Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sneak Preview of Novel #4

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A Prophet's Tale now being complete and at the publisher, it's time for a sneak peak at the next novel. Expect something entirely different.

My family was living in West Berlin, Germany, in November, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Like most of the rest of the city, we rushed to Checkpoint Charlie, the Tiergarten across from the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag to welcome East Germans pouring through breaches in the Wall.

On that day, I snapped the picture of a man standing on a street corner holding up a plain white paper sign on which the name "Katia" was written. The picture became the seed for my novel. Below is a short synopsis:

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“Seek the truth, embrace the pain, cherish the freedom.”

Spunky Madeline “Maddy” McCann is a twenty-one year-old journalism major completing her year as an exchange student at the Freie Universtität, in Berlin, Germany. She has a career to launch.

Stalwart Katia Mahler is a sixty-six year-old German invalid who grew up in post-World War II East Berlin. She has a story to tell.

Enigmatic Oskar Schultmann brings together the journalist and the storyteller. Maddy’s task: to chronicle Katia Mahler’s life.

All three of them discover more to Katia’s story than they bargained for.

Cultures and generations clash, as the young American and the German matron strive to understand each other’s present and past. Maddy learns more than a personal history; Katia receives more than a memoir. And always in the background is Oskar, who gets drawn into the story in ways he never intended.

Peek behind the Iron Curtain and over the Berlin Wall as Katia’s story—the story of a lost generation from a failed state—comes to life through the scribbled notes of a girl struggling to grasp the significance of what she has written for her own life as well as for future generations.

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I hope to have the manuscript for Katia in to the publisher within a month. It's my most exciting work so far. Can't wait to share it with you!
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11 comments:

Kristen said...

aaaahhhh! sounds great, can't wait!

Miralee Ferrell said...

This sounds like one I'd enjoy. Nice summary of the story line, very intriguing. Congrats on your upcoming release in a few weeks, as well as this one nearing completion. You're on a roll!!! Blessings on your work and writing ministry.

Miralee Ferrell
www.miraleeferrell.com

Bruce Judisch said...

Hey Kristen and Dave!

This was s-o much fun to write! I'm really excited about it.

BTW, I'm also starting to set up book signings for The Journey Begun, so expect an invitation pretty soon. :-)

Cheers! Bruce

Bruce Judisch said...

Miralee,

Thanks and I think you'll enjoy this. The interaction between Maddy and Fraulein Mahler is such fertile soil for humor as well as poignancy. I can't wait for this one to come out.

Congrats on your own upcoming release. Looking forward to seeing it.

Cheers! Bruce

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Sounds like a great story. Fun and challenging to write!

Bruce Judisch said...

Cindy,

Thanks for stopping by, and it was a lot of fun. Believe it or not, I finished the first draft in exactly one month. Going through edits/beta reading now, but this one was just neat to do.

Cheers! Bruce

Lynnette Bonner said...

I'm shaking my head that you could write a whole book in one month! I'm going to have to do Nano this year if it kills me - I really want to try it.

Like I already told you, I love the premise of this latest book.

Do you have any fingernails left? Been checking Amazon everyday "just in case" like I have? LOL

Bruce Judisch said...

Hey, Lynnette!

Yeah, it was one of those thing where the story just came together and rolled out. It was so much fun. I'm on my fourth editing run-through; will submit it after this edit. Jeannie has beta read it twice and has had some great suggestions/feedback from her. I also have another beta reader who is German-born going through it to double-check my German. Ramona is primed for it (I sent her the blurb earlier when I was finishing up on The Journey Begun.

I'm really excited about it (can you tell?) :-)

Looking forward to ordering your book; waiting, too.

Cheers! Bruce

the mccann clan said...

Awesome! I can't wait to read this one, Dad. I noticed a couple of familiar names in there already... can't wait to find the rest! ;-) Congrats!

Bruce Judisch said...

Janelle,

Well, as you know, I wrote a lot of it in your front room in June. :-)

I submitted the manuscript to the publisher yesterday. So far so good... ;-)

Love, Dad

Robin Corzine said...

I love my brother, Bruce, too.

(Boy that was tough!)