Inspiration from War and Resistance

August 17, 2018August 16, 2018 Lynette M Burrows

Novelists are often told, “write what you know.” That’s not quite right. They should learn what they don’t know. Then when they write, they write from a place of knowing. I wanted to write about everyday people who decide to fight for their freedom. So I turned to history again. I needed inspiration for my then in-progress novel, My Soul to Keep. I looked for character inspiration from war and resistance. I found a lot more. Google is my friend. I searched for resistance and freedom fighters. Scanning hundreds of articles about resistance groups or rebels or freedom fighters I looked for firsthand accounts. I read a lot of articles. Articles about the American Revolution, the Syrian Civil War, and the Polish, the Yugoslavian, the Dutch, and the French resistance fighters in WWII. Syrian Civil War and Reality There were two resources I returned to over and over again. I found a number of YouTube videos about the Syrian Civil War. These were videos not for the faint of heart. They showed the real brutality of war, the spirit of resistance, and the destruction of homes and lives. It also showed the resilience of the human spirit. People lived in the […]

Inspiration Never Gets Old

June 21, 2018August 5, 2018 Lynette M Burrows

For this week’s post, I want to introduce you to a website full of inspiration. I’m talking about LaterBloomer.com by Debra Eve. Its tagline is “Creativity never gets old.” That’s true, but it’s also a site where Inspiration never gets old. Debra calls herself a proud later bloomer and possessor of many passions. On her website, she profiles a later bloomer once a month. According to Debra, “Being a Later Bloomer has nothing to do with being late. Like the pomegranate tree that fruits in fall, we all bloom in our own time.” The folks she profiles are sometimes famous, sometimes not. All her profiles are about people who find their creative path after 35 years of age, many were older than 50 when they found their life’s work. Her profiles include artists, athletes, explorers, and writers. And while the stories of artists and writers are among my favorites, the category near and dear to my heart is titled, “Women.” Athletes I love her profile on Olga Kotelko, an athletic prodigy who at age 77 hired a coach then went on to set records and win medals. Olga was one determined lady! Debra’s blog posts cover her own journey and […]

Remembering American Women in Military Service

May 28, 2018August 5, 2018 Lynette M Burrows

It’s Memorial Day. It’s a day set aside to remember those who died in active military service to our country. Today we remember and honor the men who served and died. Those men deserve remembrances, but some of us forget that there were many women who served and died. This Memorial Day is also a time to be remembering American women in military service who died for our country. Women in military service is not a new concept. Some women hid their gender to fight alongside their brothers. Other women chose to serve as nurses or support personnel. Today, women can choose to serve in combat situations and in all branches of U.S. Military Service. So let’s remember the women who died for our country in addition to the men. And let’s not honor only those who died in recent service, but remember from the first war in our fledgling nation to the most recent war. Lest you forget one of them, THE WARS • The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) • War of 1812 (1812-1815) • Mexican – American War (1846-1848) • American Civil War (1861–1865) • […]