IRELAND AS AUTHOR INSPIRATION FOR JUDYTHE MORGAN

Today we welcome back award-winning author Judythe Morgan, an Air Force daughter and Army wife who has seen a quite a bit of the world and sets her stories in many of those places. Learn more about Judythe and her books at her website.

When Setting Drives Your Story

My grandmothers on both sides have Irish roots, but I never planned to set a story in Ireland. That is, until I went there, and the magic of the Emerald Isle captured my heart.

My grandmothers’ journeys to America were not easy for either of them. They didn’t talk much about Ireland. Traveling around the isle and talking to the Irish, I quickly learned about the two separate countries and how they came to be.

The Cliff Notes version for those who aren’t familiar: the island started as a single entity. After bitter fighting and political maneuvering with the United Kingdom, the island was partitioned in 1921 into Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the UK, and the Irish Free State or Republic of Ireland.

Many Irishmen were unhappy. They wanted a united Ireland and full independence.

Violence erupted again in the 1960s and continued through the 90s. The ceasefire of 1994 and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, along with the rebranding of the Orangemen parades in Belfast and Northern Ireland counties, helped reduce flare-ups.

Still, the history remains fresh for those personally affected and, after a few pints of Guinness, discussions about what is known as The Troubles can become heated. I quickly recognized how deeply The Troubles touched Irish lives and decided to use that connection in a story someday.

Slowly that plot seed percolated.

On another trip, I visited an Irish girl's boarding school in County Connemara. Wandering the grounds and talking to the girls, I had a rare writer moment. Annie Foster sprang fully formed into my head, commanding me to tell her story.

Claiming Annie's Heart blends what Annie wanted, and the suspense element centered around The Troubles that I wanted.

I hope readers enjoy Claiming Annie's Heart as much as I did creating a story that started with the setting.

Claiming Annie’s Heart

Annie Foster remains in Ireland after boarding school to nanny a widower’s infant daughter. Five years later, she accepts the widower’s marriage proposal.

Her first love Chad Jones, whom she believed deserted her, arrives on an undercover assignment weeks before the wedding investigating her Irish fiancé’s connection with an IRA terrorist organization. Chad’s determined to change her mind because he’s never stopped loving her.

Annie is torn between the man she'll always love and the young daughter of her fiancé whom she’s promised never to abandon. Will Chad be able to claim Annie’s heart?

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AUTHOR INSPIRATION FROM JUDYTHE MORGAN

In our continuing series on where authors get their ideas, today we feature award-winning author Judythe Morgan. As an Air Force daughter then an Army wife, Judythe has seen a lot of the world. She’s been an antiques dealer, teacher, former mayor's wife, and sometimes-church pianist with some unique experiences to blend into her stories. Learn more about Judythe and her books at her website. 

The Unusual Birth of a Story…

When Love Blooms, Andrew Fitzpatrick and Darcy Clark’s story, came to life for a story contest.

A very unusual contest.

Submissions had to follow a provided synopsis and hero/heroine specifics. The hero was to be between twenty-five and thirty-five years old, a teacher with a stubble beard, and one of eight children—specifically four brothers and three sisters. The heroine had to be between twenty-two and thirty-two, an only child, and a landscape architect.

There were also certain plot requirements.

Being a pantster, I wasn’t sure about that part. Coming up with storylines is rarely a problem for me. I play “what if?” and listen to my characters. Following an outline, on the other hand, offered a challenge I felt would build my writing skills. So, I entered the contest.

Alas, I didn't win. I wasn’t all that disappointed, though. It wasn’t the way I usually create stories. I was busy on a new project. I stuffed the contest manuscript away.

Fast forward a few years, and my critique group asked about the old manuscript. Like me, they’d liked Andy and Darcy. They encouraged me to do a rewrite, this time listening to how the characters wanted their story told.

When I pulled it out, I discovered Andy and Darcy had been waiting for me.

I know if you’re not a fiction writer, that sounds more than a little strange, but when writing (or reading), story characters do become real people to me.

You'll notice from the cover I kept Andy's beard. He remained a teacher, the special education teacher he wanted to be. Darcy stayed a landscape designer in her family’s garden shop. The story plot became theirs. This time there’s a touch of mystery.

An interesting thing happened during the rewrite process, the seven brothers and sisters began chattering in my head wanted me to tell their stories. That gave birth to The Fitzpatrick Family series about the eight siblings. Each novella is a standalone with brothers and sisters popping in and out of each other’s story.

Book 1, When Love Blooms, is Andy and Darcy's story. In Book 2, twin sisters, Rebecca and Sarah Fitzpatrick, find their soul mates in When Love Returns, a story of second chance love. Brothers Joshua Fitzpatrick (an Army sniper), Samuel Fitzpatrick (a missionary), and, baby sister Faith (a lawyer) will share their stories over the next three novellas.

When Love Blooms

After a hit-and-run accident leaves her mother confined to a special care facility, Darcy Clark abandons her dream of an art career to focus on the family’s struggling landscape business.

At-risk students from her old high school become the labor force on a city park project, and their teacher, Andy Fitzpatrick shows up to supervise his students. The chemistry between Darcy and Andy is instant.

But will a secret link between Andy and her mother’s accident kill the attraction before love can bloom?

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COOKING WITH CLORIS--DENG SHIM GUI WITH GUEST AUTHOR JUDYTHE MORGAN

Lucky Cloris is off judging a TV food competition this week. Filling in for her is award-winning author Judythe Morgan, here with a recipe for deng shim Gui, Korean Grilled Steak. Judythe is also an antiques dealer, former public school teacher and one time Department of Army Civilian (DAC), but storytelling is, and always will be, her passion. Read more about her on her website and blog. -- AP

Deng Shim Gui (Korean Grilled Steak)

You’ll find Green Beret Alexander C. (Ace) Cabot ordering this marinated sirloin every chance he gets in my upcoming release Love in the Morning Calm, set in 1960s South Korea.

Ace meets Lily Reed, a Department of the Army civilian (DAC) employed at Headquarters, Eighth Army while on temporary assignment. He’s a high-potential career officer who should resist the temptation of any woman, but he can’t ignore his attraction to her. A firm supporter of the budding women’s lib movement, she isn’t interested in the love-marriage-baby carriage syndrome dominating the era, but finds the Green Beret testing her resolve.

In writing Ace and Lily’s love story, I drew from my experience as a DAC in South Korea. That’s why you’ll find the story sprinkled with cultural details like this delicious BBQ-like dish.

Deng Shim Gui (Korean Grilled Steak)

Ingredients:

2 lb thin tenderloin or sirloin steaks, through any other good steak cut works

salt and pepper

bulgogi marinade (provided below)

Pound meat to tenderize and flatten to about the thickness of a pancake. Score meat on both sides. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Can be cut into 1” strips.Marinate in bulgogi sauce for at least 1 hour. Grill or broil about 2 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the steak.

Basic Bulgogi Marinade

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp fresh squeezed juice from an Asian pear*

1 Tbsp Japanese rice wine*

1 Tbsp sesame oil

3 green onions, finely chopped (including white part)

1 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients together until sugar and honey are dissolved and evenly distributed. Store in refrigerator or freezer for use on beef, pork, and chicken.

*No juicer for the pears? Puree two pears in a blender and then press through a strainer.

*No rice wine? Substitute a splash of dry white wine.

I grill the marinated steak strips on a bulgogi cooker like the one pictured, but you can use any lined barbeque grill or a pancake griddle. The spicy scent as the meat cooks will have you salivating.

Love in the Morning Calm

In the furor of the 60's, when women fought for their rights and men fought the Viet Cong, a young Tennessee preacher’s daughter seeks her liberation only to discover a love that defines her even as it replaces her newfound freedom with responsibility.

Also by Judythe Morgan:

The Pendant’s Promise

Twenty years after they met in South Korea, Lily and Ace meet again. Old passions return, but Alex feels betrayed by Lily’s fabricated marriage and widowhood. Lily believes revealing the truth could cost her the only man she’s ever loved and her daughter. Is the flame of love strong enough to be re-ignited, or, is it too late?

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