Sarah Sundin
The Sky Above Us
(Sunrise at Normandy, Book 2)
Have you ever had a “lightbulb moment?” A moment where
a fully-formed idea popped into your head like a flash of light. That’s what
happened to me on January 6, 2000. I awoke that morning from a dream so
compelling I knew it was a novel. A novel I knew I had to write. As a
pharmacist being an author was not in my original career plan, but I’ve been
writing ever since.
I love coming up with characters’ names. As a writer
of historic fiction, I try
to be true to the times and the ethnicities of the region the characters come
from. For The Sky Above Us, I wanted a “sky”-related name for my fighter
pilot, and found the name Adler, which means eagle in German. I liked
the different sound of it too, and it paired well with Paxton, the nice strong
name I’d chosen for the three brothers who are the heroes of this series.
Violet Lindstrom—I just knew her name was Violet. Sometimes a character just
comes with a name attached. Violet is a name more common in her mother’s or
grandmother’s era, and then I realized she was named after her great-aunt, a
woman who serves as her role model. And Lindstrom is a good Swedish name you’d
hear in her hometown in Kansas.
Some authors
prefer research to writing, or writing to editing, but I love it all. Research
is great fun, and yields so many story ideas—and so many interesting things in
general. I could research all day. But the writing! That’s why I research in
the first place, so I can understand my characters and the world they inhabit
and the things they do. I get a bit giddy during the rough draft phase—it’s an
absolute delight. But I also love editing. Not in a giddy way, but in a
getting-down-to-business way. The rough draft always feels a bit flabby, and in
editing I trim it down, get it into shape, and make it stronger. Like taking my
story to the gym. And like going to the gym, it’s hard work and sometimes
painful—but worth it.
I adore
traveling. My husband and I are considering one of those Rhine River cruises in
the future—combined with research for my next set of novels. We love Europe and
history, so we’re very excited about it. And he’s remarkably tolerant of my
research jaunts. When we were in Normandy researching the Sunrise at Normandy
series, we went traipsing through old German gun emplacements in the mud and
wind and rain—and loved it. I told him, “Aren’t you glad I don’t write stories
set in dainty English tearooms?” The horrified look on his face was priceless.
About Sarah:
Sarah Sundin is a bestselling author of historical
novels, including The Sky Above Us
and The Sea Before Us. Her novel The Sea Before Us was a finalist for the
2019 Reader’s Choice Award from Faith, Hope, and Love, When Tides Turn and Through
Waters Deep were named to Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last
10 Years,” and Through Waters Deep
was a finalist for the 2016 Carol Award and
won the INSPY Award. A mother of three, Sarah
lives in California and teaches Sunday school. She
also enjoys speaking for church, community, and writers’ groups.
About The Sky Above Us
Numbed by grief and harboring shameful
secrets, Lt. Adler Paxton ships to England with the US 357th Fighter Group in
1943. Determined to become an ace pilot, Adler battles the German Luftwaffe in
treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for
control of the air before the D-day invasion.
Violet Lindstrom wants to be a missionary,
but for now she serves in the American Red Cross, arranging entertainment for
the men of the 357th and setting up programs for local children. Drawn to the
mysterious Adler, she enlists his help with her work and urges him to reconnect
with his family after a long estrangement.
Despite himself, Adler finds his defenses crumbling
when it comes to Violet. But D-day draws near . . . and secrets can’t stay
buried forever.
Connect
with Sarah:
Website: www.sarahsundin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sarahsundin
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sarahsundin
Your turn!
Visit
Sarah’s website to be able to answer the following question to be entered into
today’s giveaway of The Sky Above Us:
How did Sarah’s grandfather serve during World War II?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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