Author: L.M. Elm

I love history. I love to read. And love to write about Iowa and Pre-World War II cars.
Research

1946 vs. 2011

L.M. Elm

Three generations. A lot has happened. After researching the era it amazes me the differences and the things that have remained the same in sixty-five years.

AMUSEMENTS:

Drinking: The late forties saw a rise in alcohol consumption. Many men were accustomed to unrestricted alcohol consumption overseas and brought the habit back with them. The men of World War II didn’t start businesses like their fathers, but either went to college or started up the managerial ladder, where among the social elite, mixing drinking and work already existed. Those that couldn’t hold their liquor were looked down upon. But the age old stigma still surrounded women. Men could be alcoholics but women could not.

Movies: Out of every dollar earned, $.80 went to the movie industry. Popular movies of the era were: The Best Years of Our Lives, Gilda, & Laura.

Reading: Book clubs sprung up during the war, in part, because soldiers were extremely board. Like many things, soldiers brought this habit back home with them. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Cain’s Mildred Pierce. Forever Amber was banned in 1944 from many libraries because it was deemed obscene.

Radio: Radio was vital link to the outside world. And in many ways, the 1940s was the golden age for radio.

Smoking: Everyone smoked. There were lots of brands available.

CLOTHING:

Today, people pretty much wear what ever they want. In 1946, even with the war over, people were still feeling the effects of rationing. It wasn’t until late 1947, before factories were completely switched back to domestic production. Both men and women were eager to shed frugality and their military uniforms for something of comfort.

  • Men: For men it meant dawning a suit again, a fedora, and polished shoes. But many men only wore an undershirt and dungarees for home comfort.

  • Women: For business or formal attire, women still preferred the tailored suit or stunning dresses that brushed their toes. Every woman wore a hat that suited her personal style. Hair was usually kept at shoulder length and curled. Powder and lipstick were still the rage. Stockings were still in high demand, but troubles with post-war production limited their supply. Women either used leg make up, went without, or paid black market prices.

  • Teenagers: Bobby-soxers had different meanings depending on who you were talking to. Usually they were teenagers girls who wore skirts & sweaters with saddles shoes and were crazy about Frank Sinatra. Either way, the birth of the teenager was on the rise.

JOBS:

Men – Once the war ended factories were immediately shut down. It took a bit to retool for domestic production again. The economy was at a standstill until 1947, when things got moving again. Strikes were all too frequent. From 1946-1947 thousands of workers went on strike for better working conditions & better pay. Even in newspapers like the Des Moines Tribune, there was at least one story about a strike in the newspaper per issue.

Women – 1994 – 57.3% of women worked outside the home compared to 1950 where only 37% worked outside the home. Many working women gave up good paying jobs to take lesser ones to support the war effort. Ford Motor Co. was a popular employer in Des Moines. Many women worked as machinists during WWII. There were lots of women workers but no women mangers. Mangers were all men either 4F or old. Once war was over, many people were called on the carpet. Many were asked to give their jobs to their husbands while others were given pink slips out right. Many women were grateful to give up their jobs once the men came home. They were either taking the jobs for their husband or doing it out of patriotic duty. Woman that chose to stay in a profession either saw their positions eliminated and given to men, or given menial jobs. Most of the younger veterans were the ones who gave women the most trouble. They felt that the women’s place was in the home, and that their jobs should go to them. Many women that did decide to stay working, saw hostility not only from men, but from women as well. Many women believed that women’s places was at home not in the work force.

Teenagers – During WWII, teens got a taste of the freedom money could bring. Many left home to make extra money in jobs normally taken by older teenagers.

Will be adding more as time goes on. Keep checking back….

Publishing

The Search for a Literary Agent

L.M. Elm

When I first started writing the query letter, I thought my brain would explode. How does one take a 100,000 word novel and chop it down to 250 words, not tell the ending, and tease the agent enough to make them request samples or the entire manuscript? Daunting–yes. Frustrating. Yes. Impossible. No. I started thinking about my favorite books and their dust jackets. How did the summary of those books capture my attention?

So I modeled my query letter after books in my genre and sent my queries out. I told myself not to expect too much. To not get my hopes up. Of the first twenty-five, all of the literary agents sent rejections. I sent out twenty-five more. All rejected. I decided that there must be something wrong with my query letter, so I made updates. I sent out more. Got more rejections. Updated my query letter again and again. And by the sixth update, agents began to bite.

My stats so far:
Total Queries Sent: 143
Total Rejections to Date: 135
Waiting on Responses: 8
Requests for a partial manuscript: 0
Requests for a full manuscript: 0

(Sigh) No luck so far with agents that had the full manuscript. Very generous and helpful comments, though. They liked my character–just didn’t love her. Oh well, (shrug) I’ll find one eventually.

Publishing

More on Literary Agents

L.M. Elm

Some people have asked me why go with a literary agent? There are lots of other alternatives to getting published. Places like Amazon’s CreateSpace or Barnes & Noble provide a way to market, promote, and sell your material. With the burgeoning e-reader market, these places would seem like a viable and easy way to get published. So, why choose a literary agent who gets a cut of 10-15% of your earnings?

The popularity of e-books have exploded in the past couple of years, but people continue to go to book stores and still buy books. Printed books may have competition, but they’re not dead yet. Depending on what source your looking at, ebooks only account for about three to five percent of the publishing market. A book in hard cover or paperback still has the greatest potential of reaching a larger audience.

While you can self publish and hope to reach your target audience, a literary agent’s job is to know the market. What’s trending and what isn’t. They have established relationships with editors and publishing houses, and can negotiate the best deal for you. After all they’re getting 10-15% of your cut too and often don’t get paid until you do. As a writer, I don’t have time to research the market, or get to know publishing houses, who more often than not, would only associate with literary agents anyway. The entire process may take well over two to five years before my book is actually published, but the relationships I will cultivate will be entirely be worth the wait.

Research

Bibliography (Papa’s Bones)

L.M. Elm

If you’ve ever wonder what sources I used for this novel, I’ve chosen a select listing below:

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Writing

The Revision Process II

L.M. Elm

It’s amazing. I read and read and read through my manuscript. One of my friends (a voracious reader) just gave it back to me. You’d think I’d have every thing corrected…then I get it back.

I think anyone that wants to be a writer has to take the plunge. You gotta let somebody read it. After all what’s the point if you don’t? I suppose that’s the difference between saying ‘I write’ vs. ‘I am a writer’.’

Still waiting on three more readers and their thoughts. Make corrections then synopsis here I come. How does one cram a 100,000 word manuscript down to one page?

Writing

The Revision Process

L.M. Elm

Okay. My five years are up. No more researching. No more squeezing words from my brain. My manuscript is done but not complete. Here comes the second step: editing. Or as I like to refer to it: slash and burn baby.

Kill those adverbs (thanks Mark Twain). Dig for stronger verbs. Give those passive verbs a shot of espresso and turn them active. Wince at anachronisms. Make dialogue ‘ear worthy’.

Whew! I have work to do.

Books to help me along:
Elizabeth Lyon. Manuscript Makeover. New York: Pengin Books, 2008.
Jessica Page Morrell. Thanks, But This Isn’t for Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2009.
James Alexander Thom. The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2010.
Persia Woolley. How to Write and Sell Historical Fiction. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.