The chandelier resonated with marching boots on the parade ground. The salon walls shook as heavy vehicles rumbled onto the quay.
The author buried his head in his hands. “I can’t create in this din.”
“How about,” the brigadier-general suggested, “we toss a corpse into the sea, pockets stuffed with secret plans for an invasion at Calais?”
“You don’t understand fiction do you?” the author said in withering tones. “The enemy will see through that in a second. We need to misdirect them from the Normandy denouement, sprinkle-in clues so readers are forced to work out the Calais conclusion themselves.”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. This one is a belated 75th anniversary tribute, of course, to the unsung heroes of D-Day You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Reminds me a bit of the media for some reason.
Well written.
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The deception involved in misdirecting the Germans about the location of the D-Day landings was indeed a bit like the media
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What a clever brigadier general. I love this.
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Actually, the brigadier general’s suggestion was also used in the real D-Day preparations
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I knew about the deception but was wondering if really an author was involved. 🙂
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I think the author was my own invention
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Good to know. 😀
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Good advice to every aspiring author. I keep reminding myself of the need for the reader to do some of the work if the story is to be credible and interesting.
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He was, of course, authoring a piece of statecraft
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Yep! Same advice, though, whether it’s statecraft or Mills and Boon.
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That’s a smart author.
Ready for the best-seller!
Three Musketeers – Anita
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I think D-Day will wow them
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Haha haha oh I totally understand the frustration ! Great piece Neil
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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The truth is sometimes better than fiction.
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But often less believable
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I love the idea of a writer being recruited as a strategist. We definitely think differently.
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And almost everything we believe we know is a story
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he made a good point. 🙂
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He did indeed. Nobody knows how to lie better than an author
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Dear Neil,
Lovely tribute from the author. Always let the reader work things out. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Especially when the reader is the enemy
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I attended a lecture on the ‘body in the sea’ strategy quite recently. The pains they went to in order to convince the enemy… a bit like plot construction/misdirection these days.
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The plotting around the misdirection for D-Day (including inflatable tanks and planes to fool German aerial surveillance) was masterful
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A timely piece indeed. Excellent Neil
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Thanks so much, Keith
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The military had a better idea than the writer. Their plan was the one used for D-Day. I enjoyed the humor, Neil. 😀 — Suzanne
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In fact, the body in the sea was only one of many deceptions involving fake armies, double agents, fictional troop movements
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I absolutely love this, Neil. I can only imagine the strategizing involved in these matters. They are very much like creating plots in a story, aren’t they?
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Thanks so much, Dale, It seems it was exactly like that
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Loved the story – the way it has story writing hints within the story within a real life historical event is most satisfying. Helpful advice, as I’m learning how to write short stories.
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Thanks so much
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Loved it! My characters talk to me all the time…LOL!
~Donna
https://authorshutterbug.wordpress.com/
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Thanks so much, Donna
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Clearly, the beginning of earliest James Bond novel. Military Inteligence and Counter Inteligence follow the winding garden path. Loved it.
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Thanks so much, James.
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Sometimes writing is a lonely job.
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And sometimes it goes unremarked
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And sometimes there are great rewards. Like the satisfaction of writing and fans who appreciate us.
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In the case of my character, his work was secret and he was denied fans
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That’s too bad. Do hope he’s satisfied with his work.
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Who better to create elaborate lies than an author? 🙂
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Quite so
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I like weaving truth with fiction. It gives a grounding to the story.
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Thanks so much, Jade. All the best lies should be based on truth
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You are welcome, and agreed.
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I love how you involved a writer in this. Who else could be clever and deal with every plot point with anxiety?
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I’m about to read a history of this deception to see whether indeed any of the spymasters had a grounding in literature
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I think that people who went to university in the 20’s/30’s tended to have more of a Renaissance education than current students do so I suspect they might have devoured literature.
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That might be true, but I’d assume only the same percentage as now would have skills in writing the stuff
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Really? My feeling is that creative writing skills have waned. Even writing skills have waned. Students these days seem to be more specialized. I only say this because I have to proof the writing of scientists. lol
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Ah. Scientists’ writing. I blame the odd editorial strictures of scientific journals for that.
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They certainly don’t like using articles. I realize that this may not be totally relevant, but I think I read that Ian Fleming was a spy during WWII. I doubt he had anything to do with D-Day, but I thought it interesting.
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He certainly wasn’t part of the deception network of spies, who were mostly German double agents
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Writing a fiction in the middle of a raging battle! Another effort at disinformation!
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Exactly
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Any misdirection too obvious will never be believed… there is a trick in doing those so the enemy think they are the clever ones.
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Exactly
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What a clever take on this prompt! And it made me think of today’s American media, which is expert at dropping subtle and/or outrageous “hints’ that misdirect us to where they want us to be. Interesting.
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Thanks so much, Linda
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A great take on major events, Neil. Fascinating to imagine the big wigs bashing out these plans, drafting their plots, as it were
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Thanks so much, Lynn
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My pleasure 🙂
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Perhaps the classic example of the truth being stranger than fiction, you can’t make it up, except they did and it worked
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I don’t think they employed a scriptwriter, but the rest of it, yes
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Absolutely!
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Thanks, Dawn
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