HOLDING in his hand the proof book of his debut adult novel entitled ‘Ironic Cross’, Coffs Harbour author Bruce Meder says it is his major writing achievement.

What led to Bruce putting pen to paper was a ‘what if?’ thought Bruce remembers well.

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“An historic incident in my own family is the spark, but it’s not the story,” Bruce told News Of The Area.

Bruce then began digging and uncovering fascinating parts of forgotten history.

“What I found interesting is every hour I spent writing, I spent five hours researching.

“I was fascinated to come across the 1915 International Congress of Women (during WWI), a gathering of 1,200 women from both sides of the war, coming together in The Hague (Holland) for a three-day convention discussing: How to Stop the War and Maintain Peace, and Voting for Women.

“They put out a document of their 20 resolutions; when I found that I was staggered I’d never heard of it before…it is little known.

“If we’d accepted the resolutions then we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.

“I’ve always loved research; I enjoy the process.”

A lifelong book lover, Bruce says his father taught him to read and his mother taught him to write.

“I was brought up seeing Dad reading three-to-four library books a week and Mum writing.”

Another milestone in brewing his pipeline to publishing was a friend giving him a leather-bound book with blank pages, with the gifter saying, “For you to write, because you need to.”

With Rainbow Juice, his blog about community development, community education, social justice, eco-psychology and eco-spirituality, born and blossoming, Bruce began penning books.

He has two self-published fictional books and now Ironic Cross is about to spin off the presses and will hit the bookshops in November.

The synopsis begins in 1868 with another European war threatening.

Successful businessman, Wilhelm Müller, has a painful decision to make.

His only son, 14-year-old Martin, must flee Germany before Napoleon declares war.

Martin is distraught.

How can he leave his beloved younger sister, Elizabetha, behind?

In 1917 – with Europe at war, it’s no surprise that Kurt Schneidder, Elizabetha’s son, is conscripted as a sniper into the German army; he has always been a crack shot.

Martin’s sons, meanwhile, have enlisted in the New Zealand Tunnellers and find themselves digging beneath German lines in Northern France.

In the aftermath of the war to end all wars, inflicted wounds are not always physical, nor are they short lived.

Amidst irony and futility, can unknown and concealed wounds ever be healed?

By Andrea FERRARI