So, have you missed me? Did you think I’d fallen off the edge of the earth?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’ve been gone for a while – five years actually. You may not have noticed – I won’t be hurt if you didn’t because I know you’ve been busy, and so have I. I stopped blogging so I could finish my book, Ila’s War.

I know what you’re thinking. “Geez, Louise. She sure is slow. I could of written a book in half the time it took her.”

Researching Ila’s War

Even though I took a couple of classes in American History when I was in school, I still had to do extensive research for Ila’s War. We have 14 seven foot bookcases in our house, each filled with books. I don’t even want to know how much I’ve spent over the years on books and other research materials to write Ila’s War.

The ones you see above are just general history about WWII. Then I needed to find books specifically about war in the Southwest Pacific, Australia and New Guinea. (See my blog “Researching Ila’s War” at https://cindyentriken.com/2013/11/researching-ilas-war/ for more information about how I did research for the book.

But those weren’t sufficient either. I needed to know about the 32nd Infantry Division, The Red Arrow Men.

I always take copious notes, by hand, when I’m doing research. This project was no exception.

Then I had to write. In my defense, having never written a book before, I didn’t know just how damn hard it is. Took me a long time to get the hang of it.

The Pain of Writing a Book

I had editors who were ruthless – and by that I don’t mean they weren’t named Ruth, although they weren’t. Dan Baum was exacting, demanding, critical, occasionally harsh and . . . right. And when he had to bow out, he referred me to another editor, Bryan Di Salvatore, with the same streak of ruthlessness. I think they’re taught that in school.

They each sent me back my drafts with pages of comments which gave me extraordinary headaches.

(Note Ibuprofen bottle left of my keyboard. I now buy it by the case so I can get the discount.)

Sadly, there were times when Ibuprofen just didn’t cut it and I needed a cold compress.

I typed my fingers to the bones – figuratively. See, that’s one of the things they taught me. Figurative language is a way to enliven one’s writing and help the reader see, smell, taste, hear or touch what is being described. In the photo above, you can’t see the throbbing pain from editorial abuse, but believe me, it was there at times. (Just kidding Dan and Brian.)

I worked late into the night, sometimes falling asleep at my computer after hours and hours of writing and re-writing.

But still I persevered. When I started this book my hair was blonde. Now look at me. Silver and gray. What’s that about?

I finally finished the book after losing my hair, losing weight, losing my place in the text, losing my notes, some would say losing my mind. (But I would never say that.) Let’s just say that I finished the damn book and I am soooo glad!

It’s Almost Time to Celebrate.

So it won’t be long before you’ll have a chance to judge for yourself whether you think I finally figured it out. The book is supposed to come out in a few months. I’ll let you know in plenty of time when it will be available and where you can purchase it. I hope you will get a copy, read it, and tell me what you think. Be honest because I can’t get better if I don’t know what worked and what didn’t. I can’t change the story but I can improve my writing and use of descriptive language.

More Blogs to Come.

And I am resuming blogging, both to promote the book and to share what I’ve discovered about America and its wars. Stay tuned. I’m working on the next blog which is about the soldier who owned the canteen and cup you see on my desk in the photo above. That blog should be out in a few days.

So stay tuned.