Twyla & the Warbirds: Family Lost
by T.W. Bellen
November 26-29
Illustrated historical fiction, 228 pages.
Book One of the Twyla & the Warbirds saga, Family Lost, traces a difficult path for an American-Ukrainian rural girl from Boonville California.
At a tender age, Twyla Campbell loses her family in a freak aeroplane accident. Her young life is salvaged from indenture by the neighbor boy, who teaches her to fly.
Stationed in Honolulu with her fiancé, she narrowly escapes certain death while flying above Pearl Harbor. Twyla lucks into a slot with the W.A.S.P., women’s ferry pilots training program in Texas, where “the girls” have no business in the Army Air Force. Twyla transports fighter planes to Alaska for Roosevelt.
There, she befriends Marina, a Russian pilot with indefatigable courage and odd sense of humor.
When tragedy strikes, Twyla boards a transport home, only to find herself arrested on the Eastern Front and scheduled for execution…
Universal link for the book on Amazon
About the Author
Character and story have captivated T.W. since the age of five. T.W. has been a writer and filmmaker for 30 years. He co-wrote TURRET, a WWII thriller in development now. As cinematographer and co-producer, T.W,’s short film, GETTING HER is currently screening in film festivals around the world, and collecting many awards.
T.W. is a California College of Art graduate, with a degree in film/drawing and art history. When not writing, T.W. works much like a carny in Los Angeles, New York and Northern California, as a Director of Photography in television.
Lately, T.W. filmed Amazon’s AS WE SEE IT, HBO’s Emmy wining comedy,
VEEP, GOOD GIRLS, RISE and ABOUT A BOY for UNIVERSAL/NBC. Most
recently, T.W. could be found in NYC on Apple TV’s series DEAR EDWARD
(based on the book).
Lifelong student of history and aviation, T.W. grew up on Naval bases, at
Kwajalein, Honolulu and China Lake, California. T.W.’s father would take him and his brother to airshows every season where they marveled at the likes of Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager and the new crop of aeronautical designers. T.W. has flown in several WWII era airplanes. In 2003, he was at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina for the 100th anniversary of powered flight with a motion picture camera in hand.
The badass women of aviation have fascinated T.W. for 25 years.
