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Unintended Hero -- The Story Behind the Story -- with Giveaway

Becky Van Vleet • Jan 03, 2023

Today I welcome author Becky Van Vleet with her latest release, Unintended Hero, a WWII story that reads like a memoir, the details and characters rich and poignant. Plus, read through, because Becky has generously offered a free book for one lucky reader.


As a baby boomer, I grew up in a household hearing stories from my parents about the Great Depression and WWII. I’d always been fascinated with my father’s stories he shared about the USS Denver, the light cruiser he was a gunner on in the South Pacific in WWII. Not wanting his stories to perish in oblivion, I whipped out my dated cassette recorder on March 19, 1990, corralled my father to our kitchen table, and asked him to recount his WWII adventures, experiences, and battles so I could save his stories for our children, his grandchildren.


For the next two hours, his stories tumbled out with pride and a remarkable remembrance. I sat spellbound, taking it all in. At the time, my plan was to simply save the cassettes as historical keepsakes for my family.


Fast forward thirty years later. Covid hits, and I’m homebound with a worldwide shutdown. My children are grown up with children of their own. Time is on my hands. I pulled out those dated cassettes and listened to them again. Could I write a book? Preserve my father’s stories for others to read outside of the family?


Google and search engines became my friends, working in tandem with my fingers on my keyboard. I had a big puzzle on my hands to fit all the pieces together—my father’s stories, ship deck logs, research for the Pacific Theater, research for ammunition and guns (remember I said my father was a gunner), the battles, hundreds of other Navy ships, and the . . . well, I had a lot of pieces to fit together to formulate a story. And a well-written story. This was a story, after all, about my father. He was no longer living, and my book must honor not only him, but the other sixteen million Americans who also answered the call of duty to fight for our country. They had sacrificed school, jobs, families, homes, personal aspirations, and their very lives. My book must represent them as well.


Tap, tap, tap. My fingers flew over my keyboard faster than armor piercing shells flying from WWII battleships for more than a year as a manuscript emerged. Help came from everywhere--my husband, editors, WWII veterans, and friends. Family cheered me on.

Unintended Hero, my debut historical novel, finally made an inaugural appearance on Amazon in August, 2022. For Donna’s readers, if you know of any WWII buffs in your circle, or, if you have young people in your circle who could benefit from a good story about patriotism, sacrifice for a cause beyond self, and teamwork for America, I’d like to recommend this book to you. This is not about self-promotion nor sales as that was never my intent when I wrote my father’s story. This book is about preserving a firsthand story from Walter Troyan, my father, who came from The Greatest Generation. 


Giveaway information

Becky is offering a free kindle copy or hard copy of Unintended Hero for those who answer the question: Do you know of someone in your family circle who participated in WWII? If yes, please give name, relation, and how they participated in the war. If you don’t have someone in your family circle who participated in the war, Becky would like to hear your ideas for how WWII stories can be preserved for the future. Please remember to leave your email address cleverly disguised so the ‘bots don’t find you. For example, donna AT livebytheword DOT com

 

Getting to Know Becky

  • What do you enjoy most about writing? I believe in the power of family stories and this is what I like to write about. When I hear people share funny, inspirational, true, spiritual application, memorable family stories, I get excited about getting permissions to write a blog about it!
  • What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful? One reader at a time, one step at a time, one friend at a time, I love it when readers share about my books by word of mouth. I especially love reviews.
  • How did you get started writing? My family has a “traveling” skirt that has been traveling around for more than 70 years, through three generations, starting in 1948, for all the little two-year-old girls in our family. Daughters, granddaughters, great-granddaughters. I decided to write a children’s book about it, and much to my delight, Talitha, the Traveling Skirt, a children’s picture book, was published in 2019. And I’ve been on a family story writing path ever since!

 

About Becky:

Becky Van Vleet is a wife, mother, grandmother, swimmer, gardener, oil painter, power walker, and a writer who loves God. She especially enjoys getting together with friends and family, eating cotton candy, asking Alexa hundreds of questions, and reading books to her grandchildren. Her website is devoted to preserving family stories and memories, believing it’s important to tell our stories to the next generations. If you enjoy family stories, check out her website at www.beckyvanvleet.com and sign up for her blogs/newsletters.


Connect online:

https://www.facebook.com/authorbeckyvanvleet/

www.beckyvanvleet.com

https://amzn.to/3zYVqZX purchase link for Unintended Hero


A Peek Inside the Book

CHAPTER ONE

December 7, 1941, Santa Rosa, California


“Walter, quick!” His mother grabbed his elbow and pulled him away from his friends gathered outside after worship—her face white and cold as snow. “We have to get home right now,” she said, her voice wavering. “We have to get the radio on.”


Walter pulled his elbow back. “What’s going on?”


Mom waved at Arthur on the other side of the walkway to catch his attention and motioned him over. “I’ll tell you, but let’s get out of the church crowd and get to the car.”


Pop walked by and whipped out his handkerchief, wiping his brow. “Come on, boys. The word is spreading fast.”


Before the family reached their green 1936 Plymouth, Walter heard moans and gasps from the church parishioners and turned around. Many had started huddling into groups with embraces and tears.


“Mom, Pop, c’mon. I asked what’s going on?”


“We just heard there’s been an announcement about an attack on Pearl Harbor. Sounds like the whole base has been struck down by Japanese planes.”


The family jumped into their car seats as Pop started the engine, sputtering at first.


Walter removed his tie. “If the whole base has been struck, how will we find out about Chester?”


Pop looked sideways from the front seat. “I don’t know, boys, but we’ve got to get home and turn the radio on.” Clutching the steering wheel, he uttered, “Oh, please God, not Chester.” 

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