Remembrance Poppies: Book Launch Giveaway

Hello again, Readers, Writers, and lovers of History! My new book launch is just days away, and it’s time for another post, giving YOU another chance at the giveaway prizes I’ve prepared. (If you don’t know about the giveaway, details are down toward the end of this post.)

Along with the other prizes, I was pleased to find some beautiful enamel Remembrance Poppy pins via PinMart.

The red poppy is known world-wide as a symbol of remembrance of those who have fallen in war. In some places, including the U.S., they are sold in support of veterans. The flower took on this role thanks to John McCrae’s famous WWI poem “In Flanders Fields” and a professor named Moina Michael.

McCrae was near Ypres, Belgium in April of 1915, serving as a surgeon in the First Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. The bloodshed and loss of at least one close friend inspired his reflection on the beautiful red poppies that bloomed on the fields of bloodshed.

In Flanders Fields

BY JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
        In Flanders fields.

Inspired by McCrae’s poem, Moina Michael penned a poetic response, “We Shall Keep the Faith.” She campaigned for poppies to be an official symbol of remembrance, and was involved in setting up the sale of artificial poppies to support veterans.

We still see evidence of her efforts today, as poppies grace many memorials. In 2019, a wall of more than 645,000 red poppies was on display at the National Mall in Washington D.C. this Memorial Day- one poppy for every known American battle casualty from the Great War through the present day.

While I’m excited about my novel, my stories are just bits of fiction set in history. I do hope, though, that through them I can pay a little bit of an homage to those real heroes and heroines, maybe share some pieces of history that readers won’t have encountered before, and maybe even encourage them to learn more. I hope that through them, I can help in Remembrance.

Giveaway Details

Prizes!

• Two participants have a chance to win one of these pieces of WWII Allied Military Currency, a red poppy enamel pin, and a FREE copy (e-book or signed paperback) of my new novel, Where Shall I Flee?
  
• One participant will win these items and ALSO win a copy of Ruth G. Haskell’s book, Helmet’s and Lipstick, which tells about her experiences as a WWII U.S. Army nurse.

How to Participate

• Due to the complexities of international giveaway laws (not to mention shipping costs,) these prizes are limited to American citizens only. (Sorry.) Also, if you are under 18, you must have parental or guardian permission to participate. Void where prohibited.
  
• To enter, either comment on this blog post, or on my Facebook page with the words “Count Me In.”
  
• If you do not use Facebook or have difficulty commenting on WordPress (I’ve run into troubles sometimes) you may also send me an e-mail through my Contact page.)
  
• You may comment on all of the “launch posts” this week to be entered multiple times. Just one entry per day though, please.
  
• On launch day, November 1, I will put all of the entries into a hat and have a fair and impartial person (i.e. one of my kids) draw the names of the winners. I will post the names both on the blog and on Facebook. (If a name is drawn twice, we will redraw.)
  
• If you enter, please stop by the blog or Facebook page to check to see if you are a winner and find out how to claim your prize.
  
• **If I don’t hear back from winners by November 6th, I will redraw.**

AND if you’re wondering just what my upcoming book is all about, here’s the cover and the blurb!

1944

Lieutenant Jean Hoff of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and infantryman Corporal George Novak have never met, but they have three things in common.

They are both driven by a past they’d rather leave behind.

They have both been sent to the embattled beachhead of Anzio, Italy.

And when they both wind up on the wrong side of the German lines, they must choose whether to resign themselves to captivity or risk a dangerous escape.

Where Shall I Flee? follows their journey through the dangers of World War II Italy, where faith vies with fear and forgiveness may be necessary for survival.