Dear friends, Greetings from sunny wintery South Australia. Yes, I made it home after an adventure of a lifetime in Antarctica. Our trip was everything and more, and I now have fond memories to look back on and a story to write. I don’t know how you all feel after returning from a holiday, but I feel a little flat, so I tend to start planning the next. I think it has something to do with ageing. It’s like time is running out, and we must fit in as much as possible while we have our health and mobility. Our next holiday won’t be as exciting as Antarctica, but it will still be unique. The trouble is the more I see; the more stories present themselves. I’ve started penning a story from Whalers Bay, Antarctica. So, I thought I’d talk about how that process beings. The period will be interesting. Whalers Bay ceased operation in 1939 (Deception Island – Antarctica - Norwegian Hektor Whaling Station – 62-59-00 S 60-34-00 W). I want to set the story in the mid-1920s. It will put my heroine in her late thirties, a widower, as her husband died during the First World War. Women in the 1920s were gaining more independence. The suffragette’s fierce efforts finally secured women’s voting rights in 1918. With millions of men serving overseas during the war, women found themselves taking on jobs traditionally given to men. Married women still tended not to have their own passports. They travelled with their husbands. But life was starting to change significantly, and if you were a single woman, you travelled on your own passport. So, I have a woman who will have a passport and travel to South America alone. Her family won’t like it, but she’s a strong-minded woman. Already I’m getting a feeling for this person. It wouldn’t have been easy losing a loved one. Her marriage had been happy, so to pick herself up from that loss and go against her family shows a woman with grit. Yep, she must have grit to work at Whalers Bay. No gentlewoman would stand the weather, the stench, the living conditions and standing her ground amongst a bunch of whalers. As you can see, I’m starting to get a picture of my heroine. My hero is a man caught between worlds. After he returned from the war, life wasn’t the same as when he left. So many menfolk never returned. He lost his father and two brothers. His mother is mourning her loss, as are his sisters-in-laws. He can’t help them, and only time will heal their wounds. Not knowing how to help and suffering survivor guilt, he decides to see the world and starts a journey to South America. These two unlikely people will be flung together on an adventure they might ordinarily regret if it wasn’t for meeting up. And so, you see how slowly I’m getting a feel for the period and the people. So, when I’ve finished editing book three of the West Series, Redemption, which should be soon, I will head down the research tunnel and see what the mid-1920s offers. It’s an adventure I love. Until next time, stay safe. Suzie
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AuthorContemporary adventure with Archives
June 2024
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