Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Reading for Research

Today is Tempting Tuesdays and were supposed to blog on things we're reading. Currently I'm trying to get a feel for real-life war scenes, since I write romantic action/adventure featuring military heroes. But I ran into an interesting book the other day and passed it up the first few times. But then, having cracked it open, decided I needed to read it. It's called "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier", by Ishmael Beah. It's his story. True and turbulent. Here's a story about an honest boy forced by circumstances into hell. It's real. That's what gets me the most. And more frightening than any horror flick. I haven't finished it yet but found it engaging. I've posted the piece from the front below. And you can check out this link for more: http://www.alongwaygone.com/long_way_gone.html.

New York City, 1998
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“Did you witness some of the fighting?”
“Everyone in the country did.”
“You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”

Many blessings,

~ Lise

How much danger would you face for the perfect romance? Lise Fuller, www.lisefuller.com, www.myspace.com/lisefuller, ROMANTIC TIMES REVIEWERS CHOICE NOMINEE, 2006; Pikes Peak Romance Writers 2006 Author of the Year
~On Danger's Edge, print-03/07, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com, 4 1/2 Stars from Romantic Times
~Intimate Deceptions, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com, RECOMMENDED READS from Coffee Time Romance and Joyfully Reviewed
~Cutting Loose, print-04/07, available in e-book, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This reminds me of a friend of mine from Nicaraugua. She wouldn't talk much about her life there but she did tell us about the times when the soldiers would come around to "recruit". They hid her brothers in secret crawl spaces. I can't imagine a life like that but I know it wouldn't be "cool". But then I'm not a high schooler. :Þ

Nancy Morse said...

When I was growing up, my father never talk about his experiences in WW II, although I did overhear him once tell someone that he was among the Allied forces that liberated Dachau. I didn't know at the time just what that meant, but of course now I do, and I can understand why he would never want to talk about it. When Saving Private Ryan was out, he refused to see it. But my mother told me that he secretly rented the tape and he went into the bedroom one night to watch it by himself and she heard him crying from behind the closed door. War leaves its scars long, long after the battles are over.