MUSE MONDAY
War can inspire all kinds of literature. Join Anne today to see how it inspired her Christmas story.
It might seem strange to use war as a muse, but that is what Jan Selbourne and I did in our duo book Finding a Christmas Miracle. In Jan's A Miracle in the Outback, an Australian soldier on his way back to camp stops to help a woman who is not only in great need but also in danger. In my story, The Miracle of Coming Home, it takes a paranormal experience for PFC Tom Stabler to find himself when he comes home for a week at Christmas. The common point in both our stories is the war in Vietnam.There's no denying the effect the war had on the lives of
everyone living during the 1960s and 70s. Jan was closer to the action by
virtue of Australia's location. For those of us in the U.S., the war felt a
million miles away. We watched, fascinated and shocked, on the evening news
each night. Everywhere we turned, Vietnam slapped us in the face. For years
afterward, I tried putting it from my mind. I refused to write about it until I
finally broke down and wrote Burning Bridges, which has its root in the
time period.
Because the war was, well, what it was, how could any
of us write the story of our youth and not pay homage to the place the war had
in it?
The Miracle of Coming Home in Finding a Christmas
Miracle (Anne Krist and Jan Selbourne)
Blurb
Jan Selbourne lends her award-winning writing talent to A Miracle in the
Outback. Nick Saunders helps a woman in desperate need. He doesn’t know it, but
he needs her help, too.
In award-winning author Anne Krist’s The Miracle of Coming
Home, Army PFC Tom Stabler experiences the paranormal at home for Christmas.
Will it help heal him or will he need a miracle to do the trick?
Buy link
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Excerpt
Awake now, Tom wondered if he’d ever adjust to the feeling of safety again,
ever truly believe it existed. He feared he’d always be peering into shadows
for the hidden enemy or listening for the almost silent, deadly snick of a
landmine trip.
Falling back on the pillow, he stared at the posters on the
opposite wall, illuminated by weak moonlight shining through the window. One
was for a rock concert held in Omaha four years ago. He’d wanted to take Susan
Swensen, but her father wouldn’t let her go the hundred-plus miles into the
city with him. Too far, he’d said in his thick Scandinavian accent. Too
much can go wrong with a car. Young people can get stranded. Alone.
The last was said with a long, thoughtful stare right into
Tom’s soul. How had the man known of Tom’s evil intentions to fake a car
breakdown in order to make time with his daughter? Eventually, when she was
accepted into nursing school, Mr. Swensen had let Susan go to Omaha. By then,
Tom had gone much farther. All the way to Hell, in fact.
The other poster hailed the Fighting Hawks, his high school
football team, on which he’d been the star linebacker. Those were heady days.
He’d made a great linebacker at the university, too, but a lousy scholar, which
was what put him on academic probation and placed his ass squarely in the
middle of that worthless strip of land called Vietnam.
Now he wouldn’t even make a linebacker. He skimmed his hand
down his chest and across his stomach. Lean—skinny almost. Where once had been
bulk there was sinewy muscle. He could still run, though. Oh, yeah, he got lots
of practice running. From firing position to firing position, from cover to
transport helicopters—black birds hovering over open kill zones to lift guys
out of danger or drop them in—and from helicopter back to cover. Some days it
seemed he ran the whole damn time.
It felt that way now. But what the hell was he running from?
About Anne and where to find her
A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.
After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She
writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and
shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors
website (www.nomadauthors.com). Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is
the love of her life and husband to all three ladies! Once a month, look for
Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected
charity.
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