When I came up with an idea to write about the Gypsies during
WWII, I decided to name it Tango of Death
(Tango de Fung). When I proposed the
book to my publisher, she asked if I could do a trilogy. What?
Three books? Uh, you always say
‘yes’ when asked such a question by your publisher. But now the plot I’d been tossing around in
my mind for over ten years had to change.
Could I write a trilogy? It
sounded like a daunting task.
I created a story involving gypsies, partisans and Jews. Hmmm . . . how would I connect them? It
didn’t take me long to consider writing about three sisters and creating a
separate story for each. I came up with Gypsy Spirit, Partisan Heart, and Jewish Soul. I loved the titles and the concept. Since I’m visual I was thrilled my published
gave me my covers – what an inspiration they were.
I approached the series like any other book; a combination of
characters, settings and plots.
There were certain absolutes.
All three books would take place in Poland and Germany during 1943 and
involve the holocaust. I didn’t want it
to be the ‘same-old’ . . . so I painstakingly researched for those bits of
information that were new. I watched
documentaries and read exhaustively. The
dress, vehicles, music, food, and even slang had to be 1940s.
I knew I wanted to ‘sparingly’ use Polish, German, Roma, Yiddish,
and of course English as the main language.
It would be tricky to give the flavor of all these languages and still
make sure the reader knew what was being said.
A sense of place was vital and I wanted nothing to do with sensationalizing,
I wanted everything to sound, smell, feel, taste, and look 1940s Poland and
Germany. City names and layout had to be
authentic as did rivers and bridges.
Even more serious, I used infamous Nazi officers and partisans
and had to be careful not to place them in my story where they couldn’t have
been during the timeframe. They couldn’t have ten children in my book if they
didn’t have ten children in history. I
wanted to kill one of the Nazi officers, then remembered he didn’t die for five
more years.
I had to account for the terrain and how long it would take to
reach certain destinations. Vehicles and
roads were different than they are now, and horseback or wagon timeframes had
to be taken into account.
In book #1, Gypsy Spirit, I set the scene and introduced the sisters. I developed a way for them to be separated .
. . and an agreed meeting place for after the war (if they survived). Then
Zilka took the story away . . .
In book #2, Partisan Heart, I had to create a way for the sister
who ran off with her love to join the partisans, struggle with her conscious,
go back to her kumpania, only to find all her people dead. Vanya became tightly involved with the
partisans and the Nazi infiltration of the Polish underground.
By book #3, Jewish Soul, the reader can only hope the third
sister, Mayla, has fared better, safe with their mother and grandmother in
Switzerland, or is she. Will they ever
be to together again? Book three must
tie all the loose-ends and develop an ending that will satisfy the reader – and
even keep them thinking about all three girls long after they close the cover.
Hints for a series: Keep a separate three-by-five
notebook for each book. Jot down all
information you want to address in each book.
Some information comes to you during book one, two or even planning in
book three. You might have to foreshadow
in your earlier books . . . that is why planning . . . at least the skeleton of
all three stories should happen before starting page one of book one.
Keep an ‘electronic’ file called ‘notes’ for each separate
book. I never take time to hand-write
notes if I can copy and paste them into an electronic file. I might jot a written reminder in my notebook
to cross-reference my electronic notes, but I keep it all until the final words
are written.
I work on my hard-drive.
Save your work several times a day.
But, at the end of the day – I always save the same work out to a flash
drive. If you’ve ever lost a day’s work
… or more (which I have) . . . you’ll
never let it happen to you again!
.jpg)
It’s strange – but nothing has been more satisfying as writing
my trilogy, Tango of Death. If you read
book #1, Gypsy Spirit, and were upset when they closed the door to the gas chamber –
don’t give up hope – if you’ve read Gypsy Spirit and Partisan Heart – and are upset when those heavy
doors start closing – dong’ give up faith
. . . book three, Jewish Soul, has more twists and turns . . . and creates incredible tense
situations, and - - - if you’ve hung in there . . . ‘satisfaction’ for the
reader . . . and my Gypsy girls.
.jpg)
.jpg)
