Lori Haggard was transcribing her father’s memories from 23 years in the Navy when she heard one story she wanted to write herself.
It was swim call on U.S.S. Caloosahatchee, a Navy ship based in Norfolk, Virginia. This required jumping 50 feet into the water below. The ship’s chaplain, Harvey Ranard, Haggard’s father, was asked to go first.
Haggard wrote the story for a writing class she was taking in college, and it later evolved into her capstone project for her English degree, which she submitted for publication.
“I wanted to share some of the things a chaplain does that most people would never realize,” she said. “The story includes surprising details about some of the things chaplains do. You don’t see this stuff on TV.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]She said she hopes to turn more of her father’s memoirs into stories in the future and continue to interview him.
“His military service has provided me the opportunity to attend college and pursue a writing career,” she said.
Ranard served as a Navy chaplain for 23 years before retiring to Brown County in 2008.
Haggard is currently a full-time, nontraditional student at Indiana University Purdue University Columbus. She is on the dean’s list there and plans to graduate in 2018 with bachelor’s degrees in English and psychology. She also tutors IUPUC students and does some acting on the side, she said.
“The Chaplain’s Call,” Haggard’s short story, was published by O-Dark-Thirty, an online veterans’ writing project. It is under her father’s name, since the event is true and is his story. Haggard is credited as the actual author in the biography section at the end.
The story is free to read online at o-dark-thirty.org/2017/08/13/the-chaplains-call.
Haggard is currently working on her first full-length novel, a psychological thriller involving murder and government conspiracy.
Q: Have you written any other books?
A: I have written other short stories, mostly fiction. Some of my poetry and my short story, “Chance,” have been published in “Talking Leaves,” the IUPUC writers’ publication. “Chance” is about a homeless girl struggling with the ethics of stealing as she tries to keep custody of her baby. My short story, “A Cat Named Lucy,” a sort of ghost tale about a cat and a missing neighbor, won the Liars Bench Tall Tale Tell-off here in Brown County in 2012. My first complete psychological fiction short story, “The Lock Home,” won the Traylor Creative Writing contest and scholarship in 2016. Set in 1860s Boston, “The Lock Home” is about a journalist who interviews the owner of an insane asylum only to find his own sanity unraveling as his past comes back to haunt him.
Q: What are your connections to Brown County?
A: Demaree Barnes, my maternal great-grandfather, was the local blacksmith in Helmsburg from the 1920s to the 1950s. Demaree’s uncle is the famous “Wash” from the Mary and Wash Barnes tale often told in Brown County. Demaree and his wife, Hazel, lived in Helmsburg where they raised their children, including my grandmother.
My grandma graduated from Brown County High School in 1944. She and my grandfather were married at Unity Baptist Church in Spearsville in 1950. Grandma currently lives in Greenwood.
A lot of my family has been active at Unity for nearly a century. My parents, Ed and Barb Ranard, live in Fruitdale. My father, the subject of the short story, has filled the pulpit at Unity many times as interim or a guest preacher. My husband, Mike, and I were married at Unity in 2001 where my dad officiated.
We moved to the county in 2005 and built a house where we live now. All three of my kids graduated from Brown County High School and two still live in the county.
Q: What’s your writing ritual? In what environment do you work best?
A: I must be alone to write. As a night owl, I do a lot of my writing after everyone else has gone to bed. I take notes whenever inspiration strikes me, usually when I am driving. I have a voice app as well as a notepad in the car. I have been known to pull over to scribble fervently into my notebook.
I write mostly on my laptop and keep every draft, every cut (and backups of backups). On paper, I make timelines, plots, outlines or character sketches.
Life is the best inspiration and I am deliberately observant. Many of my characters are based on random encounters with strangers. Occasionally, my inspiration comes from my often-bizarre dreams, as was the case with “The Lock Home.”
I am a member of the Scribbler’s writing club in Columbus with wonderful people who offer honest feedback. Sometimes I run my stuff by my daughter, Jo, who is a great source of ideas as well.
Q: What’s the last book you read? Do you have a favorite?
A: I am currently reading “Game of Thrones: A Storm of Swords” by George R.R. Martin. It’s the third book in the series. Sometimes I have to read the popular stuff to see what it’s all about. My favorite author is Garth Nix, an inspiration for the fantasy elements in my writing. I especially love “The Old Kingdom” series he wrote. It is a unique tale of magic and necromancers.
A second-favorite author would be Sue Monk Kidd, an inspiration for the historical and cultural elements in my writing. Her characterizations are amazing. She authored “The Secret Life of Bees” and “The Mermaid Chair.”
