Fact vs Fiction in Family of Spies

I am currently creating a new website and will then have a separate tab for a Fact vs Fiction page for Family of Spies for easier access for readers. Until then, this is where you can find the details surrounding the background for my latest novel.

FACT VS FICTION

Family of Spies is loosely based on the mystery revolving around my Rhodes Scholar grandfather, Edward Hugh Martin Crawford. He was a pilot with the R.C.A.F. and was awarded an MBE based on his involvement in World War 2. Eighty years later, the details of his military career remain sealed. Our family lore of code-breaking, secret missions, and connections to Bletchley Park, fueled my imagination when writing this story.

Family of Spies blends truth with imagination. Here is a list of where fact and fiction met to create a story with verisimilitude.

CHARACTERS:

Edward Hugh Martin Crawford - born 1894 died 1972

Edward Hugh Martin Crawford Circa 1944

Fact:

Born at Benton, NL he attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar for Newfoundland and received a BA degree in Jurisprudence, Bachelor of Civil Law, and Master of Arts. He moved to Winnipeg and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1921. He was made a King’s Counsel in 1939, and during the Second World War, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Wing Commander and received the Member of the British Empire (Military) Medal. His war records remain sealed.

Fiction:

His involvement with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as a Spy Master.

General Carl -Heinrich von Stülpnagel - born 1886 died 1944

Fact:

He held many posts in Nazi Germany and played a role in the “July Plot” – a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler— on July 20, 1944. The chief aim of the plot was to take control away from the Nazi party and seek peace with the Allies. General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel stayed in Paris from 1942-1944. The assassination attempt was discovered and he was ordered back to Berlin to face trial for treason. He was sentenced to death and executed on August 30, 1944.

Fiction:

His meeting with SOE Agent Morah a.k.a. “Scout.”

Sir William Stephenson – born 1896 died 1989

Fact:

Master spy from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Code Name: Intrepid. Stephenson is believed to be one of the real-life inspirations for the fictitious master spy, James Bond. Stephenson was in charge of British Security Co-ordination in the Western Hemisphere, with headquarters in New York City. He set up an allied agent training centre near Oshawa Ontario called Camp X for infiltration into Nazi-occupied Europe.

Fiction:

Although our family if rife with rumour, his association with Edward Hugh Crawford, is a work of fiction.

  

Jean Moulin – born 1889 died 1943

Fact:

He was the leader of Armée secrète (French Resistance) and was captured in June 1943 when Germans raided a meeting of several resistance leaders. Moulin was interrogated by the Gestapo in Lyon and Paris and died, as a result of torture, on a train taking him to Germany.

Fiction:

His association with any characters in this book is fiction.

Harry Crawford – born 1919 died 1990

Fact:

Harry was Edward Hugh Crawford’s nephew and was a codebreaker in the (Royal Air Force) RAF at Bletchley Park during World War 2.

All Other Characters in the novel are fiction

The Special Operations Executive

Fact:

The Special Operations Executive was ordered by Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to “set Europe ablaze” in efforts to undermine German-occupied countries. The SOE’s primary task was to work with resistance movements, chiefly the French Resistance.

Fiction:

The SOE agents in the book are works of fiction, but based on research on real agents and the missions they undertook.

Physician Network

Fact:

This was a spy network organized by British SOE agent, Francis Alfred Suttill (Code Name: Prosper). The network was controlled by the SOE and was its largest network in France. The Physician Network was compromised and destroyed by the Germans in the summer of 1943.

Fiction:

Any connection to characters in the book.

Female Agents

Fact:

Female operatives worked for the SOE and were trained to handle guns and explosives, memorize complex codes, organize munitions and supplies drops, endure harsh interrogation, and, in some cases, were in charge of thousands of men.

LOCATIONS:

Hotel Du France

Fiction:

It does not exist; however, the German military did take possession of any building they desired to use as interrogation centres.

Hotel Raphael

Fact:

High-ranking officers of the German command lived in this luxury hotel. During the attack on Adolf Hitler, General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel and some of the other conspirators used Hotel Raphael as a headquarters.

Fiction:

It is not known if General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel resided in this hotel during his time in Paris.

Madame Bellerose’s house

This is a completely fictional home on a fictional street.

The Rental Apartment

The location of the apartment where Ford, Ellie and Gavin stay while in Paris is close to an actual rental location. When writing apartment scenes, I referred to photos of that apartment to capture details.  

Fact:

All other locations

What is Your Theme Song?

By the light of the silvery moon...

While listening to classical music on the drive home this morning - Claude Debussy's Claire de Lune to be exact - I had this funny sort of thought. 

Normally while driving, fresh writing ideas come to me or my current character's dialogue chatters on in my head. But today as I raced down the back roads of Hertfordshire, I began thinking about the composer of the beautiful music that flooded through my car.

Who was this Debussy?

Mozart, Quartet in C

How did he "think" up these songs? Did he hear the music in his head as he walked about town, like writers hear their characters' conversations? When Debussy showered, did great trills and crescendos crash down upon him, like words and passages do for me?

What would it be like to have music as great as Mozart, Beethoven, and Debussy lilt through your mind and carry you through each and every day?

I have often used music to set the tone for writing. Some characters I create prefer AC/DC, others The Weekend. Some, I feel even have a theme song that become synonymous with who they are. Music helps my creativity. 

I have now arrived home and have Claire de Lune cranked on my laptop. Its haunting melody surrounds me as I tackle the next scene in Ford and Ellie. 

Moon Fever on my brain.

How will Debussy's music shape my next passage?

Imagine, if you were the one to make music that others enjoy and use to help fuel their creative endeavours. Both current and classical music is often used in television and film as a movie's score and I then wondered further, "Was there one specific song that Debussy would have considered the score to his life? Did he have a theme song?"

My theme song changes quite regularly. Currently, it is Chumbawamba's Tub Thumping (I Get Knocked Down). Not because the lyrics are awe-inspiring or incredibly meaningful, but the energy of the song lifts my spirits and pumps me up.

What is your theme song?

Reluctant Reader No More - Thanks to J.K. Rowling & Chris Colfer!

Thanks to J.K. Rowling​'s Harry Potter Series, my 10 year old has turned the page in her reading confidence and ability. The magic found in Rowling's books has transformed how my daughter views herself as a reader. 

When her best buddy suggested she read The Wishing Spell, the first book in The Land of Stories Series, by Chris Colfer, she hesitated. It is a big 400 page book, with few pictures to break up the text, but she was on a reading high, thanks to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. As she gingerly opened the book, she immediately fell in love with Colfer's imaginary world.

Highly recommend this series!

Now, I often find her at 10:00pm, well after bedtime, secretly reading, because she is "at a good part" and has to see what happens next. To her, every scene in The Wishing Spell is  "a good part." 

The reader in me is thrilled to have a fellow book lover in the house, the mom in me is proud that my once struggling reader is now ranked above grade level, and the writer in me knows what a feat it is to write a book full of "good parts" and no slow, boring sections.

Thanks Chris Colfer for sharing your imagination with millions of kids. Please keep writing.  My daughter never wants this series to end.

Writer's Block Bashed!

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Someone once asked me if I ever got writer’s block.

I replied, “Not me.” I can't be sure, but I probably sounded arrogant. Silly, silly me.

 

Not once had I sat at the computer and stared at a blank white screen, waiting. Waiting for my imagination to spark, bursting forth wonderful words. My brain has always been on hyper drive, ready to zoom onto the next idea.

You see, my brain is much like a ping pong ball. It bounces inside my skull 24 hours a day, leaping from one thought to the next in a terrifically random pattern. Very useful if you’re hoping to live the creative life of say, a writer. Less useful, perhaps, if you’re hoping to live the orderly life of a Monk or (shivers) an accountant.

Suffice to say, never before had I experienced this writer’s block phenomenon. Until recently.

 

The problem may be that I am in the midst of three projects. Yes, three. This seemed doable when the words flowed like wine. Cool, crisp chardonnay. (Definitely not a Shiraz or Cabernet - red wines give me wicked migraines. Just to clarify. In case you come for dinner.)

Now where was I? Oh yes, my blank brain.  

Now each novel seems daunting and overwhelming. My brain is still flitting from idea to idea, but this time my thoughts are controlled by doubt, rather than gushing inspiration. 

 

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Can I make the revision on my romantic comedy work? Are the changes what the editor was looking for? Does the new character arc resonate with me?  

Can I do the characters in my paranormal story justice? Am I up for the task?

Since I never had to fret about being wordless, I hadn’t a clue how to fix my predicament. So, for the past few weeks I sat with my fingers hovering over the keyboard, the phone unplugged, my coffee growing colder, while I waited for something, anything remotely intelligent to pop into my melon. Heck, any old garbage would’ve been welcome. Nothing happened. Unless you count my digits seizing up, resembling wicked witch hands.



But this morning, after a lazy month or two of cottage living, I awoke early and went for a walk in the near dark, looking to shed a few pounds. But more enjoyable for me than the exercise was letting my mind wander as I walked our tree lined neighbourhood. 

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I could feel my creative juices replenishing as my imagination clicked online again. I day-dreamed and I wondered.

 

Sometimes I wondered out loud.

 

Thankfully my neighbours have grown use to me by now, so no one even noticed the crazy blond lady lurking in their shrubs.

 

"Who lives in that tiny house hidden behind that wild, overgrown prickly hedge? And that house, next to the hermit’s – it’s a perfectly kept mansion, yet the fence is bowing over under the weight of a fallen elm tree. What's up with that? Oh, and the three story Victorian home across the street, why do they have canvass covering every window? What secret are they hiding?" My nosey self pondered. My imagination soared.



I’d forgotten that a creative brain also needs to be exercised, allowed to expand and day dream; to wonder not only about the curious things around us, but also the every day, the mundane.

 

I raced home, leaped over the dog, and began typing. My understanding husband slipped a hot cup of coffee onto my desk, when I said, "Writing," to him rather than "Good morning."

 

The words have found me again, my writer's block is bashed.

Have you suffered from a spat of writer’s block? How have you overcome it? Or are you still entrenched?

 

Might I suggest a nice long walk with your brain unleashed, ready to imagine the possibilities that lay just behind a bush or a dilapidated fence.

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