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Fiction Hits the History Books

Writing a book is hard work, regardless of the genre. It takes patience, focus, perseverance and passion. Historical fiction, in particular, requires a bit of extra OOMPH. Why? Research … You gotta hit the history books and internet to get your facts straight. Dig Deep and take your time for a thorough research. And Be Advised: You Can’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet or everything you’re told in interviews. Are you aware that anyone can edit a Wikipedia page? Knowing that, be careful what you document in your book based on your internet findings. In addition, you should always cross-check information you obtain during a personal interview.

Most historical fiction works involve a fictional character who is interacting with something that actually took place in history. Markus Zusak is the author of The Book Thief. His main character is a nine-year-old girl named Liesel Meminger living in Nazi Germany in the year 1939. The town she lives in is also Zusak’s creation; it’s called Molching. Zusak has done a brilliant job of balancing the freedom of creation with the restraints of historical preservation. I highly recommend that you read this novel.

In my book, Extra Innings: The Diamond Thieves, my goal was to paint nostalgic accuracy around the innocence of youth in the old American South. It was important to thicken the plot in order to straddle the age gaps between older readers who would enjoy reminiscing over some of the specific throwbacks I’ve peppered throughout the story and younger reader who may enjoy discovering what the old south was like prior to our laws protecting equal rights among races.

Research for the Extra Innings trilogy was both fun and exhausting. I had the blessed fortune of meeting multiple sets of twins who provided me some fascinating perspectives into their unique environment. This was by far the fun part. The exhausting part was getting all the facts correct that I wanted to include in this book. Peppering in accurate historical facts are what help to bring a historical fiction novel to life as well as keep the critics at rest.

For example Book 1 includes an extensive baseball trading card debate that required layers upon layers of research. It was important to me touring the tastes, sights and sounds of the old south to life in all three books. This information was gathered both through interviews and internet. The chocolate cream pie mentioned in Book 1 was actually one of my Grama’s famed contributions to dinners when my dad was growing up. I plan to share this recipe (with photos – finally) in a future blog. The story gives considerable references to popular music of its time – particularly “the blues.” Authors should be careful not to use any defaming terms when mentioning real people who actually existed. Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker are all referenced in Book 1. Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey are mentioned in Book 2. Since I am NOT writing for the purpose of documenting their specific lives, it’s wise to either mention them in a positive or indifferent light. The books also mentions numerous products like Palmolive, Gay Furlough cologne and Camel cigarettes. Two points I want to make here:

These names are trademarks of their respective owners. Their owners would have to claim for infringement if I was using them for promotional purposes. Which I am not, so again, as long as I am not disparaging the product, then I most likely will not encounter an issue.

Double and triple check that the products you are mentioning not only existed during the time in which your book is set but also that they were used. For example. I was planning to mention a specific furniture dusting product in Book 1 to illustrate how the twins’ mother, Ellen, kept the house clean and smelling fresh. However, I learned through my extensive research that it was far more common, especially for a middle-class family, to use a vinegar and water solution to clean furniture. Only one in a while was a special product like Pledge or Old English used.

I want to thank all the folks at Ole Miss (The University of Mississippi), especially Langston Rogers, who provided me specific details to campus life and the Rebels baseball team that I could have never dissevered online. For example, Langston was able to inform me of the dining hall most on-campus residents used along with where the pay phones were that students used, since today’s handy-dandy little cell phones & iPhones hadn’t even been conceived back then.

Part of Book 3 takes place in Lackland Air Force Base and in Korea. Over this 10 year period of writing this trilogy, I med some wonderful guys who were directly involved in the Korean Conflict (the more accurate title for the otherwise popular Korean War). I actually even got to hold and load an M1 Garand rifle (which is the specific gun illustrated by Adam Lichi on the book’s cover). I heard some great stories from these guys and will be paying my respects and thanks to them in the printing of Book 2 (A Hero Among Thieves).

Compiling all of these facts were key building blogs to capture the authentic feel I was going for in the Extra Innings trilogy. However, a tip for historical fiction writers is to look out for overkill. Don’t inundate your readers with so many facts that your story becomes a snooze fest. Remember that it’s also fiction. So don’t feel too constrained by feeling like your High School history teacher is standing over your shoulder or that they’re going to grade your book like it’s a term paper. HAVE FUN! It’s okay to paint a place or time in history with a more color if it lends to the direction your book needs to take. One tip to increase your flexibility is to create your own immediate setting. Just like what Zusak did in The Book Thief, the town is fictional although we all know Nazi Germany (sadly) existed. If you need the setting to be an actual place that exists like New York City or San Francisco, for example, perhaps have the building where the main character lives be your complete creation or where they work or go to school. This just helps ease the workload required in researching as well as keeps you clear of any defamation complaints in case there is an negative or risqué incident that takes place in the specific location that the building’s landlord or business owner feels might be a possible threat. Perception is reality so it would be horrible if one of your characters lives in a specific building that actually exists somewhere and they are attacked or raped in your story and that building’s landlord gets word of this and perceives it as a threat to future tenants being afraid to rent there. Make sense?

I would love to hear some comments from other historical writers? And definitely your feedback on the first book in the Extra Innings trilogy (The Diamond Thieves) which is AVAILABLE NOW. Keep in touch!

July 22, 2014 by Brian

Publishing

Why Twins?

Identical twins have always fascinated me. It was purely a selfish reason to have the main characters of Extra Innings be identical twins because it gave me a purposeful excuse to research the topic. As the original storyboards were being developed and my excitement grew I realized that this topic gave the story very unique opportunities. After all there are very few fictional novels on the market about identical twins. I think the trilogy would make for a fun movie.

I was fortunate enough to encounter a handful of identical twins throughout my research. One question in particular, I will not disclose in this blog as it will give away too much information. Readers will just have to complete the trilogy to find out.

One of the first and very apparent concepts I learned was that the general stereotype of identical twins acting identical is grossly mistaken. Learning this really helped me to develop the characters of Jimmy and Billy McGee. I wanted them to be almost polar opposites so I was pleased to learn this concept is widely justified. At the same time, this is where the pieces throughout the story become intellectualized WITHOUT becoming ponderous.

The correct term for identical twins is monozygotic. This is where two embryos are formed from a single (mono) fertilized egg. Because the two embryos are formed from a single egg/sperm fertilization, the twins have the same genetic origins and, therefore, the identical DNA. However, despite this shared gene set, they have clearly individual personalities. Studies are done as to whether parents should encourage this individualization more by not permitting the twins to share the same bedroom growing up or not to dress them alike, etc. Right from Chapter 1 of the Diamond Thieves the reader learns that Jimmy and Billy both share the attic as their bedroom I touch a little bit on their infancy and the whole concept of “twin ESP” and “twin talk” but mostly the story focuses on how the cavern of their individuality expands as their teenage years move along. Still, what I find fascinating is how despite their differences they both often find the same platform with which to express themselves. My favorite example of this is in Book 3 (A Hero Among Thieves) when both twins are experiencing stress they both express it through writing. Jimmy, the more deliberate and intellectual of the two, completely emerges himself in a research paper at Ole Miss (The University of Mississippi) while Billy, the more free-spirited and creative type begins to write songs and poems about his experiences in Korea (during the Korean Conflict). It’s also interesting that Jimmy naturally begins to develop a rigid routine to his mornings at college while Billy is forced into a rigid routine with the United States Air Force.

In book 1 (The Diamond Thieves) the reader is immediately told that Jimmy and Billy McGee are “clearly individuals.” Behaviors, actions, expressions and thoughts help to illustrate this. However, this book constellates more around the battle over their baseball diamond and how to handle the prejudice of their enemies “the mob” with respects to their good friend T.J. who is black. With respect to this topic, both Jimmy and Billy have the same feelings although Jimmy (like his character describes him) is more in tune and responsive to T.J.’s emotions.

Book 2 (Race of the Gemini) lives up to his title by digging deep into the progression of these boys growing more different. The story describes a lot of how one twin (Billy) feels like a living shadow of the other (Jimmy). This was an interesting idea that I picked up in many of my interviews with twins. They felt that the other was more of a favorite of one or both parents. Some felt the jealousy of one twin being more popular in school or better at sports or a natural at socializing. As I asked more questions I was very intrigued by the pressure and jealousy that was felt around this topic. Often times these feelings sparred a sense of competition between then, hence the title “Race of the Gemini.” The trick with writing about this was trying not to intentionally downplay one twin over the other. If the readers found themselves having a favorite among the two brothers, I wanted that to be their choice and not triggered by some intentional or subliminal seed I planted.

In book 1 (The Diamond Thieves) both twins love baseball, however, Jimmy is a team’s all-star batter while Billy has the Ace pitching skills. Also, Jimmy has a closer relationship with Skip, who is more mature and logical while Billy was closer friends with Whitey – the wild and fun one in the group.

Lastly, I wanted to play around with the whole concept of “switching places” or “trading places” as this was asked of each set of twins I interviewed. I was surprised to find that this was not just a childhood experience but also performed on more of a strategic level as teenagers. This was executed for various reasons allowing one of the twins to practically be in two places at once. For the McGee twins, Billy insisted on Jimmy covering for him multiple times so he could sneak out of the house and be with his girlfriend or go drinking with his friends. Jimmy, not being a big fan of drinking became almost the victim here so Billy, who was grounded, could still go out and party.

Overall, I had as much fun writing Extra Innings as I did doing all the pre-writing research. I hope its readers fall in love with the McGee twins and all their friends as much as I have. #extrainnings

June 29, 2014 by Brian

In 1940's rural Mississippi, identical thirteen-year-old twins Jimmy and Billy McGee will play the most important game of their young lives. Challenged by their cross-town enemies to decide once and for all domain over their neighborhood baseball diamond, the boys and an entertaining crew of unique friends are determined to maintain control over their territory. But there's one unexpected dilemma. Their rivals will not accept that the boys' best friend and the team spark plug is black. And suddenly the twins are faced with a decision that will forever shape their lives and how their friends, family and the entire community perceive them.