"Parade of the Dead" a drawing by Kārlis Smīltens

"Parade of the Dead" by Latvian Legionnaire Corporate Kārlis Smīltens

Kārlis Smīltens, de facto war artist of the Latvian Legion, aka Uncle Karl to some of us, has been a primary inspiration for my fictional stories set in WW2 Latvia. He created "Parade of the Dead" and many of his other haunting works in the mid-1940s, while still processing his experiences on the Eastern Front as a very young man.

Kārlis Smīltens, St. Helena Island

Often writers work with illustrators, who bring stories to life visually. For me, the process has unfolded in reverse. I look at Smīltens' art and wonder, what the heck did he see/remember/survive to have come up with this? Then I spin from there.

In literary terms, this is a form of ekphrasis: writing inspired by visual art. Traditionally, ekphrastic writing describes or responds to a painting or sculpture, but in my case the artwork becomes a portal into character and plot.

Smīltens’ imagery doesn’t merely illustrate history—it provokes a story.

One of those stories became my upcoming historical murder mystery, Parade of the Dead, named after the above drawing.

Do you think that's too glum a title?

Perhaps.

But 1941 Riga was not a cheerful place.