephews. Their stories were hard, heart-wrenching, and beautiful and stuck with me and initiated some of the scenes in Building a Family.
LM: Your male protagonist is a bull rider. What sort of research did you have to do to learn about his job? Did you ride any bulls per chance? J
Jennifer: Oh, my, that was hard! First, I should clarify, he’s a former bull rider. He quit after a serious injury and also the death of a bull riding friend. That said, in researching Noah’s background, I had to watch a lot of rodeo footage and read numerous articles, and that was tough. I have very low tolerance for anything even remotely violent or seeing or thinking of others in pain. Don’t worry, I didn’t include any blood or gore or broken bones in my story. J For my own sanity!
 LM: How do you decide where to set your story?
Jennifer: I’ve set all my Love Inspired stories, so far, in a small fictional town in Texas, primarily because I love the hill country. The area is so beautiful, and when I visit, I find the relaxed pace and sense of community comforting.
LM: Like many women, you wear many hats: wife, mother, writer, speaker, and podcaster. How do you juggle your many responsibilities?
Jennifer: I manage my time carefully. Haha! I’ve also got great teams surrounding me. My husband spoils me and has made it his personal mission to do all he can to free up my time to write. I can’t remember the last time I went grocery shopping, and just recently he completely took over the laundry. (Can I get a hallelujah??) I’ve also got a great team behind me, in terms of podcasting also. I podcast for Life Audio, owned by Salem publication, and they handle all the editing and getting it loaded and what not. All I have to do is create the content, and that part’s fun! I also have a great ministry team (Wholly Loved Ministries), where we all do our part and together, God turns our efforts into something beautiful.
We truly weren’t meant to live, and write or serve, alone.
LM: What advice do you have for fledgling writers?
Jennifer: Don’t quit, but don’t expect the journey to be quick or easy. They say only about 10% of writers get published, to which I respond, “That’s because the other 90% quit.” I’ve known so many writers who begin with passion and determination, godly confidence, who quit a few years later. I don’t think they understand it takes, on average, about 10 years for a serious writer to receive their first publishing contract.
LM: Here are some quickies:
Favorite childhood book: I was just talking about this on Facebook the other day! When I was young, my dad read me a book called Mr. Bun. Rather, he sang it to me. It’s funny how some memories stick with us. That memory—of his voice, as he sang through the story—has stuck with me, and it’s so clear. I’ve referenced that story so many times, he finally found it online and bought it for me. J If I ever have grandkids, that will be one of the first books I read … er … sing, to them.
Favorite Bible verse: Ephesians 2:10 because it reminds me God has a plan, always. He’s working out that plan, now, through all things. He’s molding me for that plan. All I have to do is keep stepping and obeying. He takes care of everything else. I like to remember this verse in regard to my daughter, now an adult, also. Whenever she’s struggling or hurting, I remind myself God is molding her for His good and hope-filled plan also.
LM: What other projects are on the docket for you this year?
Jennifer: Oh, my, so many. I’m working on more podcast episodes and have really been enjoying those. I’m working on ministry content. (We have devotionals, Bible studies, reading plans, and more.) I’m finishing up a romance novel, as well. After that, I have some video devotions I need to complete, then we’ll see where God leads.
LM: Where can folks find you on the web?
Jennifer: They can find my website at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com, my ministry at WhollyLoved.com, and they can connect with me on Facebook and Instagram. (I have a Twitter account also but rarely use it.)

About Building a Family:
Can love for two little matchmakers unite their reluctant hearts?

Worried that Noah Williams is still the reckless bull rider she remembers, Kayla Fisher is convinced he isn’t the right person to care for their orphaned niece and nephew. Now she’s back home, determined to fight for custody. But Noah is a changed man, and he intends to prove it. When Noah and Kayla start falling for each other, could raising the children together be the perfect solution?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2Y8QVJe

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Traveling Tuesday: Kentucky

Traveling Tuesday: Kentucky


Known as the “Bluegrass State, Kentucky was admitted in 1792 as the 15th state. Louisville and Lexington, Kentukcy’s largest cities are home to over twenty percent of the population. Located in the south, Kentucky is one of four commonwealths of the United States; the other three being Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Bordered by Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri, Kentucky is part of the southern region of the U.S.

Kentucky was heavily involved in World War II. The Army Air Force established numerous airfield for training pilots and crews of fighters and bombers. The First Airforce operated Godman/Fort Knox and Fort Campbell. Air Technical Service command operated Louisville Aircraft Modification Center, and Troop Carrier Command operated Bowman Field and Lexington Air Field. Many of the bases were converted to municipal airports and some were returned to agriculture. Several remained Air Force installations.

The commonwealth was home to eleven prisoner-of-war camps with the largest being at Campbell, Knox, and Breckinridge County. The bulk of the prisoners were German. Many of the prisoners were used to fill the labor void in construction projects and the agricultural industry. Farmers would contract with the government to use the POWs.

Fort Knox was also the temporary home to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

As with the rest of the country, Kentucky was the location of manufacturing plants that converted their facilities to war materiel production. The Louisville Slugger factory switched its production from baseball bats to rifle stocks. One of only five percent of businesses to do so, they were award the Army Navy E Award for their contributions. In Lexington, factories produced parachutes. Ford switched from cars to Jeeps and produced more than 100,000 vehicles by the end of the war. Distillers stopped making bourbon to produce industrial alcohol.

More than three hundred thousand Kentuckians served in the armed forces, with nearly 4,000 wounded and 8,000 giving their lives. One Kentuckian, Franklin Sowsley was one of six Marines who raised the second flag on Iwo Jima. He would be killed weeks later by a sniper.

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Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2YTvCvQ

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Welcome Back, Hope Toler Dougherty

Welcome Back, Hope Toler Dougherty!

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today. It’s nice to have you back again. Congratulations on your latest release, Forever Music. I love the cover. What was the inspiration for your story (besides being a musician yourself)?
Hope: I lived in Charlotte after grad school and taught English at York Technical College. I was young and single then. It’s fun to think of that time—the people I knew, the adventures I had, the guys I dated. It’s easy for me to think about romance when I think of Charlotte. Several of the scenes in Forever Music began with a kernel of truth from that time.
LM:  Your stories are all set in different locations. How do you decide where to put your characters?
Hope: My characters usually come first, and they let me know where they live. One book, however, started with the location. Mars…With Venus Rising is set in Mars, Pennsylvania, near Gibsonia where we used to live. It’s a quirky little town, and I thought it’d be fun to set a quirky story there.
LM: What sort of research did you have to do for Forever Music, and did you unearth any exceptionally intriguing tidbits?
Hope: Aside from what I’ve had to learn on the fly for motherhood, I have little medical knowledge. I had to interview a doctor for information about ulcers. I also interviewed an attorney and a retired judge for the law questions. Having grown up with Blue Laws, when most stores and services were closed on Sundays, I was surprised to learn that people can be served, arrested, and freed any day…even on Easter Sunday.
LM: You have done some fantastic things, including soloing a Cessna! What is one skill you wish you could learn?
Hope: Flying was a long time ago! I wish I knew how to play the banjo. I love blue grass music and am fascinated by the talent of people like Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, and Steve Martin. A banjo waits in my living room for me to begin lessons.
LM: Here are some quickies:
Hope:
Coffee or tea? Coffee unless I’m in Ireland!
Bicycling, walking, or driving?  Bicycling!
Mountains, lake, or ocean? We enjoy a sweet week at Dear Valley YMCA family camp on a lake in Pennsylvania every year, but I love the weeks we’ve spent together at Emerald Isle, NC.  Then again, I love the mountains! North Carolina is a wonderful place to live because we have all three vacation sites!

LM: What is your next project?
Hope: I have about four or five chapters on one of the brothers in Forever Music. He’s such a fun character to write, but now he’s being silent and not talking to me. Maybe he knows I’m focusing on his sister Josie’s story right now and waiting for my full attention!
LM: Where can folks find you on the web?
Hope: Here are my social media links. I love connecting with people and talking about books and writing, so please look me up. Thanks so much for having me, Linda!
Website/Blog: http://hopetolerdougherty.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AUTHORHOPETOLERDOUGHERTY/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13941031.Hope_Dougherty
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hopetdougherty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HopeTDougherty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopetolerdougherty/

About Forever Music
A battered heart needs healing.
A community needs rescuing.
A chartered course needs redirecting.

College history instructor, Josie Daniels, is good at mothering her three brothers, volunteering in her community, and getting over broken hearts, but meeting aloof, hotshot attorney Ches Windham challenges her nurturing, positive-thinking spirit. Josie longs to help Ches find his true purpose, but as his hidden talents and true personality emerge, will she be able to withstand his potent charms, or will she lose her heart in the process?

A rising star in his law firm, Ches Windham is good at keeping secrets. He’s always been the good son, following his father’s will to become an attorney and playing the game for a fast track to partnering with a law firm. Lately, though his life’s path has lost whatever luster it had—all because of his unlikely, and unacceptable, friendship with Josie. He struggles between the life he’s prepared for and the one calling to him now. Opposing his father has never been an option, and spending time with Josie can’t be one. The more he’s with her, however, the more he wants to be.

When a crisis tarnishes his golden future and secrets are revealed, Ches is forced to reexamine the trajectory of his life. Will he choose the path his father hammered out for him or the path that speaks to his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2UdYjSp

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Wartime Wednesday: Reporting the War

Wartime Wednesday: Reporting the War

Stephen Crane and a woman most
scholars believe is Cora Stewart Taylor
In 1897, Randolph Hearst's New York Journal appointed reporter Cora Stewart Taylor as "the first woman war correspondent" to cover the Greco-Turkish war with her common-law husband, the writer Stephen Crane. A highly unusual move considering that female journalists were tasked with covering the four Fs: food, fashion, furnishings, and family.

Then the Great War (WWI) came and with it an explosion of print media. The industry now had a platform, and women began to seek opportunities to break into the quintessential male profession of war reporting.

The military, however, had its own goals. It used the accreditation process as its first line of control over war correspondents, and the War Department refused outright to accredit women. Nevertheless, several women, despite being untrained as journalists, were sent to Europe to cover "the woman's side of the war." The Saturday Evening Post's editor, whose main readership was two million middle-class women, believed that there was a woman's point of view or "woman's angle." He also maintained that, "The big story of a war is never at the front. It is in the hospitals and in the homes."


Then came WWII.

Once again, the military used the accreditation process to determine who could and couldn't cover the war. A lengthy process that required background checks on the application as well as his or her family, weeded out many candidates. According to Life photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, "By the time you are accredited you have no secrets from the War Department and neither do your ancestors."

Accreditation acted as a contract: The Army or Navy transported correspondents into war zones, fed and sheltered them, and sent their dispatches home. In return, correspondents followed military law and censorship. Correspondents who defied rules lost credentials.

Nearly every commander in the Allied forces refused to allow women near combat. They feared women breaking under pressure (a fate that befell some men), balking at the lack of women's latrines, or influencing soldiers to take risks to protect them.

Needless to say, this frustrated most of the female reporters:

Journalist Martha Gellhorn (Ernest Hemingway's third wife) is considered by many to be one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century. She said, "I have too frequently received the impression that women war correspondents were an irritating nuisance. I wish to point out that none of us would have our jobs unless we knew how to do them and this curious condescending treatment is as ridiculous as it is undignified."

Journalist Dickey Chapelle who received accreditation to the Pacific Fleet and given the nominal rank of lieutenant commander said, "I want to go as far forward as you will let me." This attitude got her all the way to Iwo Jima. Later, she got an assignment to photograph the use of whole blood in saving lives. Chapelle saw action after she talked her way into land-based hospitals, following the blood. She was found, arrested, and evicted...after having gotten her story.

Martha Gellhorn's career lasted sixty years, and she covered nearly ever major event that occurred during that time. In order to reach the beach and report on the D-Day invasion, she sneaked aboard a hospital ship and hid in the bathroom during the entire voyage then impersonated a stretcher bearer. She got the story, but lost her credentials. Her response? "I followed the war wherever I could reach it."

By the end of the war, of the nearly 2,000 accredited war correspondents in WWII, 127 were women.

__________________

About The Widow & The War Correspondent:

Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3d0UJld

Monday, June 15, 2020

Release Day!

Release Day: The Widow & The War Correspondent



I hope you've enjoyed Spies & Sweethearts and The Mechanic & The MD. Today, the third and final story in the Sisters in Service series is now available. Each book may be read as a standalone, but you may wish to meet all three Strealer sisters.





Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

Use the link below to purchase from your favorite online retailer: 

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Welcome Back, Author Gail Kittleson

Welcome Back, Author Gail Kittleson

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today.  Let’s chat a bit about your latest release Until Then, which is book 5 in your Women of the Heartland series. Part of your story takes place in North Africa, an area of WWII that’s not often covered. What was your inspiration for the story?
Gail: On Pinterest, where I post WWII photos and information, a certain woman kept re-pinning my pictures, so I contacted her. Her mother Dorothy was a nurse with the WWII Army Nurse Corps and worked with the Eleventh Evacuation Hospital all across North Africa, through Sicily, up the boot of Italy, north through France and into Belgium and Germany.
The more I heard about her service, the more the story pulled me in, and then I visited Dorothy’s home. She had died in 2015 at age 98, but left an incredible legacy. Her house was just as she left it, and overflowing with memorabilia and reports from the war.
At the same time, another war story from the East End of London captured me—the worst civilian tragedy of the entire war. This occurred on the stairs of an entrance to the tube station in Bethnal Greene and involved a crush, with many innocent people suffocating.
A photo of the mass grave gripped me so intensely—on one side were various clergymen and on the other the mourners. It struck me that during these awful times, it was the constables and the clergy who held communities together.
Could I integrate these two stories? It seemed like quite a challenge, but I put my heart to it, and Until Then resulted.
LM: What draws you to the World War II era?
Gail: There’s no one simple answer to this question. It’s something about the never-ending stories that keep emerging from the lives of people who experienced this era. And something about their character, too. Their make-do attitudes and determination to thwart oppression and evil intrigue me. And then, there’s the fact that I’m a baby-boomer who grew up in the long shadows this war cast over people love after it was over.
LM: In addition to writing, you are also a speaker and writing coach. How do you balance the two aspects of your career?
Gail:  It’s easy. I spend so much time researching and writing in solitude that the old teacher in me gets hungry for interaction. I miss instructing college writing courses, and facilitating workshops/giving book talks fills that need. I always wanted to be a cheerleader, but wasn’t voted in, so encouraging others is a welcome treat.
LM: What is one piece of advice you can give to fledgling writers?
Gail: Sometimes finding our niche can be difficult. It surely was for me. Consider which genre syncs with your comfort zone—it may be the one calling you.
LM: What is one thing you wish you knew how to do?
Gail: I’d like to be a skilled knitter. For some reason, my attempts to learn have not succeeded.
LM: Here are some quickies:
Gail:
Tea or Coffee: Tea (I’m an Englishwoman in disguise.)
Walking or riding a bike: walking (although riding bike was great when I was younger.)
Ocean or lake for vacation: Either one, if there’s a mountain within sight. So that would probably be a lake. We spend several weeks in Mogollon Rim country in Arizona in the winter. I feel better there because of the altitude and have always loved mountain majesty.
LM: What is your next project?
Gail: I’m working on a Texas WWII story. So much to learn about the unique goings-on there, and how that state contributed to the war effort! Thanks for having me visit, Linda.
LM: Where can folks find you on the web?
Gail:
Website/blog: http://www.gailkittleson.com/     (Please subscribe)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GailKittlesonAuthor
Amazon page: http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson  (Please LIKE)
Twitter: www.twitter.com/GailGkittleson or @GailGkittleson
Instagram: @gailkittlesonauthor (Instagram)  (Please FOLLOW)

About Until Then:
March 3, 1943, Bethnal Green, London's East End

Shortly after a quarter past eight, a siren split the air. Marian Williams lifted her sleeping daughter from her bed and darted down the stairs. Her mother and father-in-law, off on air warden duty, had left the front door unlocked.
She hugged her youngest child close. The blackout made the going difficult, but her husband's instructions echoed in her brain: "Whatever you do, get down inside the station as fast as you can."
She hoped for a spot near the canteen, with access to milk. Uneven light shone over the paved streets. Then she tripped. Her knee hit the concrete, then something bashed her left side. Someone cried out. Another blow scraped her arm on the landing floor. Where was her baby? She attempted to get up, but an even heavier weight slammed her face down. A crushing burden descended, then all went black.
Riding the backs of Army trucks across North Africa, throughout the Sicily campaign, up the boot of Italy, and northward through France into Germany, Dorothy Woebbeking served as a surgical nurse with the 11th Evacuation Hospital.
During World War II, US Army nurses worked and slept in tents through horrific weather, endured enemy fire, and even the disdain of their own superior officers, who believed women had no place in war. But Dorothy and her comrades persevered, and their skills and upbeat attitude made a huge different in the lives of thousands of wounded soldiers.
Dorothy and Marian's stories converge on a simple, hand-stitched handkerchief.
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2Mx4OLV

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Wartime Wednesday: Norway Surrenders

Wartime Wednesday: Norway Surrenders

Eighty years ago today, Norway surrendered to Germany, and King Haakon VII escaped to England. Two months prior, German forces invaded the country and succeeded in capturing most of the strategic points along the coast. This enabled Hitler to control the North Sea allowing German warships and submarines into the Atlantic and import iron ore from Sweden.

Norway did not give up as easily as the German anticipated or hoped, and the invaders lost over 5,000 soldiers and sailors. Britain’s failure to effectively help defend the country was additional fodder for the lack of confidence in Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s abilities. Part of the success of the Germans is also attributed to the fifth column activities of Norwegian fascist forces under Vidkun Quisling such as spreading false rumors and occupying military bases and other important locations.

Opposition to Quisling—whose name now means traitor—was so great that he was unable to formally establish his puppet government until February 1942. His regime was merciless, and as a result, the Norwegian resistance movement was soon the most effective in all Nazi-occupied Europe.

Prior to the invasion, Norway, and her neighbor Sweden, both declared their neutrality, and as such were surprised and ill-prepared for the attack. As the German troops arrived, the Royal Family and government fled before the forces reached Oslo. The Storting (supreme legislature in Norway) convened at Elverum in Eastern Norway and granted the King full authority to rule for the duration of the war. Germany insisted that Haakon appoint a government headed by Quisling, but he refused to abdicate.

In response, the Germans regularly bombed the village of Nybergsund where he was staying. On June 7, the family escaped and traveled to England where they established a government in exile in London to lead the resistance effort. Throughout the war, he sent inspirational radio speeches and supported clandestine military actions in Norway against the occupying forces.

In June 1945, nearly five years later to the day, Haakon and his family returned to Norway.

 ____________________

Coming June 15, 2020

The Widow & The War Correspondent
Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3dHkfx1

Monday, June 8, 2020

Mystery Monday: Shadow of Suspicion

Shadow of Suspicion

Movies produced in the 1930s and 1940s—the Golden Age—are my favorite, and recently I’ve been scouring a variety of sources to find lesser known films, many of which fall under the category of “B movies.” Unfortunately, the term B movie has become synonymous with poor quality, however, that was not the studios’ intent.

Shortly after the studios transitioned from silent to sound films, many exhibitors began to format their showings as double features. Highly popular, the double feature became a staple during the Golden Age, therefore, the studios had to produce a high number of these shorter, less expensive movies to occupy the bottom half of the program. Because of this, B movies comprised the majority of Hollywood production during this period. One movie scholar estimates there are more than four thousand pictures classifiable as B movies.

The Western was a Golden Age B movie staple, but there are also a significant number of comedy/mystery flicks that can be included in the mix. One of those comedy/mystery flicks, I tuned into most recently is Shadow of Suspicion, starring Peter Cookson and Marjorie Weaver, and directed by William Beaudine (nicknamed “One Shot” because he was known to shoot in one take).

Weighing in at only sixty-eight minutes rather than the standard ninety or one hundred, Shadow of Suspicion uses witty dialogue and clever misdirection to keep the viewer guessing as to the identity of the real culprit(s) of stolen jewelry. There are a couple of “aha” moments in the film, and several laugh-out-loud bits. The ending also comes as a surprise.

Peter Cookson, who got his start on stage and appeared in only thirteen movies from 1943 to 1947, moved into television in 1949 where he remained until the late 1960s. Marjorie Weaver appeared in dozens of movies, many of which were B movies and mysteries. She also appeared in two “war movies:” The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944) and Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945) a fundraising short produced by the U.S. Treasury.

What’s your favorite B movie?



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Coming June 15, 2020

The Widow & The War Correspondent (Sisters in Service, book 3)

Are a new life and new love possible in a country devastated by war?

Barely married before she’s widowed after Pearl Harbor three years ago, journalist Cora Strealer travels to England where she’s assigned to work with United Press’s top reporter who thinks the last place for a woman is on the front lines. Can she change his opinion before D-Day? Or will she have to choose her job over her heart?

A sought-after journalist, Van Toppel deserves his pick of assignments, which is why he can’t determine the bureau chief’s motive for saddling him with a cub reporter. Unfortunately, the beautiful rookie is no puff piece. Can he get her off his beat without making headlines…or losing his heart?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3dHkfx1