B-24s AND LUFTWAFFE PILOTS

One of two airworthy B-24s remaining in U. S. This one is “Diamond Lil.” The other is named “Witchcraft.”

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog, mainly because I feel the the media universe has become super-saturated with them.  Same thing with author newsletters and books in general.  So I’ll understand if only a few people ever read this.

But I thought I’d blather briefly about what I’ve begun working on while novel #6, aka FIREWIND, searches for an amiable acquisitions editor.

I know the project I’m about to describe will sound like it’s not exactly in my “wheel house,” (although the tale does contain a minor weather element), but it’s a story I’ve been absolutely fascinated by for at least two decades.  I can’t really explain that fascination, other than to say the story is just so damned incredible. 

It’s the account of a famous—or perhaps infamous—WWII aerial bombing raid by the U. S. on the oil fields and refineries of Romania.  The oil was deemed the lifeblood of the Nazi war machine.

I started years ago thinking about how to write a novel centered on that raid, but at the time had never written a novel, so abandoned the notion.  But now that I have a few novels under my belt, I decided Why not give it a go?

In a nutshell, the drama will follow the “collision course” of an American B-24 bomber pilot (and his crew) and a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot.  To try to make the story something more than just a combat tale and attempt to frame it in a unique perspective, I’m going to incorporate some of the experiences my wife had as a child growing up in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and then living through the war years (1939-45).  I’m also planning to carve out a role for a Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) aviator.

Maybe I’ve embarked on a fool’s errand—among other things, a mountain range of research stares me in the face—but I really want to take a shot at it.  Of course, there’s also the question of Do people still want to read novels set in WWII?

Well, if nothing else the project will, as they say, keep me off the streets and outta the bars.

Assuming it doesn’t drive me to drink.