Five Reasons to Write About Friendship by Miss Jack Lewis Baillot and Brothers-In-Arms

Please welcome Miss Jack Lewis Baillot! (Comments in italics are mine.)





Five Reasons to Write about Friendship!
By Miss Jack Lewis Baillot




I have to be honest, this post took me a long time to write. I couldn't seem to come up with the right ideas for it, (writing about five reasons why it is a good idea to write about friendships.) I tried and tried but kept getting stuck on only one point. Therefore, since I couldn't move past it I decided to write about my one reason. So here I am, guest posting on Tyrean's blog, with a post which took me about a month to figure out.


It's awesome, Jack!!! I believe you have five reasons inside your one reason, so I just put them in bold. I hope that's okay. :) (comment by Tyrean)

Friendships are important

The more I read or watch things the more I realize how often friendships are overlooked, or how often friendships in stories are forced to be made into something else.

A lot of stories now tend to be romantic ones. I've even noticed this with series which start out with good friendship stories, but because of how some of the mindset is now, by the end it is turned into something else. (Example, I know of quite a few newer series were good friendships were ruined because the author threw in gay references.)


I feel as if we live in a time when friendships and the importance of them are overlooked and undermined. There is a lot going on in our world right now, especially in America. I'm sure I don't have to go into details. Basically, a lot of the youth are being forced to question their friendships and if they might be something more. Because of issues happening the different kinds of love we can have for each other are blended together and now there is little difference between the love of friends and romantic love. If two friends love each other it is made to be something more.

I have best friends, friends I rely on and who help me through the hard times in my life. Friends I love dearly. I feel no romantic love for either friend, but another special love. They are like sisters and we share a close bond.

I believe friendships are important to not only youth but also adults. If someone is blessed with the love of a spouse or boyfriend/ girlfriend I don't mean to sound as if I undermine that love. It is special and wonderful. But through my own struggles and life I have come to realize just how invaluable true friends are. And I feel as if it is now made to be viewed as more important if one has romance in their lives. It seems as if fewer and fewer even understand what a friendship is. It is assumed now that if two people are close and share any kind of special bond they must share romantic feelings for each other.

The more I read, the more TV shows or movies I watch, the more I want to show everyone just what it means to have a friend and to be a friend. I know without my best friends I would not be where I am at right now, which is a good place. And maybe if everyone looks hard enough in their lives they can find the same kind of blessing as I have.

Never ever overlook or forget the importance of a friend.    
     

   
    
Can a Jew and a Nazi survive Hitler's Germany?

Franz Kappel and Japhet Buchanan never expected their friendship to be tested by the Third Reich. Friends from early childhood, the boys form an inseparable, brotherly bond. Growing up in a little German village, they escape most of the struggles of war until the day Japhet is banished from school for being a Jew, and later has a rib broken when other village boys beat him up. Franz learns he is putting himself in danger for spending so much time with Japhet but continues to stand up for his Jewish friend even at the risk to himself. Then one day their lives are shattered when they see first-hand that the price of being a Jew is dangerously high. 

With the war now on their doorsteps, Franz and Japhet come up with a desperate plan to save their families and get them out of Germany alive. Leaving behind the lives they've always known, they move into Berlin with nothing to protect them but forged papers and each other. Convinced their friendship can keep them going, the boys try and make a new life for themselves while trying to keep their true identities and Japhet's heritage a secret. Taking his best friend's safety upon himself, Franz joins the Nazis in an attempt to get valuable information. At the same time, Japhet joins the Jewish Resistance, neither friend telling the other of their new occupations.

With everyone in their world telling them a Nazi and a Jew can't be friends, it is only a matter of time before they believe all the lies themselves, until neither is certain if they are fighting against a race of people or fighting for their homeland. Somehow they have to survive the horrors of World War II, even when all of Germany seems to be against them.







Author Bio
Jack is one of those strange people who calls herself an Author. She spends a lot of her time writing and even less time editing. She likes to write about friendships which is partly how Brothers-in-Arms came to be. More than ten years in the making, this is the book she dreaded the most writing, but which also has the most meaning for her.
When Jack isn't writing, which doesn't happen too often, she keeps busy with various other hobbies – such as reading, playing the bagpipes to the dread of her neighbors, and drinking tea – which might not be considered a hobby by most but which should be.
She lives in a cabin in the woods with her dog and a library which isn't quite equal to Prince Adam's but will be given enough time and a secret doorway.


Contact Info
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JackLBaillot
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JackLBaillot
Goodreads -  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5862775.Jack_Lewis_Baillot
Blog – http://www.jacklewisbaillot.com/  


Goodreads link -  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24703965-brothers-in-arms
Brothers-in-Arms Pintrest Page - https://www.pinterest.com/jackbaillot/brothers-in-arms/
And, although I do want this post to be mainly all about Jack and friendship, I just wanted to mention that there's been some great canoe and kayak regattas this week with the ParaCanoe World Championships in Germany and the PanAmerican Regatta in Gainesville, GA (still going on through Saturday). Three athletes from my hometown are representing Team USA at those events. 
Here's a pic of Ziggy Norberg (Danzig Norberg) racing into the lead in his semi-final in Germany:



    
The PanAmerican Regatta doesn't appear to have a video system working, but I know that one athlete from our team took 5th place in the Junior C1 1000m final with a 4:09 time. 
One more of my daughters' teammates will race on Saturday. 
So, it's been an exciting week to cheer on friends!