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Writing WW2 fiction - without demonizing

  Writing historical war fiction has challenges that too many writers unknowingly stumble over. Otherwise good writing falls victim to a couple of issues: Writing historically accurate fiction without demonizing today's culture for the brutalities of the past. Creating believable characters without sounding like a 1940s B grade movie.  Check out Noelle Salazar's writing for this one. Though set in WWII, conversations sounded natural and issues felt current and relevant in Salazar's The Flight Girls .  Two other WW2 fiction books made my DNF (Did Not Finish) list in part because the language sounded like an old movie on AMC. Don't get me wrong. I love old movies, but writing a novel today that sounds like it came from my One-Act Plays class in high school has at least two problems: It doesn't resonate with today's reader. Nobody talked that way, anyway. Seriously, did your grandmother once utter, "Cliff, darling, would you be a dear and call the girls for d...
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My DAWL - Writer's version of MSWL

Querying should be more like dating. More accurately, pre-dating. Did you ever know a guy asking for dates indiscriminately. Every girl on campus. I mean, after a while, the queries ---I mean, date requests--- must sound like, "You don't want to go out with me, do you?" Or the girl looking for a prom date. "I don't care who I go with! I just want to go!" If agents have a MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) to spell out what they're seeking, their ideal next client , where their mind is now, then it follows writers need something similar. A DAWL ---Dream Agent Wish List. Because : If agents have an MSWL and writers have a DAWL, then instead of fishing in a big dark ocean, it's more like speed-dating. One two three, do I like you, do I don't?  And, go.  Jennie Dugan's DAWL: Must be interested in historical fiction, and by that I mean, fictionalized history. You won't see Bridgerton from me, but you will see WW2 and its quiet heroes. Must be interes...
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ANC - Army Nurse Corp - uniform in World War II

 Many of the WW2 nurses didn't have appropriate attire for the location. Instead of olive drab, they were sent overseas in the stiff blue uniforms. This did change eventually. UNIFORM DESCRIPTION: https://www.med-dept.com/articles/the-army-nurse-corps/ Gold-tone pin with U.S., 7/16" tall, worn on BOTH upper collars Gold-tone caduceus with the letter N superimposed, worn on both lapels Skirt and slacks for Philippines were olive drab all-wool tropical worsted or brown-and-white striped seersucker. Seersucker was a side-tie dress (no buttons, no snaps) or a skirt and jacket; matching seersucker cap that tied in back and covered hair ---more like a modern surgeon's head cover than a traditional nurses cap, like my mom's. (I miss my mom.)
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Resources for upcoming WW2 novel

List of resources for WW2 novel in progress. If you're writing a WW2 story, fiction or nonfiction, these resources might be helpful. Forgive me for websites and pages I'm not specifically listing. More out there than you can imagine, some of it compilations of other sites and some of it downright disturbing. Things I didn't want to know, but probably widened my awareness. Farrell, Mary Crook, “Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific,” Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014. Nurses played cards.  Yet, Ruby Bradley mentioned in her essay that those who were busy were happiest. National Archives, District Intelligence Office records, Camp John Hay, Summary of those records for December 8-25, 1941; https://catalog.archives.gov/id/133891101 This is the search for Camp John Hay December 1941: https://catalog.archives.gov/search?page=4&q=%22camp%20john%20hay%22&rows=20 Wikipedia: Camp John Hay: During the Japanese occupation...
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The Great Depression lasted longer why?!

  Taken from SEC Historical This, I did not know.  The Tariff Act raised tariffs on imported goods, with the intent of protecting American production.  President Hoover signed the legislation against his own preference for international cooperation and in spite of opposition from economists and industrialists.  The result: Foreign trading partners retaliated with higher tariffs. American trade plummeted by half, contributing to the depth and length of the global Depression.
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