History

It’s Time We Honor Our Indigenous People

Lynette M Burrows

Today in furthering my discussion of time, I’m honoring Indigenous People’s Day. What has that to do with time, you ask? It’s time we honor our indigenous people not just with pictures but with time spent learning and honoring. They are people we have abused, misused, and ignored for far too long. Did you expect pictures of Native American’s in their headgear or in teepees? This day needs to honor all Native American’s and not all Native American’s wore headdresses or slept in teepees. Learn more at the links below. If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.  Stephen Hawking WHAT IS IT? Wikipedia describes what Indigenous People’s Day and how it came about. If you think it’s about time we honor our indigenous people, check to see if your city has a plan to celebrate. Here is a list of cities and states that celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Chief Seattle NATIONAL MUSEUM Did you know there is a National Museum of the […]

How to Time Travel Without a Delorean

Lynette M Burrows

Would you like time travel in a Delorean? In 1981 a Delorean cost $26,000 US dollars. In 2016, the Delorean Motor Company planned to make three hundred replicas of the 1982 Delorean. Each of those vehicles cost approximately $100,000. I don’t know about you, but that is too pricey for my budget. What if I told you how to time travel without the Delorean? In fact, what if I said you needed a Ford or a Studebaker? Would you still want to travel into the past? When writing a novel, the right details create a verisimilitude that helps your story take on a life of its own. This is especially true when writing an alternate history like My Soul to Keep. Thank goodness I learned the secret of time travel and a way to make a new, alternate America. By now you’ve guessed the secret to time travel—the internet. Not participating in WWII, America would be a bit slower coming out of the depression. So when I looked for vehicles I looked for those that were around ten- to twenty years earlier than the 1960s when Miranda’s story takes place. I found a treasure trove in antique and classic car […]

Inspiration from War and Resistance

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 […]