historical fiction writer, amateur photographer, retired computer guru and math geek
HIROSHIMA --August 6, 1945 The awesome power of death, this day uncaged, Will, like the weak Pandora’s box of woes, Be with the world wherever war is waged, And dog man’s footsteps everywhere he goes. That it, this day, has claimed ten thousand lives, And saved, perhaps, a hundred thousand more Who poise in waiting … Continue reading The Poetry of War Sonnets: The Bomb That Changed the World
May/June 1945 枝広げ 追手惑わす マンゴの木 Eda hiroge Oite madowasu Mango no kiThe great mango tree Hides me from my searching foes Under wide branches. NIGHT PATROL Luzon, 1945 Outside the closed perimeter, we wait Until full dark; then , at a word, we go Like green-clad ghosts to stalk the distant foe. Still harbingers of … Continue reading The Poetry of War Sonnets: Hunter and Hunted
Congratulations, your book "War Sonnets" is the bronze category winner for "Historical General" in the 2022 HFC Book of the Year contest. Attached is the award badge and if you need physical stickers for your books, please let us know and we can send you the private link and password for ordering. What a way … Continue reading We Interrupt Your New Year’s Eve Celebration…
April 1945. Leo and his men and the rest of the 112th RCT are embedded at Hot Corner, not far from the Japanese-held Ipo Dam and the Bigti Caves, in what's being called a "reconnaissance in force." All those Japanese troops hiding in the caves are up to something, and it's the 112th's job to … Continue reading The Poetry of War Sonnets: Engaging the Enemy
For the past eight months, I've spent most of my writing time researching and querying literary agents. I've sent out close to seventy query letters. The results? Crickets. Some agents do reply, with a (often form-letter) "lovely but not for me" kind of email. Most don't reply at all. I get it. A publishing company … Continue reading Another Post On Querying
Leo's troopship lands in the Lingayen Gulf in early February 1945, shortly after the main assault force lands in late January. They meet no resistance, but the remnants of battle are fresh. Leo's sonnet envisions the landing troops that preceded him. Tadashi and Kaito, the only survivors of the raid on the Cabanatuan POW camp, … Continue reading The Poetry of War Sonnets: War Zone
While I'm (not so patiently) waiting for responses to my search for an agent/publisher for War Sonnets, I decided to submit the manuscript to the Historical Fiction Company for a review. I so desperately needed some kind of moral boost! As the days passed, I realized that whatever the results, it would be a make … Continue reading A Five-Star Review for “War Sonnets”!
In the fall of 1944, Tadashi is a guard at the infamous Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp northeast of Manila. He has been here for two years, and learned much about the Americans held captive there, as well as the cruelty of the Japanese brass. He yearns for home, for the wife he loves and … Continue reading The Poetry of “War Sonnets:” Strange Surroundings
I first met Erin Litteken as a member of a small critique group of women's fiction writers. I was working on what I now call my "practice novel," Hope, and Erin was working on the as yet untitled story of a young woman who survived the Holodomor, Stalin's veiled attempt to eradicate the Ukranian people … Continue reading “The Memory Keeper of Kyiv” by Erin Litteken
Writing a novel is the easy part of being an aspiring author. When I finished War Sonnets, sent it through the last batch of beta readers and critiques, and polished it until it shined, I felt like I was on the home stretch. I'd written a good story, felt validated by the work I'd put … Continue reading Slogging Through the Query Trenches
Susannah Willey Writes 