Well, here it is—another month has gone by, and so has another summer. I’m happy to announce that this month is the fourth anniversary of my blog. When I started, I wondered if I could write a blog every month and if anyone would read it. That’s a big yes to both. Thank you, all my loyal supporters and blog readers. You are what keeps me putting them out there. Thanks for your phone calls, texts, emails, blog replies, likes, and loves. I cherish all of them. I get statistics monthly from my website provider, showing how many people read my blog. It varies from eleven views when I started and up to as high as ninety.
The topics I write about vary. My blogs about Hollywood were the most popular until I published Our Hollywood Tales. I still have a few more of those tales to tell in the near and distant future.
When I’ve done interviews, I’m often asked, “What’s your process?” I always want to say, “I don’t know. The stories just come out.” If I stop and think about it, I do have a process that differs for each book. I’ll save that discussion for another time. For my blogs, I’ll explain the process. Sometimes, something bubbles to the surface, and I can easily sit down and write about it. But most of the time, I have several ideas swirling around my brain during the month. Then, it’s the realization that the end of the month is quickly approaching. That’s when I must focus on what I will write about. Yesterday was that day. It’s kind of like, what am I going to cook for dinner tonight?
I enjoy writing, so when the flow goes from the logic centers of my brain, an edit goes on, and the words filter down to my fingers that tap away on my laptop keyboard. I review it several times, editing as I go. As I’ve mentioned before, I like to have my word processor read back to me what I’ve written. When I’m satisfied with the results, I give them to Anita (my wife) to read. She usually catches some things. I correct them, then look for any accompanying photos to publish with the blog.
As for my news this month, I continue researching WWII in Italy. Most recently, I have been reading about the war correspondent Ernie Pyle. I’m reading his book, Here Is Your War, Story of G.I. Joe, about Pyle’s time during WWII in North Africa. With each new fact I discover, I want to know more background information about the war, and it leads me down another path. It turns out that Ernie Pyle’s home is a museum and library right here in Albuquerque. I’m planning a trip there in the coming weeks to see if I can gain any additional information, and I will write something about it in a future blog.
Now that I may have piqued your interest in Pyle, I can tell you that he died covering the war in the Pacific. He was killed by a sniper on April 18, 1945, only months before the end of the war. He was mourned by servicemen as well as citizens back home. People liked that he could put a human face on a deadly and costly war in his reporting.
In my blog last month, I wrote about the Italian internment camps for Jewish people. You can still read it if you missed it: NEWS FROM THE OUTER REACHES – AUGUST 2023. I received a lot of lovely feedback on the subject. At this time, I don’t think it will be a part of my new novel, but who knows?
Lastly, I’m still celebrating the tenth anniversary of my first novel, Railway Avenue. If you haven’t read it, you can get a copy online, have your favorite bookstore order it, or check it out from your local public library. You can find out more about the book right here on my website by clicking My Books at the top of this screen. While there, you can read about my other titles and find one you would enjoy reading.
Until next time, stay happy and safe.