Darlene Franklin – The Story Behind the Story – Part 1 of 2

Shannon here: Historical romance author, Darlene Franklin shares her inspiration behind her latest release, Homefront Dreams. Comment on any post dated Jan 6 – 8 to enter the drawing for Golden Dreams and/or Homefront Dreams. Every ten comments puts another book up for grabs. Deadline: Jan 18th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Darlene:

Homefront Dreams is my first story set during World War II. When I planned the Maple Notch Days series (first two books are Hidden Dreams and Golden Dreams), I knew I wanted a war romance to follow one from the Roaring Twenties and one from the Great Depression.

In Home Front Dreams, the widowed mayor clashes wills with the high school principal over the direction the town of Maple Notch, Vermont should take. I pulled on several threads for the story—quilts produced during the war, an account of a woman who took over the mayoral office after her husband died, the discovery of “plane spotters.”

Movies portray the gritty bravery from the war, but think of the romance! How many wives lost their husbands? How many couples fell in love in the crucible of the war? How many, young and old, discovered that love and family were precious, to be snatched as lifelines? Homefront Dreams features two War Brides—the mayor and her daughter-in-law.

More than any of those inspirations, however, I wanted to capture my mother’s war. A child during the war, she saw the flags hang in the windows. She waited with her brother when he left for the War, saw her sisters marry soldiers and move away from home, and listened to boxing matches with her father.

About Darlene: Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written thirty books, and has written more than 200 devotionals. Her historical fiction ranges from the Revolutionary War to World War II, from Texas to Vermont. You can find Darlene online elsewhere at http://darlenehfranklinwrites.blogspot.com/, http://mydailynibble.blogspot.com/ and http://christianfictionhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/.

About the book – Homefront Dreams:

CLARINDA FINCH HATES CHANGE

As the newly elected mayor of Maple Notch, the war widow must lead her town through the dark days of World War II. But where she finds comfort in tradition, the town council insists on trying new ways of handling the homefront challenges. Her most untraditional opponent? Councilman Ralph Quincy.

High school principal Ralph never expected to become a friend to Clarinda and her family. But as she spars with him over the war effort, the smart, spirited mayor is the most compelling woman he’s ever known. Can they put aside their differences and fight for both their town and a future together?

Purchase Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1cO9KnS

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1cO9WUb

Christian Book Distributors: http://bit.ly/1g6EIra

Comment about this blog on Darlene’s blog for another chance to win:

http://darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com/

Come back Jan 8th for a tour of Darlene’s office!