The Origin Story of AN OCEAN BETWEEN

Blog 4 – 06/05/2025    The Origin Story of An Ocean Between

After the final words of The Infidel and the Ghost of Moscow, I was no longer sure I wanted to write another novel. Creating a novel is challenging work, and writing is only part of it. There’s research, editing, fact checking, revising, more editing, more revising—it takes a toll. I began the first novel with a vision that spanned the entire Second World War as the backdrop for my love story, and I imagined a trilogy. But after The Infidel and the Ghost of Moscow, I wasn’t sure I could go through it all a second time, let alone a third. However, I had written notes for the second novel while writing the first, and I ended my first effort as though the story would continue.

Our country had found its way into the war. My hero, Russ, was on a ship in the middle of an ocean heading into the unknown. His fiancée, Piper, was alone in a distant land. His first love, Rhonda, remained on the frozen steppe of Russia with the power of the Nazi Third Reich pointed in her direction. I realized I couldn’t abandon my people to their fates. I needed to see what happened to them. So, I got to work.

My second novel, An Ocean Between, opens with Allied morale in decline. The Nazi blitzkrieg rains terror on England. Germany occupies most of Europe. The Japanese juggernaut steamrolls across the Pacific. Russ, Rhonda, and Piper live separate lives on distant continents. Penetration of the plot to assassinate Hitler. Leaks at the super-secret project at Los Alamos. Mental health deterioration. Risky covert intelligence operations. Infatuations. Betrayals. Loneliness. Despair.

Once I began An Ocean Between, my fingers itched to continue the Russ and Rhonda Trilogy. My second novel concluded with hope for a successful end to the war. My characters looked to the future, as did I.

This time I knew for certain: the end of An Ocean Between was not the end of the tale.