Flu is hitting hard this winter, according to all reports. Seems it has plagued mankind for a long time and was especially bad in 1918. I remember my mother talking about that time. Interestingly, it played a strategic part in Darcy Campbell’s past and even figured in her genealogy. How? Well, it’s all there in Best Left Buried. Darcy would never have found out about that part of her family’s past if an old journal hadn’t been found.
I like to include historical facts in my fiction. Does this make my books historical fiction? I don’t think so. Now, if I wrote a make-believe story about Stephen Foster and included his struggles during his brief life time, that would be historical fiction. I think in historical fiction, the main point would be the history, don’t you? Or, am I wrong? By the way, this is the anniversary of the death of Stephen Foster. I’ve always loved his songs and played them on the piano. Not sure why so many geniuses had to die so young.
Thinking back to my first cozy mystery, The Cemetery Club, it had a bit of history in it too–Oklahoma history about the Cherokee Tribe. But, I took quite a bit of leeway there in embroidering what might have been. I love those two words, “What if?”
World War I popped up again in the last Darcy and Flora cozy, Grave Heritage, but only in an oblique way.We are all shaped by history, by our pasts, by the “what ifs” in life. Sometimes, we are aware of it and sometimes, we just take the way we are for granted, not looking behind us at past events.
Have you ever thought that you are shaping the history of future generations? Sometimes, it is for good and sometimes not, but, decisions, choices, lifestyles, our beliefs and even our loves play a part in lives beyond our own.
Did the flu make a difference in your family’s history? Do you think it will make an imprint on future generations? That is a mystery and only time will tell.
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