What Historical Fiction Characters Teach You About Contemporary Living with Author Elaine Stock

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Kathleen Basi [: 00:00:00

Welcome to Author Express. Thanks for checking us out. This is the podcast where you give us 15 minutes of your time, and we give you a chance to hear the voice behind the pages and get to know some of your favorite writers in a new light. I'm one of your hosts, Kathleen Basi. I'm an award-winning musical composer, a feature writer, essayist, and, of course, storyteller. Let me tell you a little bit about today's guest.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:00:24

When Elaine Stock braved writing a love letter novel inspired by her paternal heritage from Brzeziny, Poland, she discovered that she could write what she loved to read, historical fiction. Exploring the role of women who are courageous and gutsy, that's courageous with added spirit and determination, she shares her passion for how all faiths, races and belief systems are interconnected and need each other. All three novels of the Resilient Women of World War II trilogy have made Amazon bestseller lists and earned the Historical Fiction Company's five star and highly recommended review. Book One, We Shall Not Shatter, is a 2023 category finalist in the Eric Hoffer Award. What pleases her the most is that readers from various countries have reached out to say that the trilogy books have encouraged them to face their tomorrows. Elaine is a member of Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and enjoys long walks down country roads, visiting New England towns, and, of course, a good book. Welcome to the program, Elaine.

Elaine Stock [: 00:01:30

Thanks for having me, Kathleen. It is a pleasure to be here with you.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:01:34

It's a pleasure to hear your voice. Yes, I love your long walks down country roads. That's right up my alley. I love doing that myself. So, tell me the most interesting thing about where you are from.

Elaine Stock [: 00:01:46

Okay. I was born in Brooklyn, New York. I live in upstate New York. I'm not quite sure which one you're talking about, but Brooklyn was a huge lesson for me. I grew up in the best of times, I think, before the city got too bad or too cleaned up. You can think of it during the Giovanni years we moved out. But right when I was growing up, I just would hop on a bus and I would just take myself wherever I wanted to, to my friends, to the Brooklyn Museum. It was a paradise to learn. I could walk all over the place, which I did. I've always been a big walker, and it just taught me so much about life, I think.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:02:29

That's fantastic. What a great way to grow up. So much independence and so much freedom. That's really cool. So, tell me, who was your best friend while you were growing up in Brooklyn?

Elaine Stock [: 00:02:40

Well, to contradict the lovely bio that you just read, I don't know what got into me, but my dear friend Diane is who I would like to talk about and give her so much credit for shaping me, how I've turned out. But as I said, to contradict myself, my bio, that is. I don't know what got into me. I was all of a sudden feisty one day, walking, we were dismissed. I was walking with my friend Bonnie. I pointed up front and said, see her, see Diane? I'm going to beat her up. For the life of me, I don't know, as I said, what got into me, because I'm not an angry child. I was not a mean child either. And I ditched Bonnie and I ran up to Diane and I apologized my heart out. She was very forgiving, instantly asked me over to her apartment across the street. And I think literally that day, that moment, became the best of friends. She taught me to laugh at life, to make the most out of little. And we did have little back then because we grew up in the housing projects, both of our parents were able to move us out, so we didn't have much, which I guess I think fueled my imagination, too.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:03:57

Oh, well, that it did. Yeah. That's fantastic, though.

Elaine Stock [: 00:04:02

Yeah. She taught me to overcome family situations. Interestingly enough, her brother and my mother were both schizophrenic, so we were support pals forever. She was like having a sister. I understood her, she understood me. She inspired my love of classical music. She played the cello; I played the viola. And most of all, she taught me to be goofy. I even still, to this day, shock my husband after almost 42 years of marriage and to surprise him with a shock of goofiness. And unfortunately, I'm talking about Diane in the past tense because when she was 29, she was diagnosed with four stage breast cancer. And it was true, she lived just long enough to see her then six-year-old child, too, until the time he graduated high school because she was a teacher herself, really wanted to see the love of her life graduate, and she got her wish.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:05:02

That's beautiful.

Elaine Stock [: 00:05:03

I mentioned her, too, because in book two, I've dedicated that book to her. And one of my main characters in the second book of the trilogy, Our Daughter's Last Hope, plays the cello with her grandmother, and it's just a little thing, and you know, she's always with me.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:05:21

Oh, that's so beautiful. That's a lovely story. Thank you for sharing that. That makes a good transition. Actually, talking about your book, you're releasing book three of the trilogy, When We Disappeared, now. Is that right?

Elaine Stock [: 00:05:34

Yes, it's just been released, going well, still a baby book. I'm hoping to have more readers about the time it'll happen. So, When We Disappeared, is the conclusion of the trilogy.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:05:46

So, tell us where this book is set and what's important about that setting.

Elaine Stock [: 00:05:51

Okay, well, primarily it is set in Germany, basically an unexpected road trip back in 1943. Edith is a young Jewish woman, and she escapes from a Dutch safe house where her mother had put her, and she escapes, but she's injured. She meets Eric, who brings her to his parents’ home in Germany. She meets Bonnie, who is a Roman, both are young woman. Both are hiding in plain sight because to be discovered, especially by Eric's father, who is up there in the Nazi Party, would be likely a death certificate for them both. And ironically, ending up in a Nazi household is the best thing for Edith and Bonnie because it inspired them to become stronger, not to give up, to give them a purpose to live. You know, this is a war. They've seen persecution. They've seen family die and everything and other people of their faith die. On the brink of giving up, they've rejuvenated in that respect. They've grown their self-respect, and they've renewed their love for both family and their faith. Things are okay for a little while until they realize the true identity of Eric's father. Their time is just like running out. If they didn't leave, it would be just too late, and they didn't want that. So, the two of them, who had become friends at this time, and Eric, although his father is a Nazi, he's, I think at that point, the reader is wondering about Eric, where he really stands. But the butler as well, who's the driver, they leave the house in Germany. They make it to Australia. This is in the middle of winter, by the way. They make it to the Tatra Mountains and eventually to the Netherlands, and they go this route because of Bonnie's family. They have a tip that Bonnie's family may still be alive and things are just promising. At first, they actually did not want Edith to go along, but she put her foot down and she said, I'm going along. I don't care. I am. And that's the premise of the story.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:08:13

This sounds very personal to you. Tell me, what part of writing brings you the most joy?

Elaine Stock [: 00:08:18

Well, I'm not quite sure what you mean by personal. As far as joy goes, I am a huge seat of the pants writer. For the life of me, cannot, you could probably pay me and I still can't come up with an outline of the story. Yeah, really. In the past, every time I tried, it would just outline a story for me. I was going to say, I never know what I would want to write, but that's not true. I sit down, I have an idea of where I'm going, I begin. But what's wonderful is when the characters literally, they just talk to me and tell me, no, that's not us. It's not true to the story. I'm going to tell you what to do. And they're just basically dictating the story to me.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:09:04

Yeah, that's wonderful.

Elaine Stock [: 00:09:06

Yeah. It is an adrenaline of rush combined with a throw of pieces of a puzzle coming together. To me, it's fun. I'm one of those strange people that I also love to edit, too.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:09:18

Yeah, I love to edit as well.

Elaine Stock [: 00:09:20

Oh. The two of us, then.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:09:22

But I'm a plotter. So.

Elaine Stock [: 00:09:24

Oh. It has pros and cons. That's good.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:09:29

That's fun. Well, tell me, as we start to wrap up here, what's the best place for people to find you? Is there a place online that everybody should go?

Elaine Stock [: 00:09:38

I have a website, it’s ElaineStock.com. I'm active on Facebook. I have an author page, too, and on Facebook. I'm newly involved with Instagram; I would love to hook with people there. I can be found on Twitter. I've been on Twitter for years now. It’s not the same, but still hanging in there.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:10:00

Very good. You've got lots of places for people to find you then. So, let's sort of wrap up here and ask, in closing, what book or story inspires you the most these days?

Elaine Stock [: 00:10:10

What book am I reading that would inspire me?

Kathleen Basi [: 00:10:13

Whatever, Coach. You can interpret these questions however you like. What book are you reading? What book have you read? What book sticks with you? What sticks out in your mind if I say, what book is inspiring you?

Elaine Stock [: 00:10:24

Well, one book that comes to my mind right now is, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:10:30

Oh, yeah. Such a good book.

Elaine Stock [: 00:10:32

Yeah. Oh, okay. You've read it. I absolutely adore that story. I love her writing. When the book first came out, I rushed to get it in hardcover. When it first came out, which was several years ago, and I still think about the haunting ending. That story pulled me into their world, and that's what I tried to do with my own writing. I learned a lot from reading other novels about how to write. Kristin Hannah is just a great storyteller. I also love and adore Jodi Picoult. We once met. Up in Vermont.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:11:08

That’s cool.

Elaine Stock [: 00:11:09

In a book signing.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:11:10

That's very cool. Is there one of Jodi's books that really stands out to you?

Elaine Stock [: 00:11:15

Oh. I love, The Storyteller. If I have the correct title, yes.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:11:19

Yeah. Well, that's good. We always love to have good book recommendations to go out for the next book. So, thank you so much for being with us today, Elaine, and I'm glad we were able to make contact with you.

Elaine Stock [: 00:11:29

Yes, thanks for hosting me. Thanks for doing this. It means a lot to me. Thank you.

Kathleen Basi [: 00:11:34

Thank you. Thanks for joining us today. We hope you'll take a second to give us some stars or a review on your favorite podcasting platform. We'll be back next Wednesday, and in the meantime, follow us on Instagram, @AuthorExpresspodcast to see who's coming up next. Don't forget, keep it express, but keep it interesting.