Here's a little more on the poem quoted in my last post, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Though various legends have developed as to the inspiration for the poem, the most commonly held belief is that McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields" on May 3, 1915, the day after presiding over the funeral and burial of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who had been killed during the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem was written as he sat upon the back of a medical field ambulance near an advance dressing post at Essex Farm, just north of Ypres. The poppy, which was a central feature of the poem, grew in great numbers in the spoiled earth of the battlefields and cemeteries of Flanders.

In 1855, British historian Lord Macaulay, writing about the site of the Battle of Landen (in modern Belgium, 100 miles from Ypres) in 1693, wrote "The next summer the soil, fertilised by twenty thousand corpses, broke forth into millions of poppies. The traveller who, on the road from Saint Tron to Tirlemont, saw that vast sheet of rich scarlet spreading from Landen to Neerwinden, could hardly help fancying that the figurative prediction of the Hebrew prophet was literally accomplished, that the earth was disclosing her blood,[16] and refusing to cover the slain."

The Canadian government has placed a memorial to John McCrae that features "In Flanders Fields" at the site of the dressing station which sits beside the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Essex Farm Cemetery. The Belgian government has named this site the "John McCrae Memorial Site".

The manuscript for my next historical novel, EMEMIES, is about 3/4 done.  Before I started this project I had read, but probably did not appreciate the enormity of the carnage that resulted in "The Great War."
Ten million dead.
Another twenty million wounded.
In the Flanders battle of Passchendaele, alone, the casualties were estimated at 600,000 in just three months.
After researching that battle the famous poem by John Mcrae seemed particularly poignant to me and, perhaps you.


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Very quickly, after Germany overran Belgium to attack France  and rush to the important Atlantic ports, a 400+ mile front was established from Dunkirk on the coast to the Swiss border near Basel.
Eventually defensive trenches were established in that static war, and by its end in late 1918, the entire front was dug in with a continuous string of them. 

The trenches varied widely depending on the terrain and conditions. For example: the marshy ground of Flanders required shallow trenches that were built up with sand bags. The chalky ground farther south near Lille allowed deep tunneling, and even extensive headquarter rooms. 
Here's a typical trench design:

Think of it. 
A chain of trenches like the system above laced from Chicago to Pittsburgh.
There remain remnants of the system (even the tunnels) to this day, 100 years later.

Perhaps the reason tunnels were employed so extensively in that war is due to how static the battle lines remained over the four years of the engagement. Months would pass with little more than several hundred yards changing in their location. Whole battles would be fought for less than a mile of real estate. A small village could be taken then lost the next day.

Between battles there was ample time to fortify defenses, and that meant digging underground facilities for command centers, warehousing materials of war, and billeting men. Tunnels were constructed between these, and on up to the forward positions. The tunnels could extend for miles back to rear positions out of artillery range.

The surprise attack on Vimy Ridge was an excellent example of the Canadians tunneling half way up the hill before storming up the rest of the way on that April 1917 morning.

My wife and I are of an age (helped by being born of parents in their late 40s) where we both had fathers who served in WWI; mine with the American Expeditionary Forces, and Marg's with the Imperial German Army.
I had thought to write a novel around their collective stories, but dad served in the Argonne Forest and Chateau Thierry while my father-in-law was a soldier in northern France and Belgium.  

The idea was reborn one day while gazing at the cenotaph erected in my favorite place, St. Joseph Island, Ontario, to the memory of the boys from there who died serving for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Those young men gave up their youth  in battles like Ypres, Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele; places well known to Marg's father. 

So... the stories of the Algoma 119th Infantry Battalion of the CEF and the German 238th Infantry Battalion will be the setting for my next novel. As usual in my historical novels, dates, places, and historical events will be adhered to the extent the plot line will allow. It's my hope that the reader will come away with a sense of what went on in those years as well as having been entertained with a good story.

I'll try to keep the books progress posted on my Facebook page and off the News Feed.
Hope to see you at:
https://www.facebook.com/BarnesNovels

You've seen the movie where the writer is at his/her typewriter ripping out the page from the machine, crumpling it up in disgust, then holding head in hands in frustration. That's the subject for today.
   I am currently working on a World War I novel, and have recently suffered the agony of the writer's block. This one was involved with how to segway from one setting to another. That might seem a bit petty, but good and bad writing are often defined by such trifles. I was at a standstill--had no idea how to proceed.  I finally got past this obstacle by taking a three day hiatus doing chores around the house, and returning to find the problem had evaporated. 
   Well, that doesn't always work, and if you are writing to a deadline, taking three days off is out of the question.
   So, I inquired among my fellow authors at Wings Press to see how they coped with the problem. Here are some interesting thoughts. I think you see a recurring theme.   Also, check out their websites to which I have included links. These are some awesome writers.

Yes Richard, been there on several occasions.
I not only dive into reading other favourite authors, concentrating on style, but read and reread my work to date on the present blockage work, questioning my own reasoning as well as asking my characters where things should be going from here.
   My answers are usually from the latter.
Kev Richardson 
www.kev-richardson.com

Usually, for me, if I'm blocked it has to do more with my own insecurities
about either my writing in general or my ability to do justice to the story
I have in my head. In both cases, I have to give myself time to understand
where these insecurities come from. Often it's seeing friends (IRL or on
line friends) publishing more/faster/more successfully or seeing all the
good news of reviews, covers, contracts, whatever and feeling like "When is
that going to be me?"
   What helps is talking to in real life writing friends and hearing how we
all think everyone is doing better than we are and struggling. I sign off
social media, read books, recharge (that might just mean take a nap!) and
think about my characters and my plot and I'm usually able to get going
pretty well after about 15 minutes of "forcing" myself to just write
something.
Nancy Brandt
www.nancysbrandt.com

With my first book, I wrote two books at the same time. If I ran out of ideas with one book I'd switch and work on the second book. On my third book, if I ran out of ideas I would go back and start editing what I had already written. Sometimes it spurred ideas.
Joel Jurrens
http://www.joeljurrens.com

When those ugly words "writer's block" attack it always tells me there is something wrong in either the plot or characterization. I stop writing on the mss nod work on something else until my brain unlocks. Usually the solution just pops up and I instantly know it's right. Usually doesn't take more than a few days. Under no circumstances do you stop writing entirely! It's too easy to fall into depression and begin to doubt yourself. If nothing else copy a page from a "good" book and often that will start the juices flowing for your own work.
Marilyn Gardiner
http://www.booksbymarilyn.com

I never worry about getting things right the first time, just getting my
thoughts down on paper. I try not to over think or second guess. If I do
have an unproductive day it's usually because of distractions. I disconnect
from the internet, shut myself in a quiet room, and still my mind.
Judith Boswell
http://judithboswell.tumblr.com


Because I have a craft business, I will make something if I feel sad if the story is sagging. This helps for it takes my focus off the story and places it elsewhere letting my mind do it's thing when I come back to the story. My real problem is not a block as being pulled in to many different directions. I have slowly begun to shut these down.
Mary Ann Mogus
http://www.mamogus.com/

A request for an essay on a writer’s lifestyle intrigued me possibly because writing has altered significantly what I thought my life would be like after a career in business. The following is an excerpt.

I retired, as most people do, with the intention of lowering my golf handicap and getting involved with some kind of volunteer work. The first goal was not met. In fact, my handicap went up by a couple of strokes after the first year. My second goal was achieved for a while.

Our local newspaper published a list of volunteer organizations that needed help. I chose tutoring at one of the penal institutions in the Charlotte NC area. It was extremely rewarding for a while, but after a change in administrators, I found the environment unconducive for teaching. I changed venues – a county run ESL and GED facility – and that, too worked until they stopped having volunteers teach.

About that time I took a writing course just to keep out of my wife’s hair. I had no idea how it would change my life. It started with writing a few short stories for my class. Then a friend - a locally known playwright – invited me to join his writers group. That generated more short stores until one idea I had was just too big for three to five thousand words.

“Write a book,” I was told.

“Who, me?” I replied.

And so I began. Now, years later AND seven book along the way I have settled-in to a life style that is what I was searching for, but didn’t know it:

My family is fortunate to have a summer cottage on a large Island in northern Ontario. The area has a culture of its own, and three of my last four novels are set in the area. It has been a rich source of inspiration. At first I thought the idea of writing about this small part of the world would be limiting, but then remembered authors like Philip R. Craig and Cynthia Riggs who made a good living writing fiction about Martha’s Vineyard. The Vineyard is better known than St. Joseph Island, Ontario, but is smaller and has fewer places to find skullduggery!

The decision has had some writing benefits:

·         Having come to the area every summer for many years, I know a lot about the history, culture and geography—sources for ideas so hard to come by when developing a plot.

·         Writing about one geographical area suggested repeating my characters, thus developing a series around a hero (in my case a heroine).

·         Local residents are great sources for background and ideas.

·         Best of all, both summer and year-round residents are a great market. I have had book signings for four years, and they get better each year. In 2014 I have sold out my order of 20 soft covers on two occasions.

Of course sitting by the water on a nice day with my laptop is not the worst venue for inspiration. Even on a rainy day, a cozy fire in the wood stove takes the chill off. Yes, even in summer we often run the stove! This is my life style three months out of the year but it fuels me for the remaining nine. 

My latest published book, FORGOTTEN ROOTS, is an historic novel set at the time of the 1812 American war with Britain and Canada. The area around St. Joseph Island played a big part in that conflict, and I created a bit of a love story around it. 

A current blog tour has posed a number of questions about writers who have a serial character starring in a work in progress . Here is my reply:
 
My current manuscript is a police crime novel about a series of murders on St. Joseph Island, Ontario. It’s my third novel (of seven) set on the Island.

1 What is the name of your main character? Is she fictional or a historic person?

Andrea (Andy) Blake is a 45 year old detective for the Ontario Provincial police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She appeared two novels ago in Bad Medicine, and appears in my recently released novel Forgotten Roots.

I invented her almost as an exercise in writing from a woman’s point of view.

2. When and where is the story set?

St. Joseph Island is just north and east of the tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. My family has vacationed in the area for years. I chose it as a venue because I admired the series set on Martha’s Vineyard by Philip R. Craig, and thought St. Joe was just as interesting a place. The novel, A Scent of Almond, is set in the present, but deals with a series of poisonings over many years.

3. What should we know about her?

 Andy grew up on the Island, but left for university, and never returned before having a son in a bad marriage, and a police career in Toronto and Windsor, ON. She returned to recover from a work related injury only to fall in love with – not only the Island life, but her high school sweetheart. I had no intention of using her in a series, but grew fond of her and resisted saying goodbye. Andy is a bit of a jock, having won a University of Toronto scholarship to play ice hockey (where she met her jerk of a husband).

4. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

Wonderful question, because this is exactly what happens in A Scent of Almond. Her love interest (in the previous two novels) surprises her by doing something slightly shady in his business. She is shocked  when he tries to rationalize his behavior. Simultaneously, a new suitor appears. Andy has her moments, to be sure.

Of course her big conflict is her inability to solve the apparent motiveless poisoning that has turned out to be only the latest in a series of undetected killings over a span of many years.

 5. What is her personal goal?

 Hmmm. Andy, after getting her advanced degree in criminal justice, rose rapidly in the Toronto and Windsor police systems. Ultimately, however, she eschewed administrative positions to get back in the streets, where she was ultimately wounded in the line of duty. Returning to Northern Ontario freed her from the hassle of the big city. For twenty years she had kept the flame for her high school love, Grant Stacey, alive. Her goal now is to see if she can balance their relationship with her desire for independence and a career on the force.

6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

 “A Scent of Almond” seemed appropriate for a book dealing with poisoning by cyanide.

7. When can we expect the book to be published?

I am still  in the “polishing” phase of self-editing the manuscript. You know how that goes: you find something to fix on every re-read. Right now I’m busy promoting my historical romantic novel, Forgotten Roots, so I'll probably submit the manuscript to Wings ePress in late summer.


Please look over the other pages on this site to see if there is something for you...and thanks!

FORGOTTEN ROOTS is my second book set on the Island of St. Joseph in Ontario. In both of them I feature a detective, Andrea Blake. Now, I've just completed another manuscript with her as my heroine. What's going on?
    When I wrote Bad Medicine I had no intention of beginning a series. She found her way into FORGOTTEN ROOTS because I needed a modern day character who lived on St. Joseph Island during an archaeological dig there. She was handy. I have to admit, I kind of got to like her a lot. That's how she wheedled her way into my new manuscript.
    Then there's the question about writing three novels that are set on one little island. You might wonder if that's limiting. How many stories can you tell about an area 30 by 15 miles? Then, I remember one of my favorite writers, Philip R. Craig who made a living (a good one) writing crime stories set on Martha's Vineyard. Cynthia Riggs is another well-known who chose that venue to tell her stories.
    So, I guess I'll go ahead and submit A SCENT OF ALMOND for publishing later this year (I still have to write an epilogue). 
    What's next after that?...I have no Idea. I may give Andy a rest.