I am pleased to have Margaret Wurtele, author of The Golden Hour, to do a guest post here at Melody's Reading Corner today. I enjoyed reading The Golden Hour, which has a WWII setting and if you haven't read my thoughts on it, here's the link.

I’ve been asked to share a little about my writing life and to talk about the process of becoming a published author. My first two books were non-fiction (memoirs) and The Golden Hour is my first novel.

First, let me say that I’m afraid I’m the opposite of a writer. I am an extroverted, action-oriented person, who is loath to sit still at a desk. I am easily distractible, and any available alternative to writing will do: a ringing phone, accessible email, a hunger pang, and the neon to-do list that flashes in my brain. I say yes to far too many community projects, lunch and bridge invitations, and social events. Still, after a day spent writing, I feel more satisfied and complete than after anything else I do.

So writing three books required wrestling myself to the ground, and the novel was the toughest of all. In fiction, the blank page is especially daunting. While writing the memoirs, I had journals and the raw material of my own experience to draw from. In writing The Golden Hour, the characters and their interaction had all to come from my imagination. Finally, I came up with a firm personal rule: Nothing could be scheduled on Mondays – nothing at all. I would begin the day with cups of coffee, wandering about the house, going through mail – anything that attracted me. But all the while, the story was brewing in my head. Finally I would sit down about 2 or 3 pm and write furiously in longhand for a couple of hours. Whew! Then, the rest of the week, I could type, edit, and fiddle with it to my heart’s content. Then, I would wait in dread for the next Monday. It took me three years to complete a draft of the novel I could live with.

I sold my first book, Taking Root, without an agent. It was a spiritual and gardening memoir, and (with the help of a friend who owned a bookstore) I chose five or six publishers of spiritual and religious material and sent them the manuscript. St. Mary’s University Press called and wanted to publish it! I was lucky.

For my second book, Touching the Edge, I did find an agent, one who worked both in my home state of Minnesota and in New York. The manuscript was a memoir about parenting and the recent death of my 22-year-old son in a mountain climbing accident. It took at least a year of receiving one turndown letter after another, but finally John Wiley & Sons bought the book. My editor there had a beloved aunt who had lost her son, and he felt a particular resonance with my story.

That same agent was enthusiastic about the draft of The Golden Hour, and he eagerly offered me a contract. But after a few months, he disappeared. Something troubling must have happened in his life, because he was unresponsive and out of communication for many months. At last, reluctantly, I severed our contract. I took advantage of the break to hire an independent editor, who worked with me on the manuscript for several months. She was excellent, and it was the right thing to do. The revised manuscript was accepted by the first new agent I tried. She has Minnesota roots like mine, and I know a few of her other clients.

This is a terribly difficult market, and my agent kept my expectations very low. Her in-house editor made a number of suggestions, and finally they sent the manuscript out to a first round of five or six publishers. She was more skilled than lucky. The interest was there, and NAL/Penguin was chosen to publish The Golden Hour.

In the last few years, the world of marketing books has changed. This time around, it’s a new ball game: a website, a Facebook page, a blog tour. I am excited to have people begin reading The Golden Hour.

Margaret Wurtele is the author of two memoirs. She and her husband split their time between Minnesota and Napa Valley, where they are owners of Terra Valentine Winery. Visit her online at www.margaretwurtele.com.

I love reading stories which have a war setting; don't get me wrong, war stories are never a joy to read but they are part of history and they allow us to get a glimpse of the war through the eyes of the characters, even if they are fictional ones.

The Golden Hour is a story about a 17-year-old Italian girl, Giovanna Bellini's journey during the Nazi occupation in Tuscany during the 1940s and how the war affected her throughout and into her adulthood. Being the daughter of a wealthy aristocrat, her life should be carefree and filled with happiness but all was shattered when the war broke and their lands are being occupied by German officers. As you are aware, Italy armistice with the Allies and this resulting in the disarming of Italian forces and seizing the military control of Italian areas.

While Giovanna helps at the local Catholic academy tutoring refugee children, she is attracted by one particular German officer named Klaus; he is married and has a young son and though Giovanna likes him, yet at the same time she is also torn by guilt and a sense of patriotism as she feels their acquaintance is wrong to begin with. On the other end, Giovanna's brother, Giorgio, left home to join the resistance. His parents never knew of his whereabouts, thinking something must have happened to him during the war although they are still hopeful of his return. Truth be told, he is very much alive and Giovanna is secretly helping him to smuggle food and medical supplies for the partisans.

It is also through Giorgio that Giovanna meets Mario, an injured partisan who is Jewish and as she nurses Mario back to health, she couldn't help but to fall in love with him and his courageous spirit as well. At that time, she is unaware of the situation where the Jewish stand and even after she knew of the danger of being acquainted with a Jew, she stand by her decision of helping and loving him despite her parents' objection. However, the real battle lies in the ruthless Nazis and Giovanna has to confront her demons as she faces Klaus once again.

Filled with wonderful characterisations and a rich setting of the wartime, author Margaret Wurtele has weaved a captivating, and an unforgettable story about love of all kinds (couples, family as well as friends) and the acts of heroism in all forms. Giovanna is a wonderful and a likeable reader; you couldn't help but to sympathize with her for all the difficulties she encounters both in her personal life as well as the hardship during the wartime. Mario is another likeable character to me as he is brave yet humble at the same time.

As I have not read a war story with an Italian setting before The Golden Hour, I was glad to read this book based from the Italian's perspective. It has definitely made me understand more about the resistance forces; and not to mention what the partisans did are selfless and they are willing to sacrifice themselves in saving their country.

Although The Golden Hour is about the Nazi occupation, I would also like to view this as somewhat of a coming-of-age story, as I could see how Giovanna has grown from a naïve young girl to be a mature lady as the story progress. A great debut I would say, and I would highly recommend this book to readers who love historical with a little romance theme in it.

And, I have a guest post from author Margaret Wurtele tomorrow so do keep a look out for it!