Engineer Battalion (Const) in Vietnam War

This weekend I did a lot of Vietnam War research, particularly regarding the engineer battalions that were sent over there and the projects they worked on. I have my husband's stories for my novel, Family Secrets, but I wanted to flesh them out a little by getting the "bigger picture".

Served in U.S. Army Co. D 84th Engineer Battalion (Construction) 1967-68

Actually, what prompted me is I ran across the coffee can in which my husband had stored his original DD-214, patches and ribbons from his army service. My husband is not a coffee-drinker. But, coffee cans are among his all-time favorite containers for storing items, especially in his shop, which is where I found this little jewel.

Unfortunately, you can see from the back of his DD-214 (which I used as the backdrop) and some of the ribbons, not all his war memorabilia stored well in the coffee can.

It was interesting to learn more about engineers, the role they play in the military in general, and about his unit in particular during the Vietnam War. I will eventually mount these items in a shadow box for display in my living room along with the framed memorabilia I have from my father's WWII experience. But for now -- well -- except for the DD-214 that is in a plastic sleeve, they are still in that coffee can (in the house, not the shop).

Non-Epilogue

Today was not a writing day -- it was a Daughters of Utah Pioneers day -- but I managed to get in some writing.

I wrote the final chapter of the book. It's a shorty. No, I am not finished with the book, yet. I still have four heavy-duty chapters to go. I wrote the conclusion now because I want see where each of my three story lines need to end up.

My Webster's Desk Dictionary defines epilogue as it applies to a written work (as opposed to a speech) as follows: 1. a concluding part added to a literary work.

I often read novels with epilogues. An epilogue may tell the consequences of the main story either in the time period immediately following the end, or it may tell what happens decades later. It's kind of like, the story is over now, folks, but just so we don't leave you hanging, we'll tell you how things turned out for the characters in the long run.

The last chapter I just wrote is not an epilogue. There are no concluding parts to add so the reader knows what happened to the characters after the story is over because this novel is only a segment of a larger story. Therefore, for my final chapter, I only needed to tie up a few loose ends.

Title Shuffle

Not only am I willing to shuffle the chapters around if I decide it will help the story flow better, I am not above shuffling around titles.

GOFTS is going to be plain ol' GOFT. These ladies are not really a society, just a group of friends. At best, they are a club. So, I am taking the "S" off the title of this group and adding it to.....

Family Secrets. I have been fighting the urge to change the name of this novel from a singular "secret" to the plural for quite some time. I finally decided to listen to my subconscious on this one. There is the one big secret, but it is surrounded by other little secrets which, as they are revealed, help Jennie deal with her personal issue that she is keeping secret as much as possible.

The third title shuffle is the name of the series. This was the Jennie Graves series. Instead, they are going to be the Golden Oaks series. Yes, I intend to keep Jennie and her family among the predominant cast of characters in future books. However, I think by shifting the focus of the series to the community, I can broaden the options for future books.

After all, the GOFT ladies (or "goofy ladies", as their family members like to tease them) are an interesting bunch. Each of them is unique. Focusing on one or the other of the members of this group occasionally could keep future plots interesting.

Correction: GOFTS

Correction:  The acronym for the name of the local group in the make-believe central California city of Golden Oaks, home of Jennie Graves and her family, has been changed to GOFTS. That is because this acronym now stands for Golden Oaks Family Ties Society.

No, this change does not make the acronym for the club's name easier to remember or pronounce. If anything, it is more awkward. However, I decided I liked the revised long version of the club/society name better. It is more descriptive of the objective of the group of women who meet once a month to share presentations on a multitude of disciplines, give advice and moral support to each other in order to -- yes, you guessed it -- strengthen family ties.

Whether it is GOFFS or GOFTS, their families teasingly give them the nickname of goofs or goofy ladies.

Every family needs at least one goofy lady like the women in GOFTS.