November 11th is a day set down by history to be remembered–the day a four-year-nightmare was ended by the strokes of a pen.
The world let out a sigh of relief. Rulers looked at their ravaged countries and thought of what it would take to rebuild. And the mud-spattered, blood-spattered soldiers of the front lines wept.
Judah was one of those who wept.
And here is a glimpse of his story.
GENRE: Historical Fiction
SETTING:
- Norwich, Ontario: Judah’s hometown.
- Valcartier, Quebec, and Salisbury, England: the training grounds for the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
- Western France: the battle ground.
Summer, fall, winter, spring … 1914, 1915, 1916 … all under the dark clouds of political turmoil that throw men like Judah into battles they aren’t prepared to enter. Canada is supporting her Motherland in any way she can.
And she is destined to lose more than 61,000 men and boys for it.
LENGTH: First draft finished at 230 avg. book pages
INSPIRATION: I often dreamed of writing a book about a war, but I never had any solid ideas. Then one night while driving home, one of my sisters whispered the theme of this novel to me. I loved it, and now, years later, it’s finally getting written.
THEME SONG: This is in progress! I’ll announce it when it’s posted.
VISION: My goal is to show different–and sometimes underrepresented–views of war. You’ll find Christians fighting out of duty, Christians refusing to fight, men who signed up for fun or a free trip to Europe or a chance to prove themselves as men, and boys who ran off to escape school and find adventure. So many different views thrown together into one dark horror. Some made it through tougher, some wiser, some closer or farther from God than before.
PROTAGONIST: Judah Levi Irwin.
AGE: Twenty-three years at the beginning of the war.
APPEARANCE: I was so pleased to find a photo from the Valcartier training camp with Judah in it. He’s the one in the middle with his face turned slightly toward the camera. The image quality is not amazing—but, hey, at least I can actually see photographs of this time period!
PERSONALITY: ESFP. A cheerful, optimistic, make-friends-wherever-you-are type of person.
FAMILY STATUS: Judah is married to (unnamed) and has a two-year-old son, Christian. He lives near his parents and four siblings, whom he loves dearly: Lysle, Danielle, Shavonne, and Sharon.
AUTHOR’S FAVOURITE …
CHAPTER: This is difficult. Either Chapter 20 or Chapter 25–neither of which have titles yet.
PARAGRAPH: They were leaving. They were giving up. And in doing so, they were committing suicide.
SENTENCE: I can’t say I have a favourite, but how about a few interesting ones …
“You have atheist blood in you now, Judah.”
Philip byrnes
“With maps that were made by some madman on Mars!”
sergeant REID
“But I’m so alone, Judah, and as much as I can’t make friends, I can’t stand being alone.”
Alan Manning
“If there’s any method to German madness, where you’re lying will be the next shell hole.”
Lieutenant Brookes
want to participate?
If any of you have name ideas for Judah’s wife, please share them! I’ve been trying to find one for a while and I haven’t succeeded.
Also, I’d love to answer any questions, so feel free to ask in the comments below!
Blessings,
TRQT
Anita, Anna, Amanda, Adelaide. I am looking forward to reading this book. Has your other book been published yet?
Thank you for those suggestions! I’ll definitely keep them in mind.
Voice of the Ashes should be coming out early next year, so a bit of a wait still. I’m glad you’re looking forward to reading both of them!