Author Interview - Anne Montgomery - Your Forgotten Sons

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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best entertainment eBook magazine UK“, author Anne Montgomery shares what inspired her to write her historical fiction novel, Your Forgotten Sons, inspired by the life of Bud Richardville who was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 as the Allies prepared for the invasion of Normandy.

Written by JJ Barnes

www.jjbarnes.co.uk

I interviewed Anne Montgomery about her life and career, how her friend inspired her to write her new book, Your Forgotten Sons, and the work that went into it.

Table of Contents

Tell me a bit about who you are.

In regard to my work life, I have been on a rather unconventional journey. I wanted to be a sportscaster back in the 1970s when women just didn’t do that sort of thing. Despite constantly being told the idea was ridiculous, I would eventually work on-air for five TV stations, including ESPN where I anchored SportsCenter. Later, I moved into print reporting where I wrote for newspapers and magazines.

Anne Montgomery on The Table Read Magazine — Anne Montgomery

I went on to teach journalism and communications skills in high school for 20 years, and also worked as an amateur sports official in baseball, ice hockey, basketball, and soccer, and served as a high school football referee and crew chief. I became a foster mom at 55 and though my kids are now in their twenties, they still call me Mom. My passions include rock collecting, playing my guitar, and scuba diving.

When did you first WANT to write a book?

I decided to write my first published novel after I met and worked with a Vietnam veteran named Don Clarkson. We umpired baseball together for about five years, a time during which he told me stories about his time in-country. His experiences were harrowing and led to his lifelong struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Don died in 2010 from complications of Agent Orange Poisoning and my novel A Light in the Desert is dedicated to him.

When did you take a step to start writing?

It was forced on me when I became a sportscaster. I’m not sure I realized just how much writing the job required, but we must sometimes compose dozens of stories over the course of a single day. The move to print reporting meant that I had the opportunity to tell longer stories. The jump to book-length writing seemed the next logical progression.

How long did it take you to complete your first book from the first idea to release?

It’s been a while, but if I recall correctly, the research took maybe four or five months. Note that I was teaching at the time, so writing took a back seat to my full-time job. The first draft was completed over the course of my summer break. When I could find no one interested in publishing the novel, I self-published it under the title The Jerusalem Syndrome in 2004. In 2018—after I got an agent and was fortunate enough to have publishers pay the bills—the story was re-launched as A Light in the Desert.

How long did it take you to complete your latest book from the first idea to release?

My new novel, a work of historical fiction, is called Your Forgotten Sons. It tells the story of Sergeant Bud Richardville who was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 as the Allies prepared for the invasion of Normandy.

This book was pretty much a command performance. My best friend was undergoing a delicate, possibly life-altering surgery, and asked that I be her health-care power of attorney. The night before the operation, Gina handed me a ziplock bag filled with 75-year-old letters from her Uncle Bud. She made me promise to tell his story. When the pandemic shut us in, I had to scrap my plans of going to Europe to follow in Bud’s footsteps, but I still wrote the book. Between the research and writing, it probably took about eight months to complete. However, the book is sometimes difficult to read because it is necessarily gruesome, so though my agent tried for a year, it was turned down by publishers numerous times. Finally, Next Chapter Publishing, the same publisher that released my book The Scent of Rain, took it on.

Focusing on your latest release. What made you want to write Your Forgotten Sons?

As I said above, my friend Gina made me do it. But once I got involved in her Uncle Bud’s story, I just couldn’t look away. Bud married a strange, enigmatic woman he barely knew right before he shipped out. He’d been placed in the Graves Registration Service where he and his men were given arguably the most disturbing job in the military: collect, identify, and bury the dead. Bud didn’t come home and there were conflicting accounts of what had happened to him. Like Gina, I was looking for answers.

What were your biggest challenges with writing Your Forgotten Sons?

Mostly, it was the inability to travel. The reporter in me needs to see and smell and hear a story, before I can put words to paper. The pandemic prevented that.

When I first accepted the responsibility for telling Bud’s story, I intended to follow in his footsteps. I wanted to see the castle in England where he was stationed, and walk the beaches of Normandy and the forests of the Ardennes where the Battle of the Bulge was waged.

After a long period of frustration, I realized that I already had memories that would work in the telling of Bud’s story, recollections of my time living in the tiny country of Luxembourg, where I studied during my junior year in college. Even though I had no physical proof that Bud had been there, the country is home to the Luxembourg American Cemetery—built by the GRS and today holding over 5,000 American war dead.

Then, almost miraculously, just as the book was going to press, Gina sent me an obituary about Bud that had appeared in his hometown newspaper. It read, “He landed in France on D-Day and was with Hodge’s First Army as a member of the 606^th Graves Registration Company. Action took him from France to Luxembourg, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Germany.”

And there it was! Proof that Bud had been in Luxembourg.

Who or what inspired you when creating your Protagonist?

While Your Forgotten Sons is fiction, it is inspired by Bud Richardville’s story. What does that mean? I have endeavoured to tell the truth utilizing records, letters, and family oral histories so the novel is based on a real-life events. However, some of the characters and scenes surrounding them are fictionalized. Also, because soldiers rarely wrote home about what they were actually doing because of censorship rules, I utilized the book Crosses in the Wind by Joseph Shoman who was a captain in the Graves Registration Service during World War II. Shomon’s writing allowed me to see exactly what it meant to be in the GRS and the traumatic events Bud surely faced on a daily basis.

Who or what inspired you when creating your Antagonist?

Your Forgotten Sons by Anne Montgomery on The Table Read Magazine — Your Forgotten Sons by Anne Montgomery

Bud’s wife, Lorraine, tortured him with antipathy that can be easily described as cruelty. What little I discovered about her led to me to a shocking conclusion that I won’t comment on here, so as not to be a spoiler. What I learned about Lorraine came from stories gleaned from Bud’s surviving family members and comments Bud made in his letters home.

What is the inciting incident of Your Forgotten Sons?

The moment that sets the story in motion is when Bud is assigned to the Graves Registration Service at bootcamp. While we don’t know the exact reason Bud was placed in the mortuary division, family stories indicate that when Bud was young he’d periodically been called upon to help remove the corpses of those who’d fallen from the trains that trundled through his neighborhood, travellers who’d jumped aboard, hoping for a free ride, but who’d slipped and fallen to their deaths. Perhaps he’d mentioned this fact during his induction at Camp Warren and that familiarity with the dead colored the decision to place him in a GRS.

What is the main conflict of Your Forgotten Sons?

Bud struggles against his wife’s callousness, but also the endless, brutal reminders of consequences of war. He must also battle his own conscious. Quiet family rumors said there was another woman in his life, but Bud was married and Catholic, and loving two women left him in anguish.

Did you plot Your Forgotten Sons in advance, or fly by the seat of your pants and write freely?

I have always been a “pantser.” I plan nothing out. I let the facts take me where they will and am often surprised by the things my characters do and where my stories end up.

Did you get support with editing, and how much editing did Your Forgotten Sons need?

In regard to editing, I was part of an experiment where I volunteered to work with an Artificial Intelligence editor I named Hal Jr, in honor of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey. While there was no work on story layout, character development, or fact checking, Hal Jr. did a bang-up job on proofing my manuscript. The only problem Hal Jr. and I had was that he is apparently British. He was always telling me I was wrong when I spelled words like labor, luster, somber, humor, etc. We had to agree to disagree.

What is the first piece of writing advice you would give to anyone inspired to write a story?

If by story you mean a book, I’d say “Don’t quit your day job!” Few authors earn enough money to live on today. While I would never tell anyone not to write, I’d say get a degree in something that will support you and write in your spare time. You’ll be happier with a roof over your head and food in the fridge.

Can you give me a hint about any further books you’re planning to write?

I am in the middle of a few things at the moment. I’ve been mulling a sort of fantasy novel set in modern-day Winslow, Arizona. As I’ve already written books in multiple genres—historical fiction, young-adult fiction, suspense-thriller, women’s fiction, and a sort-of romance novel that has yet to be published—I thought I’d try something new.

And, finally, are your proud of your accomplishment? Was it worth the effort?

Very much so. Your Forgotten Sons is my first novel based outside of Arizona, where I’ve lived for over 30 years. As a history buff who studied a great deal about World War II in college, it has given me the chance to expand on that knowledge. And of course, I have kept my promise to Gina, which I feel very good about.

Pop all your book, website and social media links here so the readers can find you:

Website

https://annemontgomerywriter.com/

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/anne.montgomery.359/

https://twitter.com/amontgomery8

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-montgomery-1b995b23/, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14081564.Anne_Montgomery,

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00JOEIL4A, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Montgomery_(sportscaster)

Book Links

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Author Interview – Anne Montgomery – Your Forgotten Sons