"Gibbon's Secrets", A Boy's Memories of the 40's, was my first attempt to write a fictional novel about a collection of my personal experiences with the addition of fiction to make it a better read. In the LinkedIn's Writer's Cafe we have had a very lively discussion about the use of fact/fiction in writing your memories, and I have really enjoyed the input. Thanks to so many very astute individuals this subject has been discussed up one side and down another. I am not a purest, and do understand that you shouldn't exaggerate fact with fiction beyond reality. My sharing of personal experiences have been done to the best of my ability to put the reader into that little bit of history for a better understanding of how things really were in the 1940's. Today I'm going to pull out some examples from "Gibbon's Secrets" that although they were very true they may not have been a perfect tape recording of the facts.
From the very first chapter of "Gibbon's Secrets" - Chapter One:
The brilliant morning sun beamed into Bud's bedroom, and he vaulted out of bed not wanting to waste a minute of this bright sunny morning in Nebraska. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he rummaged through his closet for something to wear. Finding what he needed, he pulled up his pants, tucked in his shirt, and tore into the kitchen for his breakfast. I do remember mornings like this when I was growing up, but was it exactly like this?
Bud, thinking about the war news he'd been hearing on the radio and seeing in the papers, wondered if any sense could be made of the cruel treatment shown by Hitler. He quickly devoured his cereal and a piece of cinnamon toast and launched out the door, heading for Donny's house. Bud's goal this morning is to gather all of his friends to talk about the war. When I started to write this book of memories one of the things I had gathered to use as a background for the story was my dad's scrapbooks from World War II. My research for background information revealed the fact that a time-line of battles tied closely to dad's scrapbooks, and gave me the idea of sharing this information with the readers at the end of each year.
Duncan said, "Hi guys, let's go to the park." They went back across the tracks and highway and passed through the vacant lot on the corner next to their school mate, Marilyn Kirk's house, scampering across the street to the park. The park was their favorite place to play - summer or winter - and they could build all kinds of adventures there. They picked a grassy area in the middle of the park and stretched out their young bodies in all directions on the nice soft grass. Toward the back of the book you will see a section marked "Gibbon's Secrets" Photo Pages. I have included two pictures of this very park, mentioned in the book, as being the park across the street from Bud's house where he and his friends often played.
Bud waited for a bit as they all settled down and said, "Do you guys think about the war in Europe?" Wally was quick to add, "Jeepers, I do Bud. Dad is really worried about the war."
"Well", Bud said, "My dad is making a scrapbook, all about the war." Wally said with a sparkle in his eye. "Hey, that's going to be super."
"Dad's scrapbook started in April 1940. It shows pictures about the Nazi armies invading and occupying countries in Europe." The boys were now scowling thoughtfully. They thought about the German army, and Donny's eyes seemed to get wider and wider as Bud talked about the Nazis and said, "Have you heard about the British Commandos? They are a very brave force of guys protecting Great Britain. They make daring raids against the Nazi forces. We could pretend that we are like them, and form our own Gibbon Commandos. We could build our own secret headquarters. Anyway, we need a safe place to hide in case strangers or spies try to capture us." We did discuss the war as curious young boys, and I did have dad's scrapbooks to utilize as a good starting place for this book of memories of the 40's. Like all young boys during that time frame, we changed from playing Cowboys and Indians to playing War Games.
I wanted to capture life on the home front during these war years and so the vehicle of dad's World War II scrap books gave me the jump start I needed. Whether we talked about the war like this or actually had these kind-of park get togethers to discuss the war I'm not sure, but I do know that we did think about the war a lot and did play our share of war games.
Hopefully this gives you an introduction to the development of "Gibbon's Secrets", Check with my web site for more information about my books and to see where they can be purchased. http://www.budsbooks.com
I just joined GROW Nebraska and my books will be available in the Kearney store and the GROW Nebraska outlet at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.
From the very first chapter of "Gibbon's Secrets" - Chapter One:
The brilliant morning sun beamed into Bud's bedroom, and he vaulted out of bed not wanting to waste a minute of this bright sunny morning in Nebraska. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he rummaged through his closet for something to wear. Finding what he needed, he pulled up his pants, tucked in his shirt, and tore into the kitchen for his breakfast. I do remember mornings like this when I was growing up, but was it exactly like this?
Bud, thinking about the war news he'd been hearing on the radio and seeing in the papers, wondered if any sense could be made of the cruel treatment shown by Hitler. He quickly devoured his cereal and a piece of cinnamon toast and launched out the door, heading for Donny's house. Bud's goal this morning is to gather all of his friends to talk about the war. When I started to write this book of memories one of the things I had gathered to use as a background for the story was my dad's scrapbooks from World War II. My research for background information revealed the fact that a time-line of battles tied closely to dad's scrapbooks, and gave me the idea of sharing this information with the readers at the end of each year.
Duncan said, "Hi guys, let's go to the park." They went back across the tracks and highway and passed through the vacant lot on the corner next to their school mate, Marilyn Kirk's house, scampering across the street to the park. The park was their favorite place to play - summer or winter - and they could build all kinds of adventures there. They picked a grassy area in the middle of the park and stretched out their young bodies in all directions on the nice soft grass. Toward the back of the book you will see a section marked "Gibbon's Secrets" Photo Pages. I have included two pictures of this very park, mentioned in the book, as being the park across the street from Bud's house where he and his friends often played.
Bud waited for a bit as they all settled down and said, "Do you guys think about the war in Europe?" Wally was quick to add, "Jeepers, I do Bud. Dad is really worried about the war."
"Well", Bud said, "My dad is making a scrapbook, all about the war." Wally said with a sparkle in his eye. "Hey, that's going to be super."
"Dad's scrapbook started in April 1940. It shows pictures about the Nazi armies invading and occupying countries in Europe." The boys were now scowling thoughtfully. They thought about the German army, and Donny's eyes seemed to get wider and wider as Bud talked about the Nazis and said, "Have you heard about the British Commandos? They are a very brave force of guys protecting Great Britain. They make daring raids against the Nazi forces. We could pretend that we are like them, and form our own Gibbon Commandos. We could build our own secret headquarters. Anyway, we need a safe place to hide in case strangers or spies try to capture us." We did discuss the war as curious young boys, and I did have dad's scrapbooks to utilize as a good starting place for this book of memories of the 40's. Like all young boys during that time frame, we changed from playing Cowboys and Indians to playing War Games.
I wanted to capture life on the home front during these war years and so the vehicle of dad's World War II scrap books gave me the jump start I needed. Whether we talked about the war like this or actually had these kind-of park get togethers to discuss the war I'm not sure, but I do know that we did think about the war a lot and did play our share of war games.
Hopefully this gives you an introduction to the development of "Gibbon's Secrets", Check with my web site for more information about my books and to see where they can be purchased. http://www.budsbooks.com
I just joined GROW Nebraska and my books will be available in the Kearney store and the GROW Nebraska outlet at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.
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