Author and longtime Windham resident Charles J. Pickelhaupt will give a talk about his novel, “One Week of Romance and Murder,” at the Windham Public Library at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18.
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| Longtime Windham resident and author Charles J. Pickelhaupt will appear at the Windham Public Library at 6 p.m.. Wednesday March 18 to discuss his noir fiction novel 'One Week of Romance and Murder." COURTESY PHOTO |
The book, which was published in 2023, is the first in a trilogy, with the second installment being written currently. It is a noir fiction book, following seven days in the journey of World War II and United States Army Air Force veteran David Gardiner as he works to rejoin society in 1946 and falls in love. However, his trajectory is altered when a murder in Boston brings a detective into his life.
“It’s a guy who’s a former pilot trying to make his way through life. He’s 30 years old and he’s had numerous affairs with women but is looking for something more solid, and he finds it,” Pickelhaupt explained, saying that bringing the detective and the main character together “is the crux of the story.”
Noir fiction, which features heavier storylines and more gritty details than a mystery book, appealed to Pickelhaupt, as movies from the same genre are particular favorites. The time period was also selected because of the state of post-war America.
“I am a fan of 1940 noir movies, like Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart,” he said. “I think it’s a fascinating time, when America was together, for the most part.”
The book was a sudden revelation made one Sunday afternoon in 2022 while watching television, the author said, and the first three chapters were written by hand the same day his inspiration hit.
“This idea popped into my head. ‘Oh my god, I want to write a noir novel, with a hard-nosed detective or soldier or something,” he said. “I went to our office, grabbed some paper and all afternoon, I wrote three chapters.”
The entire process of writing the more than 120,000-word novel took about a year, as it was all written longhand before being transcribed slowly into a computer, and Pickelhaupt admits, “I’m not a typist.”
“I was very much aided by my wife, as far as spelling goes,” he said, praising his wife Nancy for her guidance in engaging technology to help his writing, in addition to her continued encouragement. “I would say ‘how do you spell this’, and she would say ‘doesn’t your spell check work?’”
He says that, “you have to get reasonably close in spelling for spell check to have it pop up.”
The sense of accomplishment has been the best part of the writing process for the novel, as it was an unexpected goal in Pickelhaupt’s life.
“The best part of writing a book is accomplishing something I never thought I would,” he said. “I never in my whole life said, ‘I’m going to write a book.” But somehow, that Sunday afternoon, I started writing a couple of chapters and I said, ‘by God, I’m going to do this. And it developed. As you start writing a book, you start out with some ideas and then you enlarge it and add detail.”
Some of the details in the book are particularly familiar to the author, as his father was a member of the Air Force, working as an electrician on B-17 bombers, which are also known as “Flying Fortresses” in North Africa and Italy. Pickelhaupt also spent time in his childhood moving through Air Force establishments in Germany, Italy and England before returning to the United States. His father was also stationed in Detroit, giving Pickelhaupt personal insight into the city that he used in the pages of the novel.
“I know Detroit, I know Michigan. It’s my home state,” he said, noting that his hometown is Port Huron, Michigan. “Detroit is a big city, and a lot of people were gathering there at that point.”
“And I wanted to get them out of Maine,” Pickelhaupt said.
The author, however, made it to Maine and never looked back, as he met his wife of 56 years while his father was stationed at Dow Air Force Base, located in Bangor before closing in 1968. The pair have two children, Charles and Kathryn, and five grandchildren.
“My son and his wife have encouraged me to reach out to the world,” Pickelhaupt explained, saying that he is hoping to give talks at the Gorham Public Library and possibly some senior facilities in the area.
“One Week of Romance and Murder” is available for purchase on Amazon. Copies will also be available for purchase during Pickelhaupt’s presentation at the Windham Library. <
The book was a sudden revelation made one Sunday afternoon in 2022 while watching television, the author said, and the first three chapters were written by hand the same day his inspiration hit.
“This idea popped into my head. ‘Oh my god, I want to write a noir novel, with a hard-nosed detective or soldier or something,” he said. “I went to our office, grabbed some paper and all afternoon, I wrote three chapters.”
The entire process of writing the more than 120,000-word novel took about a year, as it was all written longhand before being transcribed slowly into a computer, and Pickelhaupt admits, “I’m not a typist.”
“I was very much aided by my wife, as far as spelling goes,” he said, praising his wife Nancy for her guidance in engaging technology to help his writing, in addition to her continued encouragement. “I would say ‘how do you spell this’, and she would say ‘doesn’t your spell check work?’”
He says that, “you have to get reasonably close in spelling for spell check to have it pop up.”
The sense of accomplishment has been the best part of the writing process for the novel, as it was an unexpected goal in Pickelhaupt’s life.
“The best part of writing a book is accomplishing something I never thought I would,” he said. “I never in my whole life said, ‘I’m going to write a book.” But somehow, that Sunday afternoon, I started writing a couple of chapters and I said, ‘by God, I’m going to do this. And it developed. As you start writing a book, you start out with some ideas and then you enlarge it and add detail.”
Some of the details in the book are particularly familiar to the author, as his father was a member of the Air Force, working as an electrician on B-17 bombers, which are also known as “Flying Fortresses” in North Africa and Italy. Pickelhaupt also spent time in his childhood moving through Air Force establishments in Germany, Italy and England before returning to the United States. His father was also stationed in Detroit, giving Pickelhaupt personal insight into the city that he used in the pages of the novel.
“I know Detroit, I know Michigan. It’s my home state,” he said, noting that his hometown is Port Huron, Michigan. “Detroit is a big city, and a lot of people were gathering there at that point.”
“And I wanted to get them out of Maine,” Pickelhaupt said.
The author, however, made it to Maine and never looked back, as he met his wife of 56 years while his father was stationed at Dow Air Force Base, located in Bangor before closing in 1968. The pair have two children, Charles and Kathryn, and five grandchildren.
“My son and his wife have encouraged me to reach out to the world,” Pickelhaupt explained, saying that he is hoping to give talks at the Gorham Public Library and possibly some senior facilities in the area.
“One Week of Romance and Murder” is available for purchase on Amazon. Copies will also be available for purchase during Pickelhaupt’s presentation at the Windham Library. <
