Category: Writing

Home > Writing

My own private war to write ‘The Stolen Children of War’ by Jina Bacarr

September 11, 2025 by Jina Bacarr in category circus, Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as children, circus, France, Paris, writing, WW2

War is hell.

Writing can also exact a toll on you that’s hard to come back from. I don’t propose to compare the valiant efforts of our soldiers, amazing servicemen and women, to me sitting safe behind a computer and writing about war. Not at all. I never served in combat, but I did counsel men who did (this was before women were allowed to fight in combat) and I heard the stories late at night sitting around a big, ole aluminum coffee pot in the US Army Service Club or playing pool with the men. We had a lot of soldiers passing through on their way ‘back home’ who felt more comfortable talking to me about their experiences than their families.

I was so young… and not a trained counselor or psychologist. But I did have one thing: I’m a good listener. Something taught to me by the nuns, especially the wise and round-faced Sister Mary Celestine at St Peter’s. I learned a lot from these Army and Air Force soldiers about brotherhood and loyalty and being ‘blooded’ and that unbreakable bond these men had with their units. I envied that. I wondered how we women would fare in such tense situations under fire.

Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to write about women in war.

My last several books are about Paris during the Occupation by the Nazis and the brave women who fought in the Resistance even as they fell in love and raised children. But writing about such intense times does take a toll on you. Especially when you’re fighting your own pain from an accident and struggling to make a deadline. (I thank God for my fabulous editor Isobel who was with me during this time and never gave up on me.)

Then I remember the sacrifice made by the women and men fighting the Nazis. My God, would I have had the courage to do as they did? I like to think I could and every day I strive to do what I can to help others… whether it’s at the market and someone needs help, or a nervous, new receptionist at my doctor’s office starting her first job.

The world is a scary place.

I also give thanks every day for what I have. Shelter, food, my treasured books I’ve collected since I was a little girl. And the Internet. Which allows me to share my heartfelt stories with you.

So, here we are… the hot days are slowly giving way to cooler temperatures. And with the advent of Fall, I’m so excited to announce my next Paris WW2 book, The Stolen Children of War.

I’m so thrilled with this fabulous cover.

It’s so circus-y!

That’s Lia, my heroine. A trapeze artist and trick rider since she was a kid.

The two children she saves will steal your heart as they did mine!

There’s also a stolen baby, handsome heroes, and an adorable baby elephant.

And a mystery, too… a madman threatening circus queens….

It’s a glorious ride of heart, passion, and razzle dazzle under the big top!

Can’t wait to introduce you to the world of circus during the Occupation of Paris 1943 when the children needed the joy of circus more than ever!

Out 10th November https://mybook.to/ChildrenOfWar

0 0 Read more

Are You Contaminated? by Kitty Bucholtz

September 9, 2025 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as community, encouragement, Encouraging Words, Kitty Bucholtz, writing

This weekend I saw some friends who moved away five years ago. What a wonderful surprise! At church, one of the pastors asked them what it was like to visit after so long, and one friend said something that made me laugh.

He said, Coming to this church, you get contaminated. People are so friendly and loving and kind, it brings out those traits in you. Then we all learn and grow together.

What a great way to look at it! Getting contaminated, but in a good way! It made me think of us. Outside of church, I’ve never known such an encouraging, helpful group of people like writers. No matter what’s happening, outside or inside our community, we end up coming together and helping each other through.

I want you to just sit in that for a moment. Think of all the writers who have encouraged you or taught you or held you together when it seemed things were falling apart. Think of all the times you’ve done that for others. This kind of contamination is our super power!

Let’s never forget it. Keeping up this strength individually and as a community is so worth it. 🥰

0 0 Read more

Building My World

September 5, 2025 by Tracy Reed in category Writing

I have been a published author for ten years. I need to pause at that number. I’m amazed I’m still in this space. I’m also surprised I still have several stories yet to tell.

Call me ill-informed. I thought world building was limited to fantasy and paranormal writing. When I started storytelling, I freely used real landmarks in my books, which was good, I thought. Listing familiar landmarks gave the reader a point of reference. But as time and the world changed, some of those landmarks ceased to exist. I felt keeping them in my books made the stories dated. I don’t write historical, although in time, today’s contemporary fiction will become historical in a sense.

So, I made an artistic decision to remove the real landmarks and replace them with fictional ones. I was now world building.

I was further encouraged to do this after reading through the catalog of another romance author. I love her style, but what caught my attention was how she cleverly interjected this one character through out most of her catalog. In some way or other, he and his family, and some of the locations are mentioned throughout her catalog. It was brilliant and got me to thinking how I could do the same thing. In a sense, I had dabbled with this when I pulled a barely mentioned character out of The Alex Chronicles and gave him his own story, A Southern Gentleman. Jeremiah and Avery were secondary characters in a couple of The Alex books. They are now part of The Alex Chronicles world. They may also pop up in another book or series later.

This author created a world with celebrities, gossip magazines, fashion designers, university, sports teams, a luxury hotel chain and some other businesses. Once you start reading her books, at some point you begin to wonder who might pop up, because she drops hints throughout the books. All you have to do is pay attention. It’s like that game Clue. In this case, most of the characters lead back to one family.

Reading her books really stirred my creative juices. I thought about the books I’d written and some in the works. I’m doing a rewrite now and I’ve brought over a couple of elements from another book. I also created a list of fictional New York and San Francisco locations, because most of my books are based in those locations.

I’m jotting notes for a new series that will be loaded with world building. It will also be the first time I do a sports theme, which is way off brand for me. But once I add a few fashion and faith elements with some heat, I think it will be good…I hope.

World building is easy when you think about it. All it takes is a little imagination and I’ve got a lot of that.

Some of Tracy’s Books

0 0 Read more

Roadwork

August 30, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Columns, Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic, Writing tagged as relationships, short fiction, vacations, writing

Carrie’s SUV coasted to a stop along I-78, the rest of the weekend morning traffic zooming past, hurrying on their way to Dorney Park or the Poconos farther on. The dashboard lights flashed a warning, but she already knew the problem.

“What did the mechanic say about the oil pressure?” She grabbed her phone to call for a tow truck, but first frowned at Hugh. He glanced away and shrugged.

“Maybe a leak.”

“Maybe?” She shot him a glare then spoke to the Triple A contact, who assured her someone would be there within a half hour. A semi passed the vehicle at seventy, rocking the SUV in its wake.

“And did he fix it?”

Hugh did what he usually did when confronted with an example of his failure to carry through. He turned the tables back onto the confronter.

“You could have checked it yourself.”

Five years. Their nickel anniversary. A planned weekend getaway lay two hours north and west, at a lakefront Airbnb. Which now looked like a long shot, given the dashboard oil light and a thirty-minute wait for a tow. And then probably pricey repairs.

Three of those years had been a joy. The last two, not so much. Yet, altogether a major improvement over her ex, who had kept his cheating ways so hidden, she’d felt like the ultimate stooge when she finally learned the truth.

Carrie chose a smile over the irritated sigh that threatened to burst out. “I’m looking forward to our mini-vacay, hon. It doesn’t do any good to point fingers at this point.” Her phone pinged. The tow driver. “Fifteen minutes, he says.”

In truth, she wasn’t excited about the end-of-summer weekend ahead. She’d be back in front of a classroom of seventh graders in just a few days, and had suggested the trip as a way to glue the fractures threatening to cleave their relationship. She didn’t much care for sitting at the edge of a lake, but Hugh fished, and the rental included a dock and a small boat. Her hope lay in what happened between them when he wasn’t dangling his line in the water. Or staring into his laptop.

The growl of a 500-horsepower engine edged up beside the SUV, and then the flatbed truck pulled onto the shoulder in front of them.

Carrie met the driver between the vehicles to confirm the tow details. Hugh emerged from the passenger side and hung back, hands in his shorts pockets. If he spoke, she didn’t catch it over the rush of the highway traffic only a few feet away. Exhaust fumes eddied around them.

She moved to the far edge of the shoulder, and Hugh followed, as the driver readied to position the SUV on the flatbed.

“Allentown,” Carrie said, raising her voice over the traffic noise. “It’s this next exit. There’s a service station that can take a look.” The morning sun beat down on them, waves of absorbed heat flowing up from the concrete. She pulled her sleeveless tee away from her back, damp with sweat. “We’ll be on our way by noon, maybe.”

Why did she always feel the need to be upbeat around Hugh? She was like a defective tire jack, continually boosting up the car of their relationship but never quite able to get the wheel off the ground. Maybe it was time to fold up the jack and let it go.

In the cab of the tow truck, Carrie let Hugh ride next to the driver and she took the window seat. She lowered her window to escape the stifling odor of cigarette smoke.

“Where you headed?” the driver said, putting the truck into gear.

Carrie prepared to give a brief summary of their weekend plans, but Hugh answered first, a surprise.

“We’ve rented a place on a lake,” he said, a hint of eagerness in his tone. “Good fishing. Good weather, we hope. About two hours from here.”

He reached over and squeezed her hand, a second surprise.

When had he last done that?

“Yep,” the driver said. He switched on his signal to exit the highway. “Looks like a fine couple days for you. The station’ll get you squared away. Don’t you worry.”

Carrie squeezed Hugh’s hand back.

The trip looked better already.

Dianna’s Books

THE DARKEN DOORSTEP

AN ELEMENT OF MYSTERTY: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF INTRIGUE

UNTIL DAWN: A Supernatural Anthology

FUR, FEATHERS AND SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales

UNTETHERED: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF THE PARANORMAL

SEASON’S READINGS: More Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales

Scream of the Silent Sun

0 1 Read more

Anyone remember paper dolls? Why AI can’t compete with a trip down memory lane by Jina Bacarr

August 11, 2025 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as AI, France, German, imagination, movie star, paper dolls, Translation, writing

I have the best memories when I was a kid playing with my paper dolls.

From Sleeping Beauty to In Old New York (Colonial Paper Dolls), I cherished these fragile cardboard dolls with paper dresses with tabs that never stayed on (bobby pins worked!) and kept them in my box of treasures.

Yes, I still have them.

I invented names and personalities for each paper doll, designed clothes for them, and stuck them between the pages of my math book so I could play with them when I was supposed to be doing homework.

As a child, I didn’t have AI answering questions for me, or a cellphone screen telling me what to think, wear, or ‘influence’ me. I made up the stories and created worlds with my paper dolls down to the smallest detail.

And that is what forged my writing.

Imagination.

We writers must continue to craft stories to engage readers to encourage them to use their imagination, even if the words flicker across a computer screen and not the printed pages of a book. To bring our characters into their world so they can identify with them, to feel for them when they’re sad, happy, fall in love.

It’s called being a human. AI has its place, I don’t dispute that, but it’s not the whole enchilada. How can it be?

I doubt AI ever played with a paper doll.

Have you?

My best wishes to you!

Jina

——————————

We have a new German translation for THE RESISTANCE GIRL.

Paris, 1943. Sylvie Martone is the star of French cinema, and adored by fans. But as Nazi officers swarm the streets of Paris, she is spotted arm in arm with an SS Officer and her fellow Parisians begin to turn against her.

However Sylvie has a secret – one she must protect with her life…

Paris, 2020. Juliana Chastain doesn’t know anything about her family history. While her mother was alive she remained very secretive about her past.

So when Juliana discovers a photograph of a glamorous French actress from World War Two amongst her mother’s possessions, she is in shock to find herself looking at her grandmother – especially as she is arm in arm with a Nazi Officer…

Desperate for answers, Juliana is determined to trace the journey of her grandmother. Surely there is more to the photograph than meets the eye?

But as she delves into Sylvie’s past, nothing can prepare Juliane for the tales of secrets, betrayal and sacrifice which she will uncover.