I’ve put my sequel to Papa’s Bones to bed for while. I was getting frustrated with where the plot was going. Instead, I’ve decided to concentrate on a story I’ve been thinking about for a long, long time. It’s a YA historical loosely based on my fifteen year-old step-uncle who grew up on a northwestern Iowa farm at the beginning of WWII.
Farming’s in my blood. I spent a lot of time on my grandfather’s farm (4th generation). I worked at a museum that specializes in Iowa farming. I figured I’d stick with what I know for this one.The one thing about farming and Iowa, there’s a lot of primary sources available. One source that I just picked up from my local library is titled: Sunday Afternoon on the Porch: Reflections of a Small Town in Iowa, 1939-1942, w/ photographs by Everett Kuntz. The black and white snap shots are a perfect slice of 1930s & 1940s Iowa small town rural life.
L.M. Elm, Historical Novelist 