Christine Kohler

May 19, 2014 11:37 AM EDT

In the setting of each scene I try to use imagery and similies to distract from the natural gruesomeness that is happening, while holding he protagonist on the razor edge of the conflict.

- Judy Dick

May 24, 2014 5:53 PM EDT

Excellent point, Judy! Yes, imagery and similes are effective ways to express a graphic scene without giving concrete details within the text. I was thinking, in particular, of synedoche where a part stands for a whole, or a metaphor. GOOD-BYE BOAT, a picture book about death is an excellent example.

- Christine Kohler

Apr 27, 2014 6:25 PM EDT

Marsha, your books are so special. You bring little-known history to life. It was hard for me to read these three books - had to do it in small doses. They reminded me of my parents' experiences during the war, and those of their friends. Kudos and admiration for what you do and how well you do it!

- Orysia

Apr 27, 2014 6:47 PM EDT

Orysia,
Thank you so much for your comments. These books have been emotionally difficult to write -- like opening up a vein and writing with blood -- but I'm glad I've done it because they honour some very brave WWII survivors who have received very little attention.

- Marsha Skrypuch

Aug 26, 2022 3:08 PM EDT

this really moved me

- jim

Sep 01, 2022 12:01 AM EDT

Jim, thank you for reading. That fear of WWIII is even stronger today than in 2014.

- Marsha Skrypuch

Apr 19, 2014 12:20 PM EDT

Christine - Great advice! Thanks for this!

- Alexis O'Neill

Apr 19, 2014 6:04 PM EDT

Thanks Alexis! That means a lot coming from you.

- Christine Kohler

Apr 21, 2014 2:48 AM EDT

Christine;
I enjoyed reading your article. I am working on a YA biography. I have an editor and will be looking for an agent soon. I have thought about attending library conventions. You have offered great ideas! I also appreciated your article because my mother was a high school librarian and she loved the conventions!

- Annie Schneiderman Valliere

Apr 21, 2014 10:08 AM EDT

Thank you, Annie. I'm glad the article is helpful. Congratulations on your YA biography! Would you like to share the topic, publisher, and when it will be released? (If it is too early in the acquisitions process, I can understand if you don't want to share at this point.) If your book is still in the acquisitions or editing stage and it won't be out for a couple of years, then my best advice is to plug into SCBWI and volunteer at your local chapters' booth. This will help you build support with fellow authors for the year your book is released and you will be pitching it from your publisher's booth. Best wishes!

- Christine Kohler

Oct 31, 2015 4:13 AM EDT

Dear Christine,
I just saw your reply only now a year and six months later! Thank you for your support. I will let you know as things progress. I am still shoring the book up to show to agents.
Sorry for the delay in responding. Annie

- Annie Schneiderman Valliere

Nov 01, 2015 4:25 AM EST

Best wishes to you in your agent search! I am in that process now, too. I've had two agents at two of the top agencies, neither of which sold anything for me, and neither lasted with me longer than two years. (The second agent left agenting altogether.) So I have plugged along on my own. But one thing that computers and then internet has changed in our publishing industry is to flood editors and agents with manuscripts of hopeful authors. As a result, most publishers have had to close their houses to unsolicited submissions. The good news is more agents have set up shop. But like publishers, you have to research who would be the best agent for what you write, and to get your work in the hands of the editors best for your book.

- Christine Kohler

Mar 29, 2014 1:14 PM EDT

Thank you for guest blogging and for the affirmation in this particular tip, Mindy. I say "affirmation" because I am bogged down in researching a YA historical novel due to lack of time right now. I know the topic and setting, and the story is telling itself to me. But I bought a bunch of books from Harvard scholar-types. I love NF and have a reputation as a solid researcher in NF, but reading every itch and sneeze and infidelity and rival of Fidel Castro's life is not going to help me write this book better. So thank you for affirming that it's okay to take a general over-view read--to start with--of the topic and setting and historic context by using juvenile fiction.

- Christine Kohler

Mar 29, 2014 5:16 PM EDT

Thank you Christine for having me!

- Mindy McGinnis

Mar 18, 2014 8:31 PM EDT

Sounds like a great experience overall!

- Yvonne Ventresca

Mar 19, 2014 8:06 AM EDT

Yes, it was great meeting my editor and so many author-friends, connecting with readers, and just, in general, enjoying the beautiful city of Tucson. The mountains are majestic. I even found a favorite restaurant, Beyond Bread. The festival was very well organized. It never felt crowded because book people are so polite and congenial.

- Christine Kohler

Mar 01, 2014 1:12 PM EST

http://flip.it/DOlmp added to my emagazine World war II Discoveries & Recoveries. while veiwable in browser is looks better on ipad or kindles Flipboard app. looking forward to reading.

- lonnie martin

Mar 02, 2014 7:30 AM EST

Thanks for hosting me, Christine! I got your book last week! Can't wait to read it!

- Mary Cronk Farrell

Mar 02, 2014 9:35 AM EST

Thanks so much for the blog article, Mary. Now that it is released (March 1) I can't wait from my copy to arrive. (I buy on-line through B&N.) Great topic! My sister is a geriatrics nurse and I applaud nurses everywhere for their dedication to helping people, despite the difficulties. >< >< >< >< (applause!)

- Christine Kohler

Mar 02, 2014 9:41 AM EST

Lonnie Martin, thank you so much for adding this article info to your e-zine WWII Discoveries & Recoveries! The flip art style of the 'zine is really clever. It gives the feeling of reading a print 'zine. Here's the link again, folks: https://flipboard.com/section/world-war-ii-discoveries-b0k81V

I'll give this WWII resource a Shout Out on other network sites.
Mahalo!
Christine

- Christine Kohler

Mar 13, 2014 10:46 AM EDT

Newspaper reporters and civic leaders categorized the nurses in familiar women’s roles, either exaggerating their femininity or imagining salacious behavior. Post-war doctors and psychologists treating POW’s focused on men. No woman had earned the Combat Infantry Badge, and history would remember the men who had.

The Combat Medical Badge is an award of the United States Army which was first created in January 1945. Any member of the Army Medical Department, at the rank of Colonel or below, who is assigned or attached to a medical unit (company or smaller size) which provides medical support to a ground combat arms unit during any period in which the unit was engaged in active ground combat is eligible for the CMB.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Medical_Badge

All recipients of the badges during WWII are entitled to the Bronze Star Medal In the nurses' cases, the Bronze Star Medal (First OLC) since all are eligible for the first BSM.

- MSgt Robert E. Johnson, USAF, Retired

Mar 16, 2014 8:11 PM EDT

MSgt (ret) Robert Johnson, thank you for adding additional information to this important conversation.

[My apologies for delying on approving and commenting. I'm at the Tucson Festival of Books.]

- Christine Kohler

Jan 28, 2014 6:47 PM EST

*Blowing a kiss right back at you* The props were a great addition to your table and a perfect way to start a conversation without feeling like a book saleperson. My daughter told my husband all about your coconut at dinner that night.

- Sarah Negovetich

Jan 28, 2014 7:21 PM EST

Great tips, Christine!

- Martina Boone

Jan 30, 2014 11:34 AM EST

Thanks for these tips, Christine! I'm paying close attention and taking good notes! Good luck with your continuing presentations and signings!

- Linda Phillips

Jan 31, 2014 12:31 PM EST

I'm drawn to anything Japanese and No Surrender Soldier looks fascinating. Thanks for the tips and ideas! I agree about offering programs as part of book promotion. My publisher will launch my debut book, Feathers and Trumpets, A Story of Hildegard of Bingen in March.

- Joyce Ray

Feb 01, 2014 9:07 AM EST

Thanks for the comments & encouragement, Sarah, Martina, Linda and Joyce Ray.

Sarah, your girls, especially the tiny one, look like Precious Moments dolls! What sweeties, but with bundles of energy and curiostiy. I'm glad the coconut sparked your child's curiosity. At the other library program I had more coconuts, only pre-drilled and cracked. I had Dixie cups available for people who wanted to drink the milk. I had a butter knife for those who wanted to snap out a piece of coconut meat and eat. What I envision under different environments (outside!) is for teens to try to crack a coconut open with a rock, then spoon, then hammer and chisel. Then to squeeze oil from the meat. They will be able to see how difficult it would be to live as a survivalist. When in season, I'd like to get a full coconut still in the husk because that's even harder to open, which is what the soldier had to break through to use for milk, food, oil, and lamps.

- Christine Kohler

Feb 01, 2014 9:19 AM EST

Joyce Ray, I had never heard of Hildegard so I looked her up. Wow! This would be great NF or fiction. (Can I plug here that I'm giving one of the intensive workshops at the SCBWI summer conference in LA about NF, narrative NF, and historical fiction?) And to think this was during a time when my ancestors in (now state of) Germany were poor farmers probably working for these overlords. It's remarkable as a woman what she was able to do. I want to read more!
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.asp

One thing my publisher wanted me to do that I haven't quite found time for is to write a NF article for a magazine about Shoichi Yokoi, the WWII soldier who hid in the jungle on which my fictional soldier Isamu Seto is based. It would be ideal for me to do this now, too, because the last soldier found in the Philippines died this month at age 91. What I have been doing instead is to write articles about my research and putting them on my website, both as a separate tab and on my blog. I wanted to do more, even including Guamanian recipes, but...marketing is eating up my time. When do we get to write? (rhetorical question for another thread. ha ha)

- Christine Kohler