The Orphans of Berlin pubs today by Jina Bacarr
November 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as romance', women's fiction, writing, WW2 historicalYes, it’s here! Pub day for The Orphans of Berlin.
I’ve been holding my breath for this moment… a long road… years in the making in a very personal way that made me cry as I write this.
Meet the Landau Sisters barely surviving in Nazi Germany… and Kay Alexander, the amazing debutante from Philadelphia who will stop at nothing to save them from the Nazis in 1939 Berlin…
And of course, there’s a British pilot hero to die for…
PS — in case you’re wondering about the items in the photo — cigarette case engraved with a map of the UK is a vintage piece like the one the hero gives to Kay, my heroine (I use it to keep stamps), and the cigarette holder is a prop I had from a play I did…
The string of pearls I’ve had since I was 16; chocolate pieces because Kay is a candy heiress and a Philadelphia deb — she was Debutante of the Year 1934. The photo is similar to what you’d see on the society pages in the 1930s announcing Kay’s ‘coming out’.
Any questions about The Orphans of Berlin? Be happy to answer them, so fire away!
Before I go, I want to thank our own Slice of Orange author Veronica Jorge for her 5 star review of The Orphans of Berlin. She’ll post it here on A Slice of Orange on November 22nd… so check back!
2 2 Read more‘The Orphans of Berlin’ is now on NetGalley by Jina Bacarr
October 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as Berlin, historical novels, NetGalley, WomensFiction, WW2
It’s always exciting when a new story you’ve labored over for months… and months finally makes its debut… like a Broadway show opening out of town.
Philadelphia has had its share of out-of-town openings, so it’s only fitting THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN with my Philly debutante heroine had its opening this weekend on NetGalley.
To celebrate, I pulled out memorabilia from Berlin… my red cloche hat and red leather driving gloves… Berlin postcards.
And three of my favorite dolls that I carried around in a special pink trunk when I was a kid every time we moved.
Doll friends I could hang with since I was always the new kid in school (I went to 15). I’d eventually make friends, but these 3 ‘sisters’ were always there for me as they are today when I introduce you to the three Landau Sisters during WW2, Jewish girls in danger when the Nazis come to power…
Rachel, Leah, and Tovah.
Through a twist of fate, their fate is changed forever by Kay Alexander, a candy heiress with a dark secret that haunts her. Kay has no idea what’s in store for her when she visits Berlin in 1937… once she meets the Landau family, she’ll do anything to help them survive.
I spent part of a summer in Berlin years ago, visiting the city’s museums and shopping on the Ku’Damm, but the most memorable part was visiting East Berlin before the wall came down. I remember what the hotel clerk told me when I asked him for directions to Checkpoint Charlie. ‘They’ve forgotten how to smile,’ he said. I didn’t understand then what he meant until I was lost in that world of gray between East and West like a lost shadow.
During WW2, the Landau Sisters also forget how to smile as their freedoms are slowly taken from them because they are Jewish. In The Orphans of Berlin, you’ll meet Rachel and watch her grow up during the 1930s until the day her parents make the hardest decision a family should never have to make.
To send her and her sisters away… so they may live.
But how? Will they survive? Where will they go? Find out in THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN.
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If you’re a book reviewer and you’d like to request an ARC here’s the NetGalley info:
THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN
US https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/270880
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PRE-ORDER NOW:
0 1 Read moreThe Orphans of Berlin cover reveal and that moment in proofreading that made me cry by Jina Bacarr
September 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category historical fiction, Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as Philadelphia, romance, writingWhat I’ve been up to…
@jinabacarrauthor A week in the life of an author can be crazy crazy #amwriting #amwritingromance #historytok #authorlife #writersoftiktok #booktok #authorsoftiktokr #historicalbooklover #booksthatmakeyoucry #amwritingromance #ameditingfiction
♬ original sound – Jina Bacarr Historical Author♥
Hey, everyone, I just had to share a moment with you… I was proofreading THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN (pulling an all-nighter) and the tears were flowing… I swear every time I get to certain sections of the story, it hits me.
I cry.
We writers spend days, weeks, months getting it right (or so we hope), then it moves through the system and we don’t see it for a while, then we get that final last look before it gets ready for you guys…
And it’s then we get to experience it as a reader. Wow…
You don’t think about the craziness of writing and rewriting and the intense research you’ve done to get there, you get caught up in the moment. Like a dance you’ve rehearsed and rehearsed and then the music starts and your feet don’t touch the ground… you’re flying!
I’m so excited to share this fabulous Boldwood Books cover here with you! This is a story of my heart… it takes place in Paris in the late 1930s and during WW2, Berlin… and Philadelphia. Yes, Philly… during the middle 1930s. We’ve got debutante balls, intrigue in Paris… Berlin when the Nazis came to power… and a hero to die for. And two heroines. Questions? Please ask me! I’m here and dying to share my story with you.
It’s a story about rescuing Jewish children on the French Kindertransport… children’s transport and three sisters who must leave Berlin before it’s too late… and the American woman determined to make that happen.
Thanks for listening…
Jina xx
A heartbreaking World War 2 novel that tells the story of two women’s fight for love, family and hope, as the world crumbles around them. Based on the true story of the Kindertransport rescue from Nazi-occupied Europe.
#TheOrphansofBerlin is out 10th November!
Pre-order now for $1.99 US and UK 99p:
Happy 3rd Birthday to my publisher Boldwood Books by Jina Bacarr
August 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as #Boldwood Books, #Historical, romance, writing@jinabacarrauthor Happy 3rd Birthday to #boldwoodbooks #booktok #boldwoodbirthday @bookandtonic
♬ original sound – Jina Bacarr
I was a shy kid growing up… glasses, pigtails, my nose in a book, but I came alive on stage. I think that’s because there I could be someone else who wasn’t always the ‘new kid’.
You see, I went to fifteen schools growing up.
But there was one thing constant in my life on every birthday no matter in which state we lived.
My mother’s butter vanilla cake.
Every birthday Mom made me a cake from scratch. Sometimes milk chocolate icing, or lemon or coconut , but always that soul-melty butter cake. Sweet but not too sweet, smooth, silky cake and dollops and gobs of yummy buttercream frosting.
So this year when my publisher BOLDWOOD BOOKS asked us authors to do a video to celebrate the phenomenal success of the company on their 3rd birthday, I so wanted to make Mom’s butter vanilla cake but–
For the past three weeks, I’ve been obsessed with finishing my next Paris/Berlin WW2 novel (many all-nighters) — handing in the manuscript, then working on the edits from the best editor a writer could ever have. Amazing lady who challenges me to write the best books I can. I’ve been with Nia Beynon from the beginning of my Boldwood Books’ journey and she’s the best.
I’m proud to say I’m the first American author they signed in 2019.
On this fab occasion, I want to wish Team Boldwood a very happy 3rd birthday!!
I hope you enjoy my birthday video — I shot the vid at my local fancy bakery…
And if you look close enough, you’ll see that little girl in an insert in the video… with glasses and pigtails wound on top of her head.
Jina
Paris 1940
The Lost Girl in Paris
My heroine, Angeline de Cadieux, is a Roma girl in WW2 Paris… she’s strong, fights in the Resistance… makes exquisite perfumes and comes up with an amazing marketing campaign during the war to boost morale in France.
Thank you!
The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris & her shocking secret…
CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08DNDHDG4
AU https://amazon.com.au/dp/B08DNDHDG4
The Runaway Girl
Once upon the ship of dreams… me dressed as a first class lady
Amazon:
HER LOST LOVE
0 0 Read more
Mothers and Daughters theme for my next Paris WW2 novel… how the dynamic shapes us growing up by Jina Bacarr
July 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as daughters, historical fiction, Mothers, Paris, women's fiction
When I was a little girl about six, I lived with my Irish grandmother when my mom was away doing amazing things… I thought she was a princess doing good deeds because I heard from my grandmum about the ‘people she helped’ and saw her wearing beautiful dresses in the pictures she brought home.
Ah, yes… my grandmum loved to spin stories about how my mom was the spitting image of her grandmother, an English lady of the realm who fell in love with an Irish rogue and ran away from home with him.
My mother was a model.
The people she ‘helped’ were the ladies in the audience.
And the dresses I saw were designs she wore for shows.
And the part about English royalty? My grandmum swore it was true, her eyes sparkling as she mixed up Irish potato pancakes (boxty, my favorites) and I believed it.
Because what little girl doesn’t want to believe her mom is a royal lady?
I still don’t know if the story is true, though my Great-Aunt Marie swore it was… and since she was a pious lady who lived her life as a lay sister among the nuns, who’s going to dispute it?
So what does this have to do with my upcoming Paris WW2 book?
It’s about the dynamics of how we see our mothers and how it shapes us growing up. My mum taught me to be a ‘lady’ and look for the good in everyone and never be selfish if we had extra cake or leftover pot roast and share it with someone who needed it. Since Mom was a great cook, she never lacked for takers.
My mom became the inspiration for the German girl’s ‘Mutti’ in my story. Kindness, understanding… and also the model for the American heiress’s mom… Philadelphia society with an Irish lineage.
Mothers and Daughters… a quilt rich with history and ideas… highs and lows… sorrows and sighs. But in the end, they’re our mothers and God bless them.
Jina —————–
Mom and me
————–
My next Paris WW2 book will be released in Fall 2022. More info coming!
Till then…
check out my Paris WW2 novels:
Paris 1940
The Lost Girl in Paris
My heroine, Angeline de Cadieux, is a Roma girl in WW2 Paris… she’s strong, fights in the Resistance… makes exquisite perfumes and comes up with an amazing marketing campaign during the war to boost morale in France.
Thank you!
The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris & her shocking secret…
CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08DNDHDG4
AU https://amazon.com.au/dp/B08DNDHDG4
0 0 Read more
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