Write by the Lake: Day 1

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It was beautiful in Madison, Wisconsin, today. I drove in from the west this morning, leaving home extra early because I wasn’t sure how heavy rush hour traffic would be, especially through construction zones. It wasn’t bad (I learned how to drive in suburban Chicago), and I arrived about a half hour before conference registration.

I walked to Memorial Union, along the Terrace, which spans a portion of Lake Mendota.

It wasn’t crowded at all this morning. A groundskeeper was busy blowing away some trash, and a couple of women occupied different tables, swiping away on their electronic devices. Construction workers were the most conspicuous, applying themselves to a variety of projects that will make this portion of the lake shore even more inviting. Someday. Right now the construction is loud and annoying. But if you face away from it and look out on the lake, you can almost ignore it.

I wasn’t there for the scenery, though. After a good bit of a walk, I headed over to the campus building that was hosting this year’s Write by the Lake conference. For five days, very committed writers work in small groups, divided up by genre, to make their writing better.

Good writers know this is a never-ending process. There is always room for improvement, no matter how much or how little you have written.

In the non-fiction class I signed up for, today was mostly a getting-to-know-you day. There was also a very practical exercise about identifying themes, which are important in non-fiction works. One group member had her 2000-word submission critiqued. It was a friendly and helpful critique. I think it put everyone at ease about what will go on for the rest of the week. I don’t know when my submission will come up for critique.

I signed up for this conference because I want to get a solid start on my next book. I think it will help to have some feedback, even at this very early stage.

And now, I have a little bit of homework to do for tomorrow.

 

My First Bookstore Event

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It’s happening on Thursday, at 7:00 p.m. on June 16 at

mysterytome

This wonderful Madison bookstore was one of many independents that showcased my book during the winter after it had been chosen as a January Midwest Connections Pick by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association.

Angels Madison

I hope you can come out and listen to journalist Doug Moe interview me about the book, and take part in the conversation.

 

Honoring Servicewomen on Memorial Day, Part II

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Nursing was a dangerous occupation for female service members during World War II. Six army nurses, including 2nd Lt. Ellen Ainsworth, died in February 1944 when the Germans attacked an Allied beachhead at Anzio, in Italy.

Lt. Aleda Lutz, originally from Freeland, Michigan, was also involved with the battle of Anzio. An ANC general duty nurse assigned to the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Transportation Squadron, she took care of the wounded soldiers as they were airlifted away from the war zone. The Germans shot at her, too, but she survived.

Lutz had evacuated the wounded from various areas of the European theater, as well as Africa, ultimately logging 814 hours in the air, perhaps more than any other member of the Army Nurse Corps during World War II.

On November 1, 1944, Lutz embarked on her 196th mission. She accompanied 15 wounded soldiers (some American, some German POWs) from Lyon, France to a hospital in Italy. During a storm, the plane crashed into a mountainside. There were no survivors.

Aleda Lutz was 28 when she died.She had been an army nurse for 3 years. Lutz was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1950, the Aleda E. Lutz Veterans Affairs Medical Center was dedicated in Saginaw, Michigan. Lutz is one of the servicewomen who deserves to be remembered on Memorial Day.

 

Honoring Servicewomen on Memorial Day

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American women became a permanent part of the U.S. military in 1948 when President Harry Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. Prior to that, when the country was not at war, women could only serve in the Army or Navy nurse corps. During both world wars, however, the various branches of the military recruited women for non-combat service.

This didn’t keep servicewomen safe during wartime. In World War II, over 540 women died while on duty. Though most of those deaths were from accidents and illness, at least 16 of them were the result of enemy actions.

Twenty-four-year old 2nd Lt. Ellen Ainsworth was one of six nurses killed during the battle of Anzio.

(Ainsworth, on duty in Italy, is second from right.)

A member of the Army Nurse Corps working with the 56th Evacuation Hospital, Ainsworth was in Anzio, on the west coast of Italy, in early 1944. The Allies were still trying to wrest the country from the Germans, who put up bitter resistance.

On February 10, 1944, Ainsworth was working in a tent hospital on one of the beachheads the Allies had established. German plans bombed and strafed the area. Disregarding her own safety, Ainsworth stayed with her patients. A piece of shrapnel hit her in the chest, and she died six days later. For her bravery, Ainsworth posthumously received the Silver Star. She is buried in Italy.

2nd Lt. Ellen Ainsworth is one of many servicewomen who deserve to be remembered and honored on Memorial Day.