There are times in writing when the term “characters take on a life of their own” is used. That can be interpreted in various ways and I’ve mentioned before how I too sometimes significantly alter a character for different reasons. In this case, I had a character who was quite minor, but as I got deeper into the plot, I realized the minor character could be given a larger role in order to have a better flow for an event I needed. I didn’t care too much about him initially – think of it as an actor with a walk-on part in TV or film who is suddenly given lines instead. So, my minor character who really had only a name and profession and a slight relationship to a victim suddenly had to have more depth. In fleshing him out with a place of origin and why he relocated to the Florida Keys, I decided a little twist would be in order, too. It was fun and at least this time, I didn’t have to kill him off to make the story work. I left him alive and well and while he probably won’t make an appearance in another book, he might come in handy for the future. I’ll explain more later.

If you’ve been on my website, you may have looked at the speaker’s section. I have several topics I regularly present and can tailor a few more. Yesterday, I did a pretty short-notice presentation to the Rotary Club, but since it was about my military time and then into my writing, it was one I can do with about an hour’s warning. The title of, “An Inadvertent Pioneer” is something I’ve mentioned before. After I gave my talk and went into  questions, one gentleman asked me to give an example of an “obstacle” I encountered because I was female. Not wanting to get into anything too gritty (didn’t have many of those anyway), I went for something that was ultimately amusing. For those who know this, bear with me as I explain for those who don’t. In the Army, as in some of the other services, there are officers, enlisted, and warrant officers. Warrant officers  are highly skilled technicians in their chosen field. Senior warrant officers are as grizzled, opinionated, often prickly, and outspoken as one can ask for. So, here I was, a very junior second lieutenant, the first female officer ever assigned to the 19th Maintenance Battalion in Giessen, Germany.

That was also in the day when we had Officer’s Clubs and we younger folks hung together at one end of the bar and the senior warrant officers tended to be at the other end. It didn’t usually take long for this one guy, “Mr. J” I’ll call him to begin to make loud comments about how the Army was changing, especially the idea that women could be more than nurses and clerks. It wasn’t as if anyone could miss what he was saying, but it also wasn’t worth a public challenge and I simply blew it off for what it was. This went on for the entire two years I was assigned to the unit. Then in my last few days before being reassigned back to the States, I was at the Club one evening and Mr J wandered over. He gruffly said something along the lines of, “Lieutenant, you know I don’t much like the way the Army is changing.” “Yes, Mr. J, I know.” “And I don’t know why they think women should be anything other than nurses and admin (administrative), but you’re okay in my book.” I wasn’t the only one who was astonished to hear him say this in public and we parted if not as friends, then at least with having an understanding.

Released 2017

I’m not sure who first used the phrase, “As American as baseball and apple pie,” but it is particularly apt for this post considering it’s the Fourth of July. Some followers are aware I am behind in publishing my regular books. After having spent a lot of effort in co-authoring Mystery of the Last Olympian, the book about HMHS Britannic, a sister ship to RMS Titanic, that also met with tragedy, I would ordinarily have returned to one of my mysteries and the fourth in the Small Town quilting cozy series. However, I was drawn into a project to co-author the memoirs of baseball catcher Benito Santiago, who played in Major League Baseball from 1986-2005. Since neither Hubby nor I follow baseball, the project required far more research time than I originally anticipated. Combine that with the many activities I am involved with and being pulled back into writing for the community newspaper and the result was a shifting of priorities. Benito is from Puerto Rico so I did have a clear understanding of the small towns he grew up in and the background where so many boys dream of making it into “The Big Leagues”. During the 2-plus years we were on the island, we often went through those towns and the love of baseball is seen everywhere.

The book, Benito Santiago Behind the Mask: My Life of Baseball, is only out in book format right now and will be on e-book in about a month. The Spanish version will be released later since having a book translated turned out to be far more difficult than I expected and it isn’t finished yet. It has been quite the experience, but if you are a baseball fan, there will be some behind-the-scenes stories you should enjoy.

Happy Fourth to everyone!

During the visit with my friend earlier this month, she asked why I hadn’t written my own memoirs about my time in the Army. As I’ve explained in the blog, I’m not ready to do that yet. Occasionally, certain things do pop up that remind me of particular incidents I don’t mind relating and that happened as I am trying to work my schedule for a trip to Louisiana. Fort Campbell, Kentucky is home to the 101st Airborne Division (The Screaming Eagles) that played prominently in WW II. They later converted from Airborne to Air Assault which has to do with the use of helicopters. It is a huge post with lots of different military units and when I was assigned there, not a large percent of women. I was not in the division, but with a major unit that provided logistical support (maintenance, supplies, fuel, etc.) Because of an oddity of timing in my first assignment to Germany, I held a couple of positions no female had previously held and in fact, worked a level above my lieutenant rank.

Anyway, my first assignment at Fort Campbell was in a position where there had been some problems and I helped get things back on track. There was a regular rotation system for younger officers and as the Battalion Commander (Lieutenant Colonel) was discussing the moves, my name came up as potential for a position no female had ever held. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a woman being in that role and said I could have a similar role which would have been okay. I wasn’t surprised when I was given the news. Unknown to me, however, my Captain commander went back and stood up for me. In the meantime, I was talking to my dad on the phone and when I described the complexity and responsibility of the position I really wanted and why I wasn’t going to get it, his response was, “Well, I can’t blame him. I’m not sure I’d put a woman in charge of that either.” Sigh, it was the context of the times. I won’t go into the details of what happened, but I did get the more challenging job and was in fact the first female in the history of Fort Campbell to hold a position of that type. I can’t say I didn’t make some mistakes during my tenure, but all-in-all, everything worked out.

I haven’t gone on-line yet to look it up, but the past few mornings have been worse than usual with my insomnia. For quite some time now, when that 3:00 a.m. hits and I can’t get back to sleep, I move to the love seat where I stretch out, and turn a show on with something not overly stimulating at a low volume. This generally causes me to drift back to sleep with half an hour. Not so yesterday and I didn’t think it would be much better this morning. As a note of interest, there would be several misspelled words here, but they are being caught by the little “red underline” that apparently doesn’t require sleep. Anyway, maybe I am cycling through where I can actually function with five hours for a short time. I am having a cup of herbal tea rather than put the coffee on yet. See, 4:00 a.m. doesn’t bother me much a couple of mornings a week. As most people who know me are aware, I am normally up between 5:00-5:30. Therefore, 4:00 isn’t that much earlier. The 3:00 though, that’s different. I do have one of those combined sleep aide/pain relief things that seems to work, but I don’t like to take them every night. I realize they claim they are not habit-forming and perhaps not. I simply don’t like to take pills other than basic vitamins and supplements.

It’s possible I will be able to fit in a nap, which will help. That didn’t actually work yesterday though which is why I thought for sure I’d sleep longer this morning. Ah well, what’s done is done and my guess is I’m up for the day. On the other hand, during the time when my son didn’t consistently sleep through the night until he was four years old, the idea of sleeping five straight hours was blissful. I suppose I should keep that perspective.