Is history out of fashion?

Posted on April 18, 2010 by moonbridgebooks

I am relaxing a bit after organizing a wonderful two days with what I consider a rock star of WWII Japan-America history. Beate Sirota-Gordon came from New York to speak in Chicago and then St. Louis to discuss her role as a 22-year-old girl on the committee to draft the new post-WWII Japan constitution. Daughter of an internationally famous Russian-Jewish pianist teaching and performing through the Imperial Academy of Music in Tokyo, Beate was raised in Japan and separated from her parents during WWII while attending university in California. Working as one of the few Japanese translators in the U.S., she was able to support herself and, after the War, was eagerly accepted by the State Department to work overseas, which enabled her to be the first female civilian allowed into Japan following the War – and she was then able to find her starving parents and sneak food to them. She became involved in General MacArthur’s committee to draft the new Japan constitution and was instrumental in giving Japanese women equal rights – not a small accomplishment in that male-dominated time.

Mrs. Gordon’s stories are absolutely fascinating glimpses into pre-WWII Tokyo and, of course, she has the inside scoop of the proceedings of that frantic seven days in which the committee had to produce a final draft – why seven days is a mystery she reveals in her presentation. Mrs. Gordon is a gifted and fun story-teller who held everyone in wide-eyed trance. She is a living artifact of history, and yet her presence was snubbed by all the local papers even though her famous parents lived here for many years and her father performed live over local radio. Why?

Is living history not of interest anymore? None of the papers printed even two sentences about this event, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch choose instead to print something about fashion in media in its Events Today section. No thanks to St. Louis media and its fashions, Mrs. Gordon’s event was attended by over 100 people due mostly to in-house publicity by several of the area’s universities, the Japan America Society and the JAS Womens Association. I was relieved that the auditorium was filled and many surrounded her to chat, have their photos taken with her, and ask for her autograph, as I would have been greatly embarrassed by our town’s disinterest if we did not have a good crowd. Mrs. Gordon is known even by taxi-drivers in Japan and has traveled the world giving talks. It is sad, indeed, that our town’s papers chose not to inform the public. Let us hope that death and destruction – and fashion – are not the only things of interest to the media anymore.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in history | 3 Comments

WWII letters home

Posted on March 13, 2010 by moonbridgebooks
I am currently working on creating a booklet out of two year’s worth of WWII letters to home. My husband’s grandfather was drafted and entered the military the day before his wedding anniversary. He wrote home almost every day. Fortunately the family had saved the letters, but no one had really looked at them.
I never got to know PawPaw very well. He was a rangy, rather quiet fellow, a retired farmer, a Tennessee country boy. Whenever we visited the few times a year, he liked to repeat the same silly jokes, with such a twinkle in his eyes that I couldn’t help but laugh. Reading his letters, I came to know a devoted family man who dearly missed the “honey and babies” he was forced to leave. Even though his writing is simple, with almost nonexistent punctuation, he wrote of the “flying fish like grasshoppers over the blue sea.” His story is neither full of action nor of much historical fact, but it is a picture of life on a supply ship: the boredom of an endless ocean interrupted by rough storms and even a typhoon or two, liberty on islands of sea shells and brown natives, never knowing the future, worrying about the family and the farm back home.
A friend working on recreating her father’s WWII story had only ship newsletters and official paperwork to go by. After her mother’s death, her father threw out his letters to home, thinking they were of no interest to anyone. Though he had stories, he didn’t want them written down, saying they were not worth anything. So many people say that about their stories, thinking that since they were nobody special their stories are not important. Yet history is also made up of everyday lives, the kind that tend to be left out of the pages of books. Yes, we like to read about decisive events and famous people, but we’re also curious about how ordinary people lived – in those days, and under those circumstances, which may not be so long ago. The world changes so quickly these days.
The PacificThis Sunday, March 14, 8pm Central time, HBO presents the first of a ten-episode series entitled “The Pacific.” Produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the miniseries is based on the memoirs of Marines Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge, the story of war hero John Basilone, and interviews with other veterans who fought in the Pacific arena of WWII. The series depicts on a personal level the battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Peleliu, and Okinawa and ends with the mens’ wary homecoming. Warning: Episode 9 is said to be disturbing to watch. The Pacific website offers a place to submit stories of military service or to pay tribute to today’s (or yesterday’s) soldiers. A companion book, with additional personal stories, was released earlier this month.

Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific by Robert Leckie

With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone by James Brady

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in capturing memories | 1 Comment

To publish or not to publish your memoir

Posted on March 6, 2010 by moonbridgebooks

It is very difficult for a new writer to get noticed these days by agents and the big traditional publishers. Agent Rachelle Gardner receives hundreds of queries a week from hopeful writers jockeying for her attention. Gardner recently wrote a blog post specifying the type of books she is interested in representing (each agent has specialties). She is interested in books with a Christian slant and in memoirs, but not “personal stories of overcoming adversity… unless your story has built-in marketing potential and an obvious media hook.” Someone then asked if that meant her Christian-perspective story of overcoming cancer twice was not of interest. Gardner was kind enough to explain further.

Publishing is a business. A big business. And it is not doing so well these days. The traditional publishers are looking for sure bets: celebrity stories, big name authors, hot-selling current themes (think vampires). If you are not famous, you have an uphill battle. Your manuscript had better be written really well, have a subject attractive to the masses and yet have a twist that sets it apart. “Misery” memoirs of drugs and abuse are a dime a dozen. The cancer survivor is one of millions, as Gardner noted. She says, “Memoir is a demanding genre; it will only sell if the writing is stellar, and the story is crafted in a way that is very compelling. It usually needs a unique hook or a fresh spin on a common topic.” This is true of any genre: what makes your story stand out from the rest, but not be too different.

The average person will not have a standout memoir that can be sold to a publishing house. Those who truly believe they have a sellable story will need to develop serious writing skills, to research by reading top-selling memoirs, and to study similar memoir stories to see how to tweak to be unique. Consider approaching small publishers that accept memoirs. If you can do presentations related to your memoir theme, consider self-publishing and doing back-of-the-room sales. Again, publishing is a business. For some, it is an expensive hobby.

For most, it is not important to sell their memoir to millions. For most, it is too much trouble to self-publish and market. That does not make their story less important or valuable. A memoir is what you leave behind for those you love, for those who want to remember you forever and tell their children and great-grandchildren about you. Your memoir may not make a million, but it will be worth a million to your family.You don’t need the publishing world to verify that.

Read Rachelle Gardner’s post, Writing Memoir

John Kremer’s Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in publishing | Comments Off on To publish or not to publish your memoir