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I think (I hope!) it's going to be great to be back! "Maypops in September" has gone through several incarnations  and actually was read in full by a couple of pretty impressive agents. Who then rejected it. Lol! And I'm not willing to stick with my 1st publisher, so it's back to the drawing board for me.

Oh Max, so sorry! Sending hugs and prayers your way.

What?! Elizabeth George is American? Wow, how does she keep that British accent so consistent? Lol! I get in trouble if I try to leave the midwest. Around here - and for sure in the emergency services - a "jumper" refers to someone about to take a leap off the local river bridge,(of course in the middle of the night!) and "pissed" is us when we have to go fish them out. 

Good news, Jack!! Congrats! 

Hi Gacela! I like Kenny's version best! The font is much more eye catching and the sunglasses are a great added touch.

Hi Jack! Just saw this, thanks so much!   If you could use my author name, Lucy Crowe, it would be much appreciated.

Ohmygosh, Madison!!!! Yaaaaayy! I am doing a happy dance for you! HUGE CONGRATS! I am running right over to Amazon this second!

Hey, what's going on with all the "generic" reviews? I've had a couple like this.

I suffered through Dickens and Shakespeare in high school, and did it again with all three of my kids. Wow, how to put children off reading forever! Have to agree with Janet - Steinbeck is some of the most gorgeous writing ever, and Charlaine Harris - well, she is just fun. Not exactly awe-inspiring, but entertaining as can be.

Ooooooh, a favorite subject of mine!! Small town departments are still mostly volunteer, although a lot - the two I work for included - have gone to paid EMS. Numbers were better in the 50s, because more people worked in the same little town where they lived, and most places of employment would allow the firemen to go when the whistle blew. In our town, in the 50s, with a population of 1000, we had around 40 volunteers. There were no bunker pants back then! Just long, long coats and high boots. Pumper trucks, as Allen said - and most firemen will tell you they can remember riding on the back and holding on. (We don't do that anymore!) Also, rural departments would have run tankers (big trucks with tanks holding water) to get enough water to the fire. Ours, today, hold 3000 gallons, but I really don't know what they would have had in the 50s. Anyway, since there are no hydrants in the country, a tanker shuttles water to the fire, where it dumps into a port-a-tank (picture a small swimming pool, holding, again, around 3000 gallons). Your pumper is committed, then, to drafting water from the port-a-tank and onto the fire. The tanker runs back to town and fills up again at a hydrant.
Mutual aid is essential! All the little towns help each other.
House fires were actually easier to put out in the 50s because houses were mostly made of the old lathe and plaster, which would smolder forever and took a long time to burn. Firemen were safer at this sort of housefire, as well, because there were not as many toxic materials. Today's construction burns more quickly, and the smoke is far more toxic. 
There probably wouldn't be any females on the fire department in the 50s, lol. I'm pretty sure it was kind of a good old boys club. Depending on your department - and especially your chief, lol - it wouldn't have been uncommon for the station to keep beer on hand and the guys would maybe even have a couple after a meeting. And smoke! Wow, I can remember our meeting room filled with cigarette smoke, worse than a tavern - and this was long past the 50s!
Fund raisers were, and still are, a big part of any small town fire department. Each town is kind of known for their unique specialty - chili supper, pancake breakfast, hog roast, etc. These are big community events, and probably even more so back in the day.
Okay, I could go on about this forever, lol! I'll quit now - hope this helps!

Ah God, Max, I thank God every day that I don't have to write to eat - I would quickly starve, lol.