WITH LOVE

During the month of May, my novel, the story of my parents in WW2, sells for $1.99 in e-book. It only took me a lifetime to write this book, pieced together from stories I grew up on, research, and over 600 letters my parents wrote to each other as they served overseas–in different countries. They met in training camp, married a couple of weeks later, were together for a few days, then were shipped to different parts of the war. But they wrote each other, sometimes 3 times a day, for the duration of the war, describing in detail what it was like to care for wounded Allies, German prisoners, and survivors of the camps.

Somehow, the sacrifice of so many in that war speaks to us today, as we fight the “invisible war.” I hope you’re staying safe. God bless! Dandi

http://www.dandibooks.com

A Sale–WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE

Since my publisher, Tyndale House, selected WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE as their August promotional, I’ve been posting about this novel, the story of my parents, who served overseas in WW2 as Army Dr. and Army nurse. They met in training, fell in love, and married after a couple of weeks. For the remainder of the war, with Mom in England, then France and Dad ending up in a mobile unit pushing into Germany, they wrote each other 2-3 times a day. Those letters (over 600 of them preserved in an Army trunk, unknown to me), along with their stories, formed the basis for my novel. Tomorrow is the last day of the promo, the last chance to get the e-book of WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, for $2.99. Sept. 1, the price goes back to $9.99.

Thanks for reminiscing with me!

 

WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE (Signed: Frankie or “Tiny”/Helen)

I did warn you that I’d be sending pictures and writing about Helen and Frank and their WW2 experiences during the August sale of WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE. I believe these pictures were taken shortly after their marriage (which came quite shortly after their meeting in the Army hospital, Percy Jones) during WW2. Helen is in the nurses’ dorm in Battle Creek, MI, awaiting her overseas assignment. Frank is either in a staging area, waiting for a ship to England and beyond, or already in  Europe. I like to think that Helen is writing her first letter to her new husband, and he is reading it.

WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE

Believe it or not, this wedding-cake topper dates back to August 4, 1944, the anniversary of Helen and Frank Daley, my parents. Actually, the wedding dress should be an Army uniform too. I’ll be posting (and re-posting) a few pictures in August because my publisher has selected WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE for their August promotional, offering the e-book version for $2.99.

I’ve written a lot of books, and I’ve been grateful for each opportunity to tell or create stories. But in the back of my mind was this story of my parents’ experiences as Army doctor and nurse in WW2. For a couple of decades, I’d been writing down stories I grew up on, amazing stories full of details of the war and how my parents met in boot camp, married, then had nothing to keep them together but their letters, since they both served overseas in different countries. Until my dad died, I had no idea that they’d managed to keep every one of those 600+ letters. I inherited that treasure, packed inside an old Army trunk in the attic. Eventually, I was able to blend the letters, stories, and research into WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

 

READER’S CHOICE AWARD

WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE just won the Faith, Hope Love READER’S CHOICE AWARD for historical fiction! Normally, I wouldn’t toot my own horn like this (and I still feel a bit weird to be writing this). But it doesn’t feel like my award at all. This is my parents’ story, built on over 600 letters they left me in an old Army trunk in their attic, letters they’d written as newlyweds serving as Dr. and nurse overseas, in different countries, during WW2. The book contains stories my sister, Maureen, and I grew up hearing in detail from two great storytellers. I’m honored for our parents’ sake, Lt./Nurse Helen Eberhart Daley and Captain/Dr. Frank R. Daley. How cool to think of readers choosing With Love, Wherever You Are and that maybe more readers will be reading about Mom and Dad.

WITH LOVE, ON VALENTINE’S DAY

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I like to imagine that these two photos were snapped on Valentine’s Day, but I really have no idea. At least, thanks in part to the letters they wrote each other during their service in WW2, I know that Helen and Frank were deeply in love when these pictures were taken. They were newlyweds, separated for months at a time, with only their letters and prayers to keep them together and in love. My parents remained deeply in love for the 52 years of their marriage. This is the last day to purchase the e-book of their story, WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE, at the sale price, $2.99.  But don’t go away. I have more photos to share.

WITH LOVE, IN FRANK’S UNIT

Toward the end of the war–and the end of the book, Helen pushed her way onto a bullet-ridden service airplane with 13 French soldiers. Everyone was waiting for the Germans to surrender. And then soldier-doctors and many soldier-nurses would board ships to the Pacific to continue to fight until the Japanese surrendered. Helen determined to see her husband before that happened. Frank had been moved to an outpost in Entzheim, France, and the couple arranged the miracle rendezvous at the eleventh hour through code letters. She spent several days there, even accompanying him on a rebuilt motorcycle to do patient rounds in villages. From later letters, I learned that Helen was quite a hit with Frank’s buddies.

WITH LOVE, IN MARSEILLES

During their service in WW2, Lt. Helen Daley and Lt./Capt. Frank R. Daley miraculously arranged a few short rendezvouses. This one is in the book–Marseilles, France, in Southern France, on the Mediterranean. On the back of the photo, Mom (Helen) has written: “Marseilles. We climbed all of the church’s steps this day!” It would be great to have a clearer photo of the view of the city, the seascape, and landscape. But it’s pretty clear to me that Helen and Frank only had eyes for each other.

WITH LOVE, for Grandfather “Pete”

Although I was barely 3 when my Grandfather Daley died, I remember him. I’m sure stories have blended with memory so that I can’t separate them, but I don’t want to. I called him “Pete,” not “Grandfather” or any variation thereof. I sensed his kindness and good humor. One story of where my “Dandi” name came from says that when I was born, Pete declared, “She’s a dandy!” I can still see him leaving our house and heading for his car, with me running after him, begging to come along. This photo from 1942 is labeled Camp Robinson. The Arkansas camp trained soldiers and housed German prisoners during WW2. And from 1942-1944, a Medical Training Replacement Center was located there to train soldiers as medical personnel. 13,500 trainees passed through in 8-week training cycles. The time was shortened if medics were needed more quickly. Pete is briefly mentioned in a couple of anecdotes in WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE. Like many of the characters in the novel, Pete deserves his own book.

FRANK’S PATIENTS

Captain Frank R. Daley was sent from a wartime makeshift hospital in Alsace-Lorraine to a battlefield battalion aid station inside wartime Germany . . . probably because he refused to cut his hair (Helen loved those thick curls.) and, to add insult to injury, then said to his bald commanding officer, “So it’s true then.” “What?” demanded the officer. Frank shook his head and replied, “Misery really does love company.” Frank didn’t get the haircut, but he did get a freight train to the battlefield. He joined a British unit and performed surgeries in tents with mud floors. Toward the end of the war, he was able to doctor civilians, as well as soldiers. This is a photo of just a few of those patients.