The Truth In Fiction

Today terrorists attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunisia. I read this in the USA Today article:

Some of the Italians at the museum were believed to have been passengers from the Costa Fascinosa, a cruise liner that had docked in Tunis. Ship owner Costa Crociere confirmed that some of its 3,161 passengers were visiting Tunis and that a Bardo tour was on the itinerary, but said it couldn't confirm how many were in the museum.

Many of you know my husband and I have cruised on the Costa Cruise lines several times. I believe it is 7 now. I wrote approximately 60% of my release Cruisin For A SEAL  on the Costa Fascinosa in December 2013. I blogged about the journey and posted pictures. In my story, a group of terrorists decide to board and take over an Italian cruise ship off the north coast of Africa. Although I didn't name Costa as the line, that was the ship I based this book on.

We have also taken this ship on this particular Mediterranean cruise and stopped at Tunisia, and I have walked these halls where people died yesterday. It is customary for cruise lines to take buses based on language. Costa caters to mainly European travelers. I don't think they planned to target a particular nationality of tourist-I think it was the crime of opportunity. This particular bus held Italian tourists, and they were unlucky to be the ones who had pulled up to enter the museum. It could have been American or Brit, Germans or French tourists. Such a sad waste of innocent life.

In addition to the senseless loss of life, antiquities were ruined, something that has increasingly been happening. Relics and symbols of civilizations long past are memorialized in wonderful museums like the Bardo. In this case, these priceless floor tile mosaics were from the ancient city of Carthage, and were said to have been walked upon by Christ himself. St. Peter wrote letters to the Carthaginians, as recorded in the Bible, and is said to have walked these same tiles during his lifetime.

Terrorism isn't something we think about in a romance novel, yet these things that are happening do remind us the real world is dangerous. As in any good story, weaving a believable thread into our plots is important. Yes, I do write romance, but sometimes these stories are closer to the truth than we would like to admit.

It is important to understand that there are those who fight to defend us from these acts of terror, which is the basis for my Navy SEAL Brotherhood Series, but they cannot be everywhere around us all the time. We have to understand that innocents will be victims of this new insane war. As far-fetched as it might seem, it is impossible to keep this from happening, and that perhaps it's coming to our own shores. Traveling in Europe is not what it used to be. Families living off bases in foreign posts are being relocated back to base for their own protection. Our military and their families are asked to stay off the internet, off Facebook and other forms of social media.

In SEAL My Home, which comes out 3/31/15, I also deal with a home-grown terrorist cell that target the families of military men and women.

The world is becoming a very unsafe place. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who sacrifice so we can have the lifestyles we currently have. But let's be vigilant. Let's keep our eyes and ears open.

That's not fiction. It's fact.

Sharon Hamilton

Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other.

Author Page ** Sharon's Blog ** Sharon's Website ** Facebook**Twitter

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IS IT REAL OR IS IT?

I have to admit I struggled a bit when I decided to write my next SEAL Brotherhood book, SEAL's Promise, with a home grown terrorist cell in it. This was before some of the more recent events that have catapulted SEALs into the forefront of the news. I had the book written, and then when word began to come out last Fall about terrorist sleeper cells in this country and others around the world--cells that might prey on our military men and women or their families, I hesitated.

I remember the day the Twin Towers came down in New York City. I would learn later that the Valedictorian of my California high school class was on the top floor, speaking at a charity luncheon fundraiser for women. My son was a film student at NYU, and he had left me a message approximately one hour before the attacks, telling me how rainy and stormy it had been the night before, but they'd had a successful party anyway, "Today it is a beautiful, blue, cloudless New York Day." Those words stuck in my throat as I watched the planes hit the towers over and over again all day. I was terrified until I found out he was safe.

Another member of my graduating class would die in a terrorist bombing in Algeria at the U.N. office there. His wife had set up a school for girls, risking her life to do so. He told me at our reunion that he carried, "A little bit of California with me," back to Algeria, his home. He had brought his entire family to the reunion in order to meet the students of the high school he attended as a foreign exchange student.

As the awful choking soot and smoke began to settle on 9-11, I knew in my heart that something new had begun. We were entering a time when non-military men and women in this country, innocents, would become casualties of this insane fanaticism sweeping across much of the world. When I visited the site, it was difficult when I realized that the tree branches hanging above my head with some kind of brown moss and metal crumpled fruit was the evidence of pantyhose and metal mini blinds from the offices that perished. Instead of just targeting the fighting man and woman, the civilian population was now going to be attacked. This was a new experience for us in the United States.

But as I got my edits back and and uploaded the book, I understood that stories are usually based on events that happen in real life, even though the romance and the characters are make believe. And so my story is set against the backdrop of the unfortunate reality that military men, women and their families might become targets. The love story occurs while the terror is unfolding.

I'm so happy that American Sniper is out and that it is a tremendous hit. It does tell the story about our brave Navy SEALs, the heroes I love to write about, and their precious families. The character of the men who will not quit was underscored in such a powerfully moving way for me.

Every new tragedy or event inspires me to continue to tell the stories of these guys, and why we should honor them, perhaps listen to their advice and warnings. The world is changing, whether we want it to be so or not. Thank goodness we have these guys, and all the other brave military men and women, who have our backs, and have that unrelenting calling to keep us all safe.

As I've said many times before, the way we can honor and pay them back is to enjoy what we have every day, to live our lives to the fullest, to enjoy every minute of our taste of freedom. Life is fragile, but it is also so very sweet.

Sharon Hamilton

Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other.

Author Page ** Sharon's Blog ** Sharon's Website ** Facebook**Twitter

Sharon’s Newsletter

CAN WE TALK ABOUT NAVY SEALS?

Can we sit down and have a chat about writing Navy SEALs?

Think it's time to talk a bit. We've seen things in the news concerning reveals about Navy SEALs and their tactics, their mental capabilities and their planned missions. There is a lot of controversy about this, and I am not clear on which side of the fence I stand, except to say that I want our bravest and best-trained warriors protected, at all costs. There's a mystique to being a SEAL because much of what they do has to be kept secret. And we all know there is temptation not to keep those secrets.

So, as a writer, I walk a fine line between accuracy and storytelling, all the time worrying about protecting the fine men and women who put themselves in harm's way so we can write the crazy books we do, and go run around and do unmentionable things with our lives. Our SEALs signed on for this. They are our warriors and they want us to have a normal life.

There are details in my books I've written on purpose incorrectly. There are probably details in my books I've written incorrectly by accident. I don't think I've gotten wrong the community or the character of the men who serve as SEALs. The how of what they do might vary, but the why and the way they are I believe is as accurate as I can make it. I love the smack talk and the sense of humor these usually soft-spoken warriors have.

Now we have hundreds of writers thinking they can write Navy SEAL romances. I love reading the blurbs where SEALs perform jobs real SEALs would never do, or serve in capacities they would never serve under. Reviewers don't pick these up, and I think that's fine. The bottom line is that it's good all this misinformation is out there. I hope our enemies are reading all the Navy SEAL romances, because they'll get pretty confused when they do. If they read my SEAL stories they'll get a lot of sex education too. Some of our enemies I think might need a little of this.

And that would probably make a SEAL chuckle to himself. He'd never tell you that you are an idiot writer getting facts and figures wrong, well, maybe if you knew him well enough he would. Have I been an idiot? You bet. Proudly. Will I continue to be? Hey, the more newbie SEAL writers there are out there the better I look. LOL. Seriously. We're talking about FICTION. We aren't writing Tom Clancy or WEB Griffin or Dick Couch.

As one SEAL told me, "Just make it up. If you can imagine it, it probably happened."

And so I have.

You can watch my Chapter One Live read of SEAL's Promise here. Some adult content language some of my fans think is funny seeing me say.

SEAL's Promise Excerpt (TJ Talbot and his best friend are talking about dating and other unmentionable things - strong language here). Hear the buttery, romantic voice of my Warrior Storyteller, JD Hart, as he breathes life into my words. The audio book will be out any day now.

SEAL's Promise is available on Kindle, and iTunes, Nook and Kobo.

Sharon Hamilton

Life is one fool thing after another.

Love is two fool things after each other.

Author Page ** Sharon's Blog ** Sharon's Website ** Facebook**Twitter

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