Candy Box Treasure

Leading to a Prize

I never know what will inspire a story or a novel. A newspaper article, a personal experience, an antique book bought on eBay. My debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight began with two sentences about an unknown medieval English queen. (You won’t be surprised to hear I have BA in history.) My second book, When They Came Home, began with a battered candy box.

My mother gave it to me saying, “You’re a writer. There’s a story in here.”

Inside I found a jumble of faded papers in complete disarray. When organized, they covered 1917 to 1933: insurance and hospital records, pictures, a diary, a postcard. All about WWI and its aftermath on my Kansas grandparents. An Enlistment Record brought me up short.

Milton, my grandfather, fought in the Argonne forest! A terrible battle, huge casualties, incessant bombing that reduced the trees to stubs. I’d never imagined my grandfather, a mild man, crouched in a trench. He loved coffee and long walks.

I also discovered that in December, 1921, Milton received $80.00, “on account of injury incurred in the line of duty while employed in the active service.” What kind of injury? Had he been shot? In a family of story tellers, I’d never heard that one.

This was a treasure, a time capsule to be excavated. I began work on what became the winner of the Miami University Press 2025 Novella Award: When They Came Home!

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.