During most of my youth, I heard stories of my family’s Polish roots. The difficult times living under Russian rule; the strength and tenacity of the women and the courage of the men; the sacrifices that had to be made to survive and endure the turbulent times at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
I remember the many times I heard my grandmother say “I could write a book…” about the turmoil and travails the family faced and the courage it took to leave Poland for America.
I thought of writing the book after one of my weekly conversations with my Aunt, the last surviving daughter. Our calls were the foundation of an early manuscript.
The trilogy that begins with Seasons of Destiny, although fiction, is based on the stories and characters I heard about growing up. It’s the story I think my grandmother would have written.
As I began typing, I felt the hand of history take over and, more than once, relinquished the task of writing to the characters themselves. They spoke to me every day of the two years it took to complete the book.
As a writer, I like to “paint with words”, creating scenes and people that jump off the page. At least, that’s my goal. But the real fun for me with this book was the research; getting closer to the places and events that had been only sketches my imagination conjured.
Research brought me closer to the people and events of the time. Sifting through old photos, letters and contemporaneous accounts of events took me on a very personal journey into history.
When I closed my eyes, I saw the characters in their landscape; my own, private video.
My dialogue with the characters helped turn their images and words into a manuscript.
And their stories continue to be the impetus for Book 2 of the trilogy, Beyond Tomorrow’s Promise, scheduled for release in 2025.
Book 3 is coming to life; a picture of the family’s strong women defining themselves as the clouds of WWII thicken.