What Does The Robin Have To Do With The Baby?

I proposed to myself a thirty-one day blogging challenge. We'll see where it goes to from there. That does not include Ginny's "Yarn Along," which gives me incentive to both read and do my handiwork so that I have some progress to show each Wednesday morning. I hope to keep going afterwards, but as these things go, they generally slow down after a bit. Perhaps, if I skip a few days, some of you will give me a nudge.

I find myself with a blank page this morning, and not a lot of history on my mind. So, I'm going back to a trigger. I do follow blogs and facebook pages of family history sites, and one day last week I saw a family history book someone had written called, "Until the Robin Walks on Snow." Now, isn't that an intriguing title? And the cover showed, tada - a robin walking on snow. So this morning I took a little walk down the information highway until I found a blog post reviewing this book.

The blog writer interviewed the author, Bernice L. Rocque. I'll give you the link at the end; I think my editor would be very interested to read it and so might some of you who are interested in writing, the family history genre, and/or reading avidly. I know this book is on my reading list. It is a work of historical fiction, and it appears that the author has put a great deal of research into the details in her book. Never discount a great work of historical fiction. If the writer has done their homework, the book should be trustworthy, informative and interesting. After all, most people do not leave behind the intimate details of their life for us to revel in. We have to take the details we know, try to get into their head and their world, back up a century or so, learn the setting and the world affairs at the time and set to work. It is not easy work, sitting at a computer, remembering to look away from the screen to rest the eyes, and putting words to page screen. If the book is well written, it involves interviews, travel, learning to do some of things people did back then; in short, research.

I will be looking for this book. It is important, if you are going to write, to read well-written books on the genre you are interested in. It is important to read how-to books, although it is equally important, I have learned, to make the book your very own. I have not read a lot of late, and since I am in between writing projects, now is a very good time to read. I am working on "Riverbank," but I am taking it easy for now, until fall sets in.

As I have not yet read the book, I do not know where the title came from. The story is about a very premature baby who was born about the same time as my mother was. Fortunately for her, that baby lived, grew up, and helped her with her research. She took an incident in a family's life and built a story around a small time period. What did the robin have to do with it? The very title drew me to the story.

That made me wonder. Was my title boring? If I had published my book, would people have gone looking for it or into it based on my title? "A Homestead on the Old Post Road." Hmmmmm. I think, given the circumstances and the fact that my target audience was small, that it's okay. But, if I write a historical fiction book about my family (or anything else) in the future, I will take care to choose an intriguing title.

One other subject Ms. Rocque mentioned several times was her writing group. I have given some thought as to what I would like to do this fall; there are many things. I considered the nature group and the photography group. I already go to the genealogy group and wish to continue going there. On Saturday mornings at the library, a writing group meets. It starts next Saturday. That is the group I have decided upon. At least, I will go next week and see if it is what I am looking for. Writing is a solitary exercise, and I think getting together with a group of people with the same interests is always helpful for advice, constructive criticism, and encouragement, no matter what it is we like to do. I hope so.

Here is the link to the blog post about "Until the Robin Walks on Snow."
http://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/until-the-robin-walks-on-snow-by-bernice-l-rocque/ You can google the book and find other sources of information and where to order it, if it intrigues you like it does me.

The photo of the robin walking on snow is my own; I took it this spring.