Historical Archives. Who Knew?

One thing you quickly learn when setting out to write a historical fiction novel: there’s a lot that you just don’t know. Google is great but doesn’t have every detail you need. And even if Google does have the answer, sifting through every website is laborious and time consuming. So, when I needed some information on the University of Wisconsin Madison, I first went to Google. Google led me to the University of Wisconsin Archives. Who knew such a thing existed! (Some people probably did, but I didn’t) The amount of information there was overwhelming and I had no idea how to navigate it. I needed some help. Well, there was a link to email the staff at the archives. Could I email them? Would they be willing to answer a question (or what turned out to be about ten questions)?

YES!! And they were excited to do so. They got me a map of the campus from the time period, an academic calendar for 1967-1968, an article that helped me understand the rules of the dorms. (Girls could be locked out if they stayed out past curfew). So much good stuff.

Think of it like this: my husband loves classic British cars. He loves to talk about them. I am not always a ready audience. If someone out of the blue called him and said, “Please talk to me about classic British cars,” he would be ecstatic.

That was the attitude of the historians at the archives. They got to do research, dig up some facts, and share their love of history with some random person. This random person is forever grateful.

Here’s the building where the magic happens:

Two Hippies and a Soldier

I was going to do a longer list of secondary characters and share some fun stuff about them but then I realized that would give away some things that I’d like to stay a surprise, so here’s a few that I can tell you about without spoiling anything:

Suzy

Freshman at the University of Wisconsin
British Literature major
From Ithaca, NY
Sam’s lab partner in Biology
Belongs to Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Gloria

Suzy’s friend
Gets on Sam’s nerves A LOT
Is on academic probation

Eddie Capstone

From Lexington Kentucky
Twenty years old
Meets Anthony at Basic Training
Called Capper by his fellow soldiers
Has a girlfriend named Lorraine

Anthony and Sam: Fast Facts

You probably know THE WAR ON ALL FRONTS is about two young adults in the late 1960’s named Anthony and Sam. But, you probably don’t know much else. Let me tell you about them:

Meet Anthony:

Italian- American family
Has a younger sister, Maria
Played baseball in high school
A White Sox fan
Has worked as a mechanic for the past year
His dad is also a mechanic
Loves the Beach Boys
Dad fought in WWII

Oldest grandchild on his mom’s side
Not the best student
Loves Clint Eastwood movies
Lives on the southside of Chicago
Misses his mom’s cooking while deployed in Vietnam
Loves Sam McGuern

Meet Sam:

Of Irish heritage
Has an older brother, Jimmy, in the Air Force
Was the manager for the basketball team in high school
Wants to become a history professor
Was obsessed with the United States presidents when he was younger
His dad is a successful salesman
His mom worked as a telephone operator before getting married
Loves rock and roll music

Favorite bands are The Rolling Stones and The Doors
Was class salutatorian
Lives on the southside of Chicago
Never passes up a chance to eat at Anthony’s house
Loves Anthony Lorenzo

Sam and Anthony’s Favorite Songs

Sam and Anthony might love each other but not always one another’s taste in music. If they have some coins burning a hole in their pockets, what songs would they choose to play on the jukebox? Many authors have a playlist that served as background music while writing a book, these are the ones that were on repeat in my head while writing The War on All Fronts.

Sam’s Favorites:

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stoness

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles

“Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane

“Hello, I Love You” by The Doors

“Break on Through (to the Other Side)” by The Doors

Anthony’s Favorites:

“God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys

“Sloop John B” by The Beach Boys

“Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds

“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by the Beatles

“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by the Animals

Historical Fiction aka Before Social Media

“And I said, ‘Who the f**k uses, a pay phone?”
The Arkells “Leather Jacket”

In response to the question posed in my favorite Arkells song: ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED BEFORE THE TIME OF CELL PHONES!

One thing freeing about writing historical fiction is there is no concern about how to incorporate social media and cell phones into a book. I’ve read contemporary novels where I feel cell phone usage overtakes the novel and while it might be true that teens are glued to their phones, it’s just not that interesting to read sometimes, especially if it is a pages long texting conversations. (Do teens even text anymore? I heard it’s all messenger or FaceTime.) There also several books I’ve read that alluded to social media by using versions the author made up and it rings false to me. That said, there are books written several years ago that did choose to use the names of real social media sites and those sites are either not very popular anymore or not used by teens very much. It’s hard to keep up and even harder to figure out how to use social media effectively in a book (at least for me). In historical fiction, no such problems exist! In my next book, The War on All Fronts, a college freshman has to wait to use the community pay phone in his dorm. Imagine the conflict if he can’t find a dime or someone is using the phone! In order to communicate with his secret boyfriend overseas, he has to write letters. Yes, writing historical fiction has its challenges. There is so much you have to get right! Alas, social media and all the problems that come with it is not something you have to worry about.