Today I’d like to welcome a writer friend of mine, Terri Wangard. Terri has a new book, No Leaves in Autumn, which released a few weeks ago. She’s here today to talk a little bit about how the book came about. Please say hello to Terri.
My original vision for No Leaves in Autumn included a heroine who served in the Canadian military. I had seen a reference to the Canadians in Iceland, but when I was ready to write the story, I couldn’t find it. Plus there’s that historical novel adage―if you can’t verify something in three places, don’t use it.
Now what?
A romance between an American airman and an Icelandic woman? Not likely. The Icelanders were not happy with the occupying forces and routinely ignored them. An exception could be made with lots of built-in conflict, but the idea didn’t take off.
American women did serve in Iceland as nurses and Red Cross workers. A nurse was already slated for Book Three of the current series. My third novel, Soar Like Eagles, features a Red Cross gal. More of the same?
Wait! The heroines didn’t have to be the same. The Red Cross was versatile. Women served in club mobiles, like Carol in Soar Like Eagles. They staffed clubs, like the Rainbow Corner near London’s Piccadilly Circus. They offered a break from the mental strain of air warfare at Flak Houses, elegant English manors taken over to provide rest from the war. They also provided services to hospitalized veterans brought home to US hospitals.
Marie Foubert, my heroine of No Leaves in Autumn, could serve with the Red Cross and be quite different from Carol. My story was saved.
The war emancipated women, at least during the war years. More than six million served as Rosie the Riveters or Winnie the Welders. They worked in noisy factories and shipyards where manicures didn’t last long. They were harassed by men who didn’t believe they belonged on formerly male turf. They worked long, hard hours and still had to return home and keep house.
More than 200,000 women who joined the military also faced discrimination. The navy WAVEs and army WACs continued throughout the war, but the air force WASPs were discontinued to give the flying jobs to returning veterans.
More adventurous women served with the OSS. Women like Betty McIntosh went to places like China to create black propaganda to demoralize the enemy. Marlene Dietrich served as close to enemy lines in Europe as she could get, determined to entertain the boys of her adopted country, even though the Nazis longed to capture the “traitor.” She interrogated captured Germans, who were astonished to recognize her.
Women staffed the Signal Intelligence Service, breaking codes and deciphering enemy messages. Sworn to secrecy, their contribution was unknown for years.
In my World War II novels, I’ve featured a woman who worked with the OSS in Sweden, Carol as the club mobile doughnut girl in England and France, a Rosie the Riveter and her WAC sister, a Winnie the Welder who built submarines, a cargo analyst in Brazil, a navy nurse, and Marie as a Red Cross morale worker. I live vicariously through my characters.
I never would have considered a medical career for myself. With my history of migraines, factory jobs would not have been a good fit. The Red Cross, though, yes, there I can see myself.
Marie’s job in Reykjavik exposed her to the painful aspects of war, especially burn victims from torpedoed ships, but she found satisfaction and fulfillment in helping the men reclaim their lives. Like the pianist she goaded into playing with Pick-Up Sticks to exercise his stiff fingers. Or encouraging a depressed sailor to view the letters sent by a woman who wrote to many men as comedic interludes in otherwise monotonous days.
And there she was in Iceland, the land of northern lights, geysers, glaciers, hot springs, lava fields, black sand beaches. All these things she would never see at home. Best of all, she met a brave, handsome pilot.
Where would you have chosen to serve in World War II?
No Leaves in Autumn
The Germans aren’t the enemies who bedevil Marie and Stefan.
It’s their colleagues who thwart them at every turn.
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Marie
Foubert grew up in
an orphanage and struggles with feelings of rejection. As a Red
Cross recreation worker, she interacts with the American men based
in Iceland during World War II. Her growing attraction to seaplane
pilot Stefan Dabrowski excites and concerns her. Won’t he disappear
from her life like everyone else?
Stefan hears his commanding officer describe him as exciting as last night’s bathwater. One of his colleagues constantly berates him because of his Polish heritage and his superior flying skill. Despite being the squadron’s most productive pilot, he is threatened with court martial. A showdown approaches to prove who’s the better pilot and the better man.
Marie’s cousin, passing through Iceland, tries to see her after spotting her photo in Life magazine. She declines to meet him, but Stefan encourages her to do so and learn why no one wanted her. She may gain a family after all.
https://scrivenings.link/noleavesinautumn
Terri Wangard grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin,
during the Lombardi Glory Years. Her first Girl Scout badge was the
Writer. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s
degree in library science, she is back in Wisconsin after several
years in Michigan, Utah, and California. Her WWII research included
going for a ride in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Classic
Boating Magazine, a family business since 1984, keeps her busy
as an associate editor. She serves on the Genesis and First
Impressions contest teams of the American Christian Fiction Writers
and will begin as the Carol contest coordinator next year. In
addition, she is secretary of the Wisconsin Southeast ACFW
chapter.