Believe me, I agonized over this more than once. But when I started this series, it was with one underlying premise: there can only be one croie in a Callaghan man’s lifetime. For Jack it was, and always will be, Kathleen.
I suppose I could have written him a new love interest. Not another croie, but someone who loved him and cared for him. I even tried, several times. But each time, I hit a dead end, and after a while I came to realize that it was because Jack didn’t want that.
Some of you are rolling your eyes, I know. I’m the author, right? I can make my characters do whatever I want. Technically, that’s true. But it wouldn’t be right. It’s hard to explain why without sounding like a nutcase, but I spend so much time with these characters that they almost become real, 3-dimensional people in my mind. If I listen carefully enough, I can hear their thoughts, see their reactions. Every time I attempt to force them into doing something that isn’t “natural” for them, I hit major writer’s block.
And maybe, just maybe, there’s a part of me that believes in a love so true, so pure, that nothing can ever replace it.
So there you go. Jack’s happy with the way his story came out. Hopefully you are, too.
This story, like all the others before it, is fiction. These people and places exist only in my imagination and the imaginations of you, the reader. But inevitably, I draw upon my own life experiences to shape what happens, and in Forever Mine, I’ve included mention of some real events, too.
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The Vietnam War: Some of the places and battles referenced in this story are real; however, not everything is historically accurate in terms of U.S. involvement, units, movements, and engagements. I created scenes for the purpose of Jack’s story.
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Hurricane Agnes: The 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood was a real event. I know, I lived through it. I was only seven years old at the time, but I still remember scrambling up the nearby culm (anthracite coal dust) bank with my dad, looking down into the valley where the local shopping center was with a pair of binoculars. I could see the occasional church steeple poking up out of the fast-running, muddy waters, and the tops of some trees, but that’s about all.
Massive Army helicopters were constantly coming and going, landing in the field just beyond our backyard. The nearby elementary school – the one I attended – had been turned into an emergency evacuation center. My dad, an avid fisherman, put on his hip-waders and used his bass boat to help rescue people that lived on the bottom of our steeply-inclined street, those for whom the water level had risen far more quickly than anyone had predicted. My mom, an OR nurse, was called to the school to administer vaccinations to those exposed to the filthy, disease-infested waters and to perform triage.
More than forty years later, I still get chills thinking about it.
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Heart Disease: Jack’s struggle with heart disease hit especially close to home for me. Over the last ten years, I’ve found myself sitting in surgical waiting rooms and step-down units while my father underwent angioplasties, catheters, a quintuple bypass, and got a pacemaker. To all of the surgeons, nurses, and techs that take care of our loved ones during those very scary times, I’d just like to say, Thank you.
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The Molly Maguires: Also real. If you have any Irish ancestry and live in the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania, then chances are, you have heard the whispered stories of the secret society of poor immigrant activists who lashed out against the mine owners of the latter 19th century. To this day, they are spoken of in hushed tones, if at all, in public. The identities of many long since passed are known only to a few, their names still whispered down from generation to generation.
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So, there you go. If you’re wondering if I plan on writing more about the Callaghans in the future, the answer is an unequivocal YES! I’ve still got Nick Milligan, Brian and Colleen McCain, and Taser waiting to tell me their stories. And I’m pretty sure there will be some Callaghan family escapades as well.
Until then,
Go raibh míle maith agat
Abbie
If you liked this book...
... then you might be interested in my Connelly Cousins series. Across the river from Pine Ridge is a little town called Birch Falls where Celina, Johnny, and Michael Connelly live. (You may remember them from their cameo appearances in the Callaghan Brothers books).
They’re not SEALs, but they are hot and sexy, and include a bad boy biker, a construction worker, and an Army Ranger. Like the Callaghans, their stories are based on finding and keeping their croies, those fated for them and them alone.
Check out this excerpt from Celia: Connelly Cousins, Book 1: