History's Mysteries

Like most writers, I am a voracious reader. We have a wonderful independent bookstore in our town called The Country Bookseller that I haunt with regularity. But we also have an annual street fair that includes a tent holding thousands of books. The fair is held the first weekend in August, and people come for miles around to search for hidden treasures they know they will find. I usually end up purchasing twenty to thirty books.

I love history, and my stories are set during World War II. Some of the goodies I have found over the years include memoirs from journalists, combat veterans, nurses, factory workers and other “every day” people. I also love reading books written by pioneers in the mystery genre. This past year I picked up Agatha Christie's So Many Steps to Death. It was a fun read, but what intrigued me the most were the two railway tickets I found inside.

The Municipal Railway of San Francisco tickets were dated May 16, 1955 and stuffed between pages 162 and 163, at the beginning of chapter seventeen. Was the placement random, or had the reader stopped at that point never to finish the book? Had something terrible happened to prevent the reader from finishing or did he or she not like the book? So Many Steps to Death was published in 1954, so it was brand new when these tickets were slipped between its pages. How did a sixty year old book from California end up in New Hampshire, more than three thousand miles from its origins? Did the reader move to New Hampshire? Did he or she simply come for a visit and leave the book behind by mistake? Why had no one found the tickets before now? Was 1954 the last time the book had been read? How did it end up for sale at the fair?

Writers are often asked how they come up with story ideas. For me and other authors I know, it is usually serendipitous – an article in a newspaper, an overheard conversation in a restaurant, a letter found in a book (that happened to me last week) or a pair of sixty year old train tickets. The possibilities are endless. I'm already scribbling down potential plot lines.

What sort of treasures have you found in books?

A freelance writer for over ten years, Linda Matchett also writes historical fiction. She is currently seeking a publisher for her series about war correspondent Ruth Brown. Visit her at www.lindashentonmatchett.com

The Joy of Giving Ourselves

 

What do these crocheted slippers have to do with the Olympics, other than I crocheted them while watching the games? I’ll tell you at the end of this post. Don’t peek.

I used to meet with a group of fellow craft ladies, and we made simple gifts for shut-ins and nursing home residents. Every Christian has a deep need to help others, and if you can have a gab-fest and do something you enjoy—well, it doesn’t get much better than that.

As much fun as these gifts were to make, they were just an instrument to bring those of us who felt a need to help together with the lonely and sick. The real gift was the time we spent with those people who graciously received us. Knowing someone cared made them feel better, but I believe we who visited gained even more.  

This rush-rush world we live in has eaten away at that precious time to visit the sick and to give of ourselves to the least of these. But the need still exists, as does the desire to give of ourselves and share something we really enjoy.

Since I’m becoming a serious writer, I’m constantly looking for an opportunity to encourage reading and promote books. One way may be to give away used books to retirement and nursing homes, including audio books for those who can’t read. Most churches have outreach programs. Why not take a book to sick church members?

That’s what I was thinking about as I crocheted these slippers and watched figure skating. The pattern is easy-peasy and the slippers surprisingly warm. If you’d like the pattern, you can contact me at elainehmanders at gmail dot com.

The slippers not only keep feet warm, they glide as easily over hardwood floors as skates do on the ice. Yes, I admit I tried it. If I had the skill, I could do those twirls, loops, triples and quads. For that reason, I recommend you tack a non-skid strip on the soles if you give them to the elderly and infirm. But for a child or an adult as foolish as me, they’re a lot of fun.

How does your organization or church minister to the sick? Leave a comment with your email address and be entered for a chance to win the prize for this week, Guardian's Promise by Christina Rich.