*****PASSION*****
That's the word that kept coming to my mind as I left the home of Teresa Messineo, local author of the historical fiction novel
The Fire By Night.

I requested an interview with Teresa for many reasons: 

          Writing is a career in which several of my students have expressed an interest.

          She is a local author.  

          She has ties to the Berks Catholic Community (Central Catholic grad, class of 1991).

          WE WERE BOTH TAUGHT AT CENTRAL CATHOLIC BY THE BELOVED SR. JONATHAN MOYLES, SCC.

As a matter of fact, Teresa dedicated this book to Sr. Jonathan

          Teresa's connection to Sister Jonathan began in an interesting way. Before 10th grade, Teresa was enrolled in a non-traditional school. There were no grades in both senses--no numerical grades were given, and students were not assigned to be 1st graders, 5th, graders, 9th graders, etc. Teresa's father took her to a basketball game in the Hill Road gym, and seeing the crowd and the spirit there, she wanted to be a part of that. She asked her father if she could attend Central, and she enrolled beginning her 10th grade year and was placed in Sister Jonathan's English Honors class. Sister assigned an essay the first day....but Teresa was not familiar with the term. The free verse composition she wrote about a spider was NOT what Sister was looking for. Teresa had to confess that she was not familiar with an essay.....Now, having had Sister as a teacher, I can just imagine her heavy sigh. She explained what it was and told Teresa she had one day to rewrite it or she was out of the class.

She gave her that second chance.

Teresa returned the next day with the essay...Not only did Sister read it out loud (a high honor!) but she also gave her a 98. I wrote some decent essays for Sister Jonathan, but I'm pretty sure I never had a 9 and an 8 on my paper, at least not in that order!

Little did Sister (or Teresa at the time) know how impactful that grade was.

Teresa was awarded a full scholarship to DeSales University, with the intentions of completing a Biology/Pre Med program. After understanding the time involved in such a program, Teresa decided to work on those requirements later in her life. She changed her Major to English with minors in Biology and Theology. She has 4 children, whom she home schools.  She worked for 10 years at the Reading Birth and Women's Center in Reading.

I asked Teresa if she always thought she would be a writer. I should have known the answer to that...people who can write well tend to write often. She wrote poems and stories on her own, and later submitted articles to magazines and medical journals. But how does one go from short pieces like this to full novels?....................

PASSION! 

The Fire By Night tells the story of two nurses, friends, during World War II. Their assignments led to them to different places in the world; each woman had her own monumental experience as she faced the complications that war presents. Actually, complications does not capture the experiences of these woman who, along with the soldiers they saved, were often broken both physically and mentally.

Teresa, obviously, has an interest (an obvious passion) in this era of history. This is apparent as she was willing to spend 7 years researching for this book.

This is where my students and all aspiring authors must take note:

A writing career takes both passion, dedication, and patience. In the case of writing historical fiction, Teresa pointed out the need for attention to details. A sentence about walking down the linoleum floors of the hospital had to have the advance knowledge that there WAS linoleum in 1943. The same is true of stockings, soap, and various medicines. For this particular time in history, there are people who are still alive to see if you have it right!

These people, known as primary sources, were integral to Teresa's research. She was able to  see the reenactments and tents at the World War II Weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum at the Reading Airport. Here she also interviewed Nurse Evangeline R. Cayman (90 at the time), a Second Lieutenant 59th Field Hospital 90th Infantry Division, who showed her all the detailed processes of working in a hospital tent.

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The dedication of these women, these nurses of World War II, is remarkable. They volunteered, when most men were drafted. Thank-you to Teresa for honoring and recognizing these heroes.

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Seven years of research...and 6 months of writing.

I hated to ask such expected questions, but I had to know about Teresa's writing process: her routine, where she writes, her thought process...her response to when she writes :"When I can!" (Remember she is a working mother; home schooling requires planning, teaching and grading.)

I learned that if one does not self-publish, it requires the process of obtaining an agent (the person who sells the book to a publishing house) and an editor who does the in-depth editing. (Teresa did have 3 others read as she wrote: her father, Sr. Jonathan, and Eugene Chorines, Staff Sergeant 1123rd Engineering Combat Group.)

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEAS TO GRASP: A WRITER'S WORK WILL BE EDITED...AND EDITED SOME MORE...AND THEN AGAIN. I imagine it must be painful( and Teresa did share this) to have something eliminated from your writing that you so painstakingly researched or had an emotional attachment to. It's just the way it is in this business.

Do you picture your favorite author sitting down and capturing those ideas on a page?

I asked Teresa about this...she said she knows the opening line and the final scene.  When writing the story, she at times couldn't wait to see what would happen next!!!!!!

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR TERESA MESSINEO.

Her next book is also set in World War II, this time in Tuscany 1943 in the Etruscan tombs where people hid when Italy was in a state of suspension between Allied and German forces. To be honest, I shamefully did not have a strong attachment to this era of history--I do now. 

(MR. GRAY AND MR. SCOLLICK, LET'S CHECK THIS OUT!!!!)

To my students, continue to write those poems, short stories, comic strips, and essays. What gets you started (spiders, anyone?) can be the beginning of a passionate career.

          

TTTh Teresa