Stephanie Burkhart's "A Christmas Collection"

Christmas in Bayeux Tour

I'd like to thank K. Dawn for having me on the blog and allowing me to visit today. Just a little about me: I was born and raised in Manchester, NH. When I was 18, this New England Patriot fan joined the US Army for a great adventure and spent 7 years overseas in Germany. I met a fair-haired California boy and we were married in Denmark in 1991. Little odd fact: I enjoy eating pizza European style – with a knife and a fork. Now, the adventure over, I work for LAPD as a 911 Operator.

My short story, "Christmas in Bayeux," is included in A Christmas Collection, Stimulating by Victory Tales Press. I'd heard only good things about VTP and they were looking for stories for their Christmas anthologies. I sent Becky an email – can you have me? Becky said 'sure,' and I was on board to write a story. A note to visitors: "Christmas in Bayeux," is "sophisticated" in nature and does contain a love scene.
     Now I had to decide what type of story I wanted to write. I hadn't written a contemporary for quite some time. I'm a big fan of Mona Risk's international contemporaries so I said to myself, I'd like to write international contemporaries and with my experiences I felt confident enough to do so.
     Manchester, NH is the second largest French speaking city in the US and I took 3 years high school French. I love the language and in my studies, I grew to love the nation. France was the perfect setting for my story. I've been to Paris several times. I also visited Lembach, France in 1988 and that experience has been with me throughout the years. My experiences in Lembach made their way into the story.
     Lembach is a small town in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France just over the German/French border. I was dispatched along with a fellow soldier, Private East to pick up a squad of soldiers in Pirmasens, Germany. East and I took a detour and ended up in Lembach.
     Needless to say, we were an odd sight, walking around the town in our US Army military uniforms. The locals stared at us – hard. As we walked around the small town square an older man approached us. He spoke no English. I had my "French for Travelers" guide and my pronunciation was decent so I engaged him. He enthusiastically shook our hands. "Américains?" "Oui," I answered. He proceeded to thank East and I not only for our service, but also for the service of our grandfathers who liberated France from Germany.
     It was a moving experience that humbled both of us.
     It was lunchtime and East and I went to the local café for lunch. With my trusty "French for Travelers," I ordered our food – salad and sandwiches. We were quite the attraction in the café. Patrons stared at us. In fact, several of them approached us while we ate and thanked us. Before we left, the manager came to us. He told us our meal was free.
     East and I wouldn't have it. We had francs for the occasion. Between the manager's English and my French, I learned the residents of the town loved Americans. In World War II, we had indeed liberated them from Germany's occupation. We were still heroes to them – 40 years later.
     East and I were truly humbled by how the town embraced us. As we made our way back to our military van, we thanked God for this rare opportunity to visit France.
     This experience found it's way into my story. Enjoy the excerpt:

     She pushed two wooden double doors open and they walked into a wide open-spaced entrance hall. "Is this a museum?"
     "Oui. It houses our best known prize – the Bayeux Tapestry."
     "What is that?" His voice was laced in curiosity.
     "Dix Euros," said the clerk. He was in his mid-thirties and wore a blue uniform.
     Aiden put his hand over Noel's hand as she reached for her purse. "I'll get it."
     "Vous êtes Américain?"
     "Oui," said Aiden.
     The clerk held out his hand. Aiden slowly took it, surprised by the gesture. What was he doing?
     "Américains we like. World War II, yes? Merci – thank you," the clerk said in halting English.
     Aiden was stunned. Noel said this occurred, but he didn't think it would happen to him.
     "De Rein. Thank you, sir."
     "Non, Monsieur, merci. Keep your money."
     "Oh, I insist."
     "Oui, thank you, merci."
     Noel smiled at the clerk, thread her arm through Aiden's, and they walked into the museum. There were a few people milling about in the halls, but it wasn't as busy as he thought it would be. Maybe everyone was at the Christmas markets.
     He paused before they got far. "You said—"
     She gave him an easy smile. "You handled that well."
    
     BLURB: Aiden Seward is an Iraq war vet who has gone to the Beaches of Normandy to heal his wounded heart. Noel Rousseau was the girl he knew as an exchange student years ago. Can Noel help heal the ache in Aiden's heart?

Buy Links:
Amazon: (print) http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Collection-Anthology-Stimulating/dp/1456304410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289273692&sr=8-1
Ebook, Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29148
Create Space, Print book: https://www.createspace.com/3494425
Victory Tales Press: http://victorytalespress.yolasite.com/online-store.php
Check out the Story Teaser on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-muZ0dhOvSE

Stephanie Burkhart's "The Hungarian"

The Hungarian by Stephanie Burkhart

We're happy to have Stephanie Burkhart with us today talking about her book, The Hungarian. Read on to learn more about Stephanie and her book.

1) How did this story come to you?
I'm a Moderator on Writing.com and it was inspired by a simple contest prompt. Write a story about a werewolf that falls in love. Called "The Wolf's Kiss," Count Matthias hires a British nanny, Katherine, for his daughter and they fall in love. It was well received. I entered the story into the Writer's Digest Pop Fiction Contest and out of 3,000 entries it received an honorable mention in the romance category. Spurred on by it's success, I wrote the novel, "The Hungarian."

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
If you consider I wrote the prompt story in 2006, it's been 4 years. My first draft was best kept in the closet. *smiles* The first draft allowed me to get to know the characters, but plotwise, it wasn't as strong as it could be. I wrote a second draft in the 1st person from Katherine's POV, and showed it to Gail Delaney, Editor-in-Chief at Desert Breeze. She said, "I like it, but can you do 3rd person?" I spent about six months changing the POV. If anything, I would say I would say I earned a healthy appreciation for patience.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
A – I was married in Denmark in 1991. My marriage certificate is in 5 different languages.
B – I have a big comic book collection. I collected from 1981-2000. I have over 3,000. My favorites – X-Men, Teen Titans, and the Legion of Superheroes.
C – I spent 7 years in Germany while in the military. I was an MP.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I'm doing my final edits on "The Hungarian's" sequel, "The Count's Lair." I'm also writing a sci-fi, speculative short story, "Shadows and Light," for Desert Breeze's Borealis Anthology.

5) Parting comments?
For writers, have patience. Learn your craft. Learn how to take constructive criticism without being overly critical.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Website: http://sgcardin.tripod.com/
Blog: http://sgcardin.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1357922219&ref=profile
You Tube Channel (Botrina) http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina