Cold Peace: A Novel of the Berlin Airlift, Part I of the Bridge to Tomorrow Series received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Helena P. Schrader.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Cold Peace: A Novel of the Berlin Airlift, Part I of the Bridge to Tomorrow Series, published June 5, 2023.
What’s the book’s first line?
“Berlin. The very belly of the beast. The seat of evil for six long years of war and half a decade before that.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Cold Peace is the first novel in the three-part Bridge to Tomorrow series that tells the dramatic story of the Berlin Blockade through the eyes of ordinary people. The Berlin Airlift enabled the West to defeat Russian aggression without war, something that intrigued me as a former diplomat, but also because Berlin was my home for many years. In this first book, I’ve brought the experience of writing nearly a score of novels, eleven of them award-winning, to depicting life in Berlin and the human impact of the various developments that triggered the Russian blockade. I introduce a diverse cast of characters, men and women, British, German and Ukrainian, who from their different positions witness – and hence provide the reader with insight into — the multilateral tensions. All the characters, whether they have lost limbs or loved ones, have been in POW or concentration camps, have been abandoned by their wives or sexually abused, are fundamentally struggling to find their place in the post war world. In Cold Peace, they find purpose in defending Berlin’s freedom. With tyranny on the rise, reflecting on the nature and methods of tyrants is unquestionably relevant today.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
As noted above, I lived for decades in West Berlin where the Soviet Blockade and Allied Airlift were very much remembered. I met people who had been evacuated as children, people who remembered listening for the sound of engines, and pilots who had flown into the besieged city. The more I heard and learned, the more I recognized what fabulous material it was for not just one but for dozens novels.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
For the same reason anyone should read any book of serious historical fiction: to understand ourselves. Good historical fiction based on true events help us to understand the incidents and developments of the past that have shaped our present world.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
The most distinctive feature of this book is that there is no dominant main character. There is a strong cast of “main” characters, several of whom are women, and all of whom drive the book forward. If forced to pick one, then it would be Wing Commander Robin Priestman, a former RAF Battle of Britain ace, now serving as Station Commander at the RAF station in the British Sector of Berlin. He’s in Berlin against his will and not favourably disposed toward Germans after months in a POW camp, but he’s politically savvy and quick to recognize the Soviet threat. He’s most comparable to historical figures like AVM Keith Park or Group Captain Leonard Cheshire.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’ve been writing fiction since second grade and my first non-fiction publication was my dissertation after completing my PhD.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
No, this is my 19th book — not counting three or four early titles that I’ve since pulled off the market.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I’m now retired, but I was a diplomat serving the United States in Africa and Europe.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Now that I’m retired, I spend eight hours a day, seven days a week writing and/or marketing my books.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part is having control over every aspect of the publication process – selecting projects, writing, editing, cover design, format, pricing, and timing. I’m always intensely frustrated with the slow pace of traditional publishing. My next non-fiction book, for example, will be released more than two years after I delivered a polished manuscript including images. I would have had it on the market in two months, if I had brought it out under my own imprint.
The hardest part is the marketing. All books I’ve published traditionally have benefitted from the extensive distribution networks and sales forces of the publisher. Traditional publishers can get the books into book-stores, libraries and more in a way that no ordinary indie-published author can.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Learn to love marketing! Learn how to do it and be willing to invest time and money in it. A good book, even a brilliant book, will be lost in the flood of publications (5,000 per day!) unless you are out there promoting it.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Yes, unless I had an urgent message that needed to be on the market sooner rather than later. If the book is not time-sensitive, then the advantage of a traditional publisher is sheer market reach. So, if I don’t have a book with an urgent message, I’d opt for reaching more people in the long run over fewer people sooner.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I am inspired to write by the stories I have inside me and by the characters who come to me. When characters ask me to be their voice, I find myself honored by their trust and so feel compelled to write. The goal is to create works of art that do justice to them and the messages they wish to convey.