Why did I choose to write about the Air Transport Auxiliary in Sisters at War?

The ATA was a civilian organisation that flew all manner of airplanes from the wartime factories to the bases for the boys in blue to fly – in defence of our country in the 2^nd World War.

One of the women who flew those planes was my cousin, Maureen. To join the ATA, women pilots needed a minimum of 500 hours solo flying – twice that of a man. Sigh… I wanted to write about her, and all the other girls like her.

In early 1942 Maureen and her sister travelled from their home in Argentina on a neutral Argentine-registered ship and while her sister joined the BBC, Maureen joined the ATA, one of a total of 164 female pilots to do so. She probably flew 38 types of aircraft, including Spitfires, Mustangs and bombers. Once the canopy of her Spitfire cockpit blew off after take off and on another occasion she had to put down in a field after the engine of her airplane failed in the air.

My cousin became a cover girl for Picture Post when photographed pushing her hair out of her face after she left the cockpit of her aircraft. She was a shy person, and that wouldn’t have necessarily pleased her.

At the end of the war, she qualified as a flying instructor at RAF Luton, before returning to Argentina. There she instructed pilots and flew for the Argentine Air Force and also worked as a commercial pilot. Finally, married with two children, she moved toNorfolk to breed Arab horses..

Maureen survived the war though several of her friends did not. My father, a fighter pilot, admired Maureen enormously, and all the ATA pilots, who flew unarmed, in appalling conditions, and without complaint. I wanted to wrap a character around her, her courage and ethics. Hence Bryony in Sisters at War.

I rather fear her irritating sister, Hannah, was me as an adolescent but we’ll keep that quiet.

The other character I absolutely loved, was the evacuee Cissie. I have a need to put an inspirational child into my books. Is it because I have four children and have to keep on nurturing youngsters, and perhaps make fewer mistakes? Who knows – my mum always said that the one certain thing is that you always feel you could have done better. The child is invariably there, a central character, one around which things happen, and who grows, and challenges, develops,  and enhances the lives of grown-ups. Then there’s the bloke, or blokes…

Who knows how the trawlers were utilised in the war? Not many of you, I bet. I didn’t until a friend, Tracy Baines, told me about her grandfather. Well, the trawlers became armed, and took on convoy protection, minesweeping and heaven knows what. They were the bravest of the brave and were ignored after the war. They didn’t, and don’t, deserve that. They deserve recognition. My book isn’t enough, not nearly, but it’s something, and what a great bunch of men they were, and are.

So, my books have history, setting, a girl, a bloke, some romance, a child who heals, an irritation, and from that anyone can weave a story. Try it and see.

Milly Adams has agreed to write a series of articles to help you write your own novels. Keep an eye on Frost Magazine and learn how to write your own bestseller.