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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2018)
November 9, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A ‘LUNCH IN THE LOFT’ SERIES The accidental author By Rebecca Herren Seaside Signal She describes herself as the accidental author, and up to about 10 years ago, she was more of a movie buff than a reader, or even a creative writer. “The fact that I’m an author today shows me that anyone who wakes up and says they want to write a book can do it,” said Kristina Mc- Morris. One of Beach Books’ favorite authors who returned for the October “Lunch in the Loft” series, as part of her 50-stop book tour to promote “Sold on a Monday,” set in Depression-era America. McMorris, who lives in Happy Valley, detoured from giving an author reading, opt- ing to do a slide presentation of her journey to becoming an author and the real life stories that have inspired that process Her gift of talking comes from the Irish side of her family, she said, as she con- veyed to an attentive audience anecdotes of real life people she happened upon in her re- searches. McMorris pitches her first book “Letters from Home” as a “cross between ‘The Note- book’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan,’” as it was based on the true story of her grandpar- ents’ long distance courtship through hand-written letters during World War II. “It all started with a family Christmas project,” McMor- ris said. “I wanted to create a self-published cookbook to include about 400 of her fa- ‘WHAT BROUGHT ME HERE TODAY IS MY GRANDMOTHER ASKING ME IF I WOULD TYPE OUT HER RECIPES WHEN I HAD A CHANCE.’ vorite recipes she collected and created over the decades.” McMorris wanted to also include a biography of her grandmother, and through their conversations, she dis- covered the history of the let- ters, that until then, no one in the family had seen. Here, her grandma Jean revealed that the couple “had only dated twice during the war.” Thinking about the letters and the story behind them, McMorris thought it would make a great movie. “It would be Cyrano de Bergerac set in World War II; a movie I would totally go see.” A few years later and preg- nant with her second child, McMorris decided to write the book, not realizing how difficult it would be. She at- tempted to write a movie she had in her head and soon real- ized she was clueless on how to put her vision on paper. “I started reading like crazy and learning and un- derstanding the craft more.” She attended workshops, gave critiques and plotted — using post-it’s as a reference guide for her books. She said even through the many rejection letters she re- ceived, she continued to send queries and work on her craft because “it would only take one.” It took many drafts to com- plete “Letters from Home” and since its debut, McMorris has written 12 books, all in- spired by historical events. In listening to McMor- ris describe her process and the stories she encountered, her drive is evident and her inspiration is noticeable. To understand the essence of her subject matter, she immerses herself into its atmosphere. From riding in a B-17 bomber and taking a tour of the Manzanar War Relocation Camp for “Bridge of Scar- let Leaves;” or taking leads from a declassified document about Nazi saboteurs in 1942 America, a news story about REBECCA HERREN Author Kristina McMorris at Beach Books. a boy who suffered from se- vere night terrors about dying in a plane crash during World War II and how it correlated to her own son’s night terrors for “The Pieces We Keep;” to being inspired by the doc- umentary “Children of Alca- traz” and touring the Island to get the whole scope of what life was like for “The Edge of Lost.” The inspiration behind “Sold on a Monday” was based on a web photo show- ing a posted sign that read “4 Children For Sale — Inquire Within.” After having a visceral re- action to the photo and asking herself, “What would bring a parent to ask for money in return?” McMorris set out to find an answer when she read an article hinting the photo may have been staged. Taking that twist, adding a true account of a male society editor in Toronto and other headlines of interest, McMor- ris set about writing “Sold on a Monday,” a story about desperation combined with ambition. “So, what brought me here today is my grandmother ask- ing me if I would type out her recipes when I had a chance,” she said. And for that reason, based on that one question led McMorris to become the acci- dental author. powered by music fi rst Need help getting health insurance by the Dec. 15 deadline? GET FREE LOCAL HELP! www.OregonHealthCare.gov | 1-855-268-3767 1139 Exchange Street Astoria, OR 97103 503-440-3909 duganins.com
