Talkshow Thursday:
Welcome Back, Johnnie Alexander!
The spark for this story ignited more than fifteen years ago, back when writing a full-length novel was still a dream I hoped and prayed would come true. Though When Memory Whispers has had various titles over the years, to me it’s simply “Sparrow,” the codename for the Ohio farm girl with big dreams who became an Allied courier during World War II.
Back to the spark ~ I found a book called Hitler’s Soldiers in the Sunshine State while browsing through the shelves of my local library. Remember this was over fifteen years ago. At that time, I had no idea German soldiers were imprisoned at camps throughout the U.S. and neither did anyone else I asked.
That intriguing book led to my fascination with World War II and a question: what kind of woman would help a German soldier escape from a POW camp?
What sort of research did you do for your story, and was there an exceptionally interesting tidbit you knew you had to include?
I imagined a woman might help a POW escape if she already knew him. But how could an American woman know anyone from Germany?
In my research, I discovered the important and dangerous work undertaken by women during the war as couriers, radio operators, and “femme-fatale” spies. Too many of their stories ended in tragedy as those caught by the enemy were imprisoned and executed.
It made sense that an American woman who worked in England as an Allied courier could meet a
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| Photo: Pixabay/ Rene Rauschenberger |
Here’s an amusing anecdote ~ the German POWs were fascinated with Florida snakes. They collected skins and made belts out of them to take home after the war. The author of Hitler’s Soldiers writes about a POW who tried to tame a young alligator.
He got bit!
If your book is part of a series: Did you set out to write a series? Why did you decide to write a series?
Way back then, all I wanted was to write a novel and have it published. However, the next novel I wrote, with a major character from When Memory Whispers becoming the protagonist, won the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest and became my debut novel, Where Treasure Hides. Though the two novels share a few characters and a similar timeline, they can be read in either the order they were written or the order they were published.
They are marketed as companion novels in the Echoes of War Series.
How do you come up with story lines?
There’s no simple answer to that question. Where Treasure Hides was inspired by my fascination with the juxtaposition of the hiding of art and the hiding of children from the Nazis. My first contemporary series was founded on my love for a mid-19th-century brick house, rumored to have been part of the Underground Railroad, that I lived in as a teenager.
Most ideas and story lines are God’s answers to my prayers. The process is often slow, but I know I’m on the right track by that strange tingling sensation I feel deep inside myself that whispers, “Yes! This is it!”
What draws you to the time period about which you write?
As I said above, I’ve been fascinated and intrigued by WWII since discovering that book about POWs. Researching that topic led to research on other topics ~ women spies; Nazi art theft; the hiding and rescuing of Jewish children; the Dunkirk evacuations; escaping POWs, both German and Allied soldiers; and more. My other two WWII stories are “Blue Moon,” a romantic suspense novella set in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is also known as the Atomic City; and The Cryptographer’s Dilemma, a historical romance based on the true story of an American doll collector who sent coded messages to the Japanese about our naval capabilities. (“Blue Moon” is one of four historical novellas, all titled for 1940s-era songs, in Homefront Heroines).
What is one thing you wish you could do?
Such a fun question! I’d like to live in a picturesque European town for several weeks ~ long enough to live the life of a leisurely tourist.
What writers or books have influenced you?
Ann Tatlock and Davis Bunn were my favorite inspirational authors when I first delved into reading and writing Christian fiction. They write captivating stories with complex characters and in-depth themes ~ the kinds of stories I most aspire to write.
What was your favorite childhood book and why?
How can I choose one from so many?!
Late last year, I bought the boxed set of The Tripods Series which includes the original three stories plus a prequel the author wrote several years after the trilogy.
As much as I wanted to read the stories again, I feared losing the magic of my childhood memory of them. (That happened with another story I once considered a childhood favorite.)
I needn’t have worried. Even though the stories are post-apocalyptic science fiction—a genre I rarely read now and seldom read as a kid—I enjoyed them immensely.
What is your next project?
Guideposts recently asked me to write a third story for their popular Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm Series. I’ve already written #4, Three Dog Knight, and #11, A Will and a Way, and am honored to be writing another one.
BOOK BLURB:
Marie Wyatt ran away from her farm girl past in search of fame and fortune and found herself in wartime London working as an Allied courier. Whether disguised as a middle-aged British housewife or playing a role on the London stage, she acts her part to its fullest. But when a routine mission turns deadly, a mysterious German agent becomes her unlikely savior.
Plunged into a dangerous game of deception, Marie relies on her acting talent to pass false information to the Nazis. Yet the line between duty and loyalty blurs when the German agent is imprisoned in a Florida POW camp with Axis soldiers who consider him a traitor. Marie embarks on a desperate mission to save him before he’s fatally injured.
In a postwar world still reeling from conflict, the couple’s lives are again threatened by a past enemy. Will they ever find the peace they crave? Or will the echoes of war destroy them?
Plummet into a heart-wrenching tale of courage, treachery, and a love that defies all odds.
BIO & SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Johnnie Alexander is a wannabe vagabond with a heart for making memories. As a bestselling, award-winning novelist, she has written more than thirty works of fiction in a variety of genres. She is a Mosaic Collection author, co-hosts a weekly online show called Writers Chat, serves on the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference Executive Board, and is a regular contributor to the HHHistory.com blog. A fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips, Johnnie shares a life of quiet adventure with Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Connect with her at JohnnieAlexander.com.
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Thanks for having me as your guest, Linda! You ask such great questions!
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