I Remember the Sixties

Kath here.  Please welcome guest poster and suspense author Libby Fischer Hellmann to Writer Unboxed once again.  Libby’s latest novel is a departure from her contemporary-set thrillers.  In her new release SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE she decided to delve into her past and write a book based on her personal experiences.  We asked her to share how she took a moment in her life and instead of writing a memoire, create a story from it.  Enjoy!

I remember the Sixties.

1968 in particular. That was the turning point in my political  “coming of age.” I was in college in Philadelphia on April 4^th when Martin Luther King was assassinated. I watched as riots consumed the inner cities. I was saddened and disappointed — as a teenager growing up in Washington DC, I’d gone to plenty of concerts at the Howard theater where blacks and whites rocked together with Motown artists. In a young idealistic fashion, I believed we were moving towards a color-blind society. So the frustration and rage expressed through the riots were – in a way– confusing.

 Two months later I understood. My college boyfriend had been tapped to head up the national “Youth for Bobby Kennedy” program. I was excited, and I planned on dropping out for a semester to work with him. I was home for the summer and, for some reason, couldn’t sleep the night of June 5^th. I turned on my radio. Bobby had been shot just after winning the California Democratic primary. He died the next day. So much for the Youth for Kennedy campaign.

 Sorrow gave way to bitterness. The country was falling apart. Over the years some of our brightest lights had been snuffed out. Internationally our government seemed to be supporting the “bad guys.” And underlying it all was an unwinnable war that – perversely —  was escalating and risking the lives of my peers. I began to question why I should work through the system, especially when the system didn’t seem to be working for us.

 I wasn’t alone. Plenty of others yearned for change. Fundamental change that would rebuild our society and culture. The next few years, starting with the Democratic Convention that August, were tumultuous and volatile, but in the final analysis, we failed. Maybe the task was impossible — how many Utopias really exist?

 Sure, there were cultural shifts. But political change, in the sense of what to expect from our leaders and our government? Not so much. In the end, the era left me with unresolved questions. What should we have done differently? Are all progressive movements doomed to fail? Was the violence necessary, as some thought at the time?

 At this point you’re probably wondering what this has to do with writing a thriller. And you’d be right. It’s never been my intention to write a political screed. I am a storyteller whose stories, hopefully, you can’t put down. I realized that if I was going to write about the Sixties, I needed a premise that would hook readers in the present, regardless of how much they know or remembered about the Sixties.

 I found that premise in a film. Do you remember SIGNS, starring Mel Gibson? It came out in 2002, and I thought the first half was the most riveting film I’d ever seen. Gibson’s family is being stalked, but they don’t know who and they don’t know why. The second half of the film, when viewers discover it’s just your garden variety aliens, was an enormous let down. Putting a face, an identity, on fear reduces its power. But NOT knowing who’s targeting you — or why — is the most frightening thing I can imagine.

 So that’s what happens to Lila Hilliard, a thirty-something professional who’s come home to Chicago for the holidays. Someone has killed her family, and now they’re after her. She has no idea who or why. As she desperately tries to figure it out, she finds wisps of clues that lead back to her parents’ activities forty years ago. In the process she discovers that her parents were not the people she thought.

 The relationship between the past and present, the consequences of events that occurred years ago fascinate me (I was a history major in college). I also love stories that plunge characters into danger and make them draw on resources they didn’t know they had.  SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE was the way to combine all those elements into what I hope is an adrenaline-fueled thriller.

 Writing the book paid an unexpected dividend. The process turned out to be an exorcism of sorts, a way to make peace with the past. I enjoyed reliving the past and bringing the characters to life. But I loved putting them behind me even more. I’m not sure why, but I’m no longer plagued by the Sixties. I suppose I’m finally ready to move on.

 I hope you enjoy the read.

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE is available everywhere.

Guest

Many thanks to today’s guest.

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