#FindOutFriday Answers 50

It's Friday and you know what it means?! You're getting your answers to Tuesday's trivia. How many did you get right? Shout out in the comments below.

1. Substance Use Disorder - A disease that affects millions of families, substance abuse is the excessive and/or illegal use of medications, alcohol and other drugs. It's also a difficult subject for me. Not only had I grown up with it around me (within my family, socially and what I saw on TV), but I knew that it could have been me. The idea had been explored somewhat in many of my books, but none more than From Across the Sea and the upcoming In Fiery Autumn Dress. The character of Victoria Ronald had seen her family and associates abuse substances and she grew within this trauma. I explore her descent into her drinking, especially in the next novel.

2. Anne Boleyn and Queen Elizabeth I - Here I go again with my Tudor history. But this relationship is worthy of some mention. If you didn't know, Anne Boleyn (1501/7-1536) was the mother of Queen Elizabeth of England (1533-1603). She was supposed to be the queen that gave Henry VIII (1491-1547) a son and heir. Instead, she was arrested on trumped-up charges and beheaded when her daughter was not yet three years old. This mirrored the relationship between the fictional Nora Brutrose and her mother, Vera Lynn Howe. In Casting Shadows, Nora does not remember her mother. Like Anne Boleyn, Queen Vera Lynn was arrested and beheaded in the woods, never to see her daughter again.

3. Vera Lynn - I have to add this because I remembered it as I wrote the last entry. Vera Lynn was first introduced to me in a Pink Floyd song. In their album, The Wall, there was a point where the main character, Pink, recalls his father, who died in WW2. In the song, he brought up Vera Lynn, who sang "We'll Meet Again". This was a real singer during WW2. Vera Lynn (born Vera Margaret Lewis,1917-2020) was an entertainer whose songs were popular in that period. Within The Wall, though, "We'll Meet Again" is bittersweet promise for a reunion that will never come. It reflected the mother/daughter relationship of Vera Lynn (the executed queen) and Nora Brutrose (the daughter) in Casting Shadows and The Circle is Broken. Nora looks to honor her mother everywhere, even though that love would never bring her back in the flesh.

That's it, everyone! Tune in next week for #BehindTheScenes where I venture in another chapter of my writing career. The week after will feature another #TriviaTuesday so stay tuned.

Namaste!

#IRL #History #Monarchy #LifeChoices #Sobriety #MotherDaughter