a lot can happen on the upper deck of the forty-four.

[Copyright © 2014] In 1943, Charlotte Truly is a nineteen-year-old American nurse serving in World War II. The oldest of four daughters, Charlotte is mostly a shy and reserved girl who keeps to herself. But when Charlotte meets William McCaden, an injured soldier on leave whom she'd briefly met when she was seventeen, she finds herself falling inexplicably in love. When Will is shipped overseas to Nazi-occupied France to fight in a deadly combat mission, Charlotte and Will have only their letters to keep each other close... but in the midst of war, how can love possibly survive? ----- DISCLAIMER: This work was written when I, Raine the author, was 14 years old (circa 2014) and is a FIRST DRAFT. Certain aspects of this story are highly problematic and should rightfully be called out. Please do bear in mind, however, that the entirety of what you see here was written (unedited) by a 14-year-old girl. Now, I as a 20-year-old writing student am fully aware of my mistakes and would like to apologize profusely for them. They are not reflective of my present character by any means and I can assure you that I FULLY condemn the slut-shaming, misogyny, white saviorism, racism, and the general oversimplification of vastly complex themes and historical contexts you might see in Yours Truly (2014). As much as I would like to chalk it all up to being a sign of the times (the very backwards 1940s), I understand now how I should have handled this particular time period with more tact and discretion. Especially with how I recklessly portrayed the horrific racial climate of the 1940s American South. Again, I am very sorry and can wholeheartedly promise you that any later drafts of Yours Truly would 100% rework all of these themes and contexts with the utmost of consideration towards the communities they affect directly. Thank you. -Raine, Feb. 11/2021

Winter, 1917. Dorothy never really thought that war would take her older brother, but like so many others before him, Ian enlisted and departed Canada in khaki, leaving Dorothy to care for the youngest Gaston, Charlie. The return of her employer's son eats away at Dorothy: why should he, the rich man's son, the spoiled brat, be back home sleeping in his bed while her brother sleeps in the muck somewhere in France or Belgium? Robbie Monroe isn't the brat who ran off for a great adventure. Nearly deaf in one ear and deeply lonely, he is a man struggling to put his life back together after his time "over there," and Dorothy seems to be the only one he can talk to. She doesn't want to trust him but she can't help it, and Dorothy soon finds herself with something she didn't realize she desperately needed: a friend. Before the war's end, fate has one final reminder for Dorothy that happy endings don't always happen in real life, no matter how much she tells herself they can. Set in in the weeks before the 1917 Halifax Explosion, Shadows May Fall is a non-traditional World War I romance.

Forged In Fire is the true story of a young girl's childhood in pre-WW II Tokyo; her schoolgirl dreams; the violence, starvation and desperation of wartime that drove her family out of the city; and the American Occupation that shaped Japan's future. It is the story of my mother, Rita (then named Tomoko), who was ten years old when World War II began and fourteen years old when it ended. Mom had often recounted her experiences to me and my siblings as we were growing up. At some point, Mom began urging us to write down her stories for her. I finally got around to honoring her request early last year (2014). Using audio recordings, notes, frequent phone calls and plenty of fact-checking, I eventually placed into chronological order the various fragments of her memories. On one hand, it is a young girl's story, told plainly. On the other hand, it is a remarkable glimpse into one of history's most tumultuous events - one not widely known. Mom was later diagnosed with cancer in July 2014 and eventually passed away at the age of 83 in August. Although severely weakened from her illness, she was happy and proud to hold a rough draft of the printed manuscript in her hands. It was her final wish that her story be published and so here it begins....

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION In 1955, mixed-race Ethan Harper leaves his progressive hometown for a summer in Alabama where he's not welcome, except by resident free spirit, Juniper Jones. ***** After getting himself into a bout of trouble, 16-year-old Ethan Harper's parents send him to Ellison, Alabama, to live with his aunt and uncle for the summer. But the year is 1955, and Alabama is a far cry from his beloved home of Arcadia, Washington. As much as it's hotter in temperature, it's colder in every other way, and Ethan learns the hard way that people see his mere existence as a threat. Amidst all the mayhem, a fiery, free-spirited, oddball walks into Ethan's life. Her name is Juniper Jones. She is the first person in Ellison who seems unfazed by their racial differences, and she promises to give Ethan a summer he will always remember, filled with endless adventure and discovery. With Juniper, Ethan can breathe, he can be, despite the incessant attention and bullying their newly formed friendship attracts. Can the two survive the summer, run in the light and block out the noise of the outside world? [Published version comes out June 16, 2020 with Wattpad Books!] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

OK, all these stories are History homework - yup, handed in and marked and all. What can I say, I'm a history geek!