Take advantage of my publisher’s #BlackHistoryMonth flash sale - Something in Madness ebook edition only $2.99 today only from Open Road Media! Paperback also available.
In Something in Madness…The Civil War comes to an end as the South—and the hopes of freedpeople—buckle under Reconstruction in this “powerful saga of ongoing strife” (Midwest Book Review).
Find Something in Madness at numerous outlets.
I’m thrilled to announce that New York prestige publisher Open Road Media has acquired my four novels — The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts and Something in Madness (DarkHorse Trilogy), as well as the first in my David Greenberg mystery/thriller series, The Antiquities Dealer.
All are available in new ebook and print editions, and can be ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo.
You can find book summaries and links on Open Road’s website — as well as on my site.
As a reminder...
· The Lies That Bind, the first book in my Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy, begins in antebellum Mississippi, where a swindler and a group of runaway slaves fight against an evil plantation owner’s legacy.
· In Book 2, Honor Among Outcasts, the Civil War rages as the group risks their lives for freedom in war-torn Missouri.
· The trilogy ends with Something in Madness, as the South — and the hopes of freedpeople — buckle under an oppressive Reconstruction.
· The Antiquities Dealer thriller, set in St. Louis and Israel, is filled with religious fanaticism, deception, manipulation, blackmail and coercion.
I’m honored to be among Open Road’s a long list of fiction and non-fiction authors. I highly recommend signing up for Open Road’s Early Bird Books Newsletter. You’ll receive announcements of special deals, including free and discounted books from some of your favorite authors.
Happy reading!
I’m thrilled to announce that Something in Madness, depicting the harsh realities of Southern life for freedmen during early Reconstruction, was just named a finalist in the 2021 American Fiction Awards Adventure-Historical category. The contest was sponsored by American Book Fest.
My sincere thanks go to American Book Fest for recognizing this Reconstruction-era, socially relevant work of fiction.
“The 2021 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States,” notes Jeffrey Keen, president and CEO of American Book Fest. “Our success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise.”
American Book Fest is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community. A complete list of the winners and finalists of the 2021 American Fiction Awards are available online at American Book Fest.
Ed Protzel is the author of the Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy (The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts, Something in Madness), and sci-fi thriller The Antiquities Dealer. A graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in English, Ed lives in St. Louis.
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or order from your local bookstore.
###
Contact:
Ed Protzel, ed.protzel@att.net
TouchPoint Press, (662) 595-4192; media@touchpointpress.com
I’m thrilled that Something in Madness has garnered such wonderful early reviews (below), consistently noting its social relevance. The novel, recently released in paperback and eBook editions by TouchPoint Press, brings to a close my Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or can be ordered from your local bookstore (refer to ISBN is 978-1-952816-10-9). It was written as a stand-alone, as well as the gripping conclusion to the DarkHorse Trilogy.
Abolitionist Durksen Hurst and three black friends return home to a devastated Mississippi, the sole survivors of a Union colored cavalry regiment. But instead of peace, they find unregenerate Confederates who reject emancipation still in charge. Undeterred, Durk opens a law practice to help disenfranchised freedmen — only to be threatened by powerful planters and nightriders. A black school is burned; a petition march to Jackson is terrorized. And when one of his friends goes missing, Durk is horrified to discover Black Codes being used to force freedmen into brutal servitude. Clever Durk schemes to liberate them, but must contend with armed ruffians — and a rigged court system. Will fire and bullets prevail?
Preview Something in Madness here.
Find all three books in the DarkHorse Trilogy here.
“Despite the dark forces at work in Something in Madness, it is ultimately a tale of hope and determination against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is also a timely tale for these troubled times in our divided nation.”
- Terry Baker Mulligan, award-winning author of Sugar Hill and Afterlife in Harlem
“Something in Madness offers invaluable lessons on the real roots of modern racial strife....The result is an engrossing story not just for historical fiction readers, but for anyone who would better understand the roots of modern racism and the choices and impact it brings to all sides of the equation.”
- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer at Midwest Book Review
“...a tense and gripping venture into the post-civil war South,” noting it “...has a wonderfully unique voice and chromatic characterization for all of its characters which really brings the story off the page.”
- Thomas Anderson, Literary Titan, 5-Stars
My publisher, TouchPoint Press, will be running a giveaway on Goodreads soon, offering 10 Kindle copies of Something in Madness. Watch for details.
In December, I’ll be interviewed on The Suspense Zone website and giving away a signed paperback copy of Something in Madness. Although the novel is packed with suspense, revelations, mysteries and plot twists — and some serious, socially relevant social issues — I’ll try not to spoil the surprises during the interview! Info here.
I spent a week in October discussing my research of the Reconstruction period (time frame of Something in Madness) with these two groups. One participant from each won a drawing for a paperback copy of the novel. If you’re a fan of American history, I encourage you to join these group(s). You’ll discover some great novels and learn more about American history:
· American Historical Novels Facebook Group.
· American Historical Novels Goodreads Group.
In “Bestowing Justice Through Fiction” for Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog, I talk about my DarkHorse Trilogy and why I find the South such a fertile landscape for fiction writers. Find it here.
In “My Approach to Moving Readers’ Hearts and Minds Through Historical Fiction,” my contribution to Kathy L. Brown’s Historical Fiction Storytelling blog, I reflect on Something in Madness’s relevance to the social upheaval being shown daily on the news — and, more importantly, its universal themes. Find it here.
I’ll announce further details on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
I’m thrilled to announce the release of my newest novel, SOMETHING IN MADNESS, available in paperback and eBook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The book can also be ordered from your local bookstore; just refer to ISBN # 978-1-952816-10-9. It was written a stand-alone work, as well as the gripping conclusion to my DarkHorse Trilogy.
Terry Baker Mulligan, author of Sugar Hill, described the novel as: “...ultimately a tale of hope and determination against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is also a timely tale for these troubled times in our divided nation.”
And Midwest Book Review’s D. Donovan called it: “...an engrossing story not just for historical fiction readers, but for anyone who would better understand the roots of modern racism and the choices and impact it brings to all sides of the equation.”
Here’s a brief story summary: 1865 Mississippi. Abolitionist Durksen Hurst and three black friends return home to a devastated Mississippi, the sole survivors of a Union colored cavalry regiment. But instead of peace, they find unregenerate Confederates who reject emancipation still in charge. Undeterred, Durk opens a law practice to help disenfranchised freedmen — only to be threatened by powerful planters and nightriders. A black school is burned; a petition march to Jackson is terrorized. And when one of his friends goes missing, Durk is horrified to discover Black Codes being used to force freedmen into brutal servitude. Clever Durk schemes to liberate them, but must contend with armed ruffians — and a rigged court system. Will fire and bullets prevail?
Keep in touch. Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.
- Ed Protzel
I’m thrilled to announce the Oct. 23 release of Something in Madness, the final book in my Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy. The book will be available in print and ebook formats.
You can preorder the Kindle edition now on Amazon.
1865 Mississippi, early Reconstruction:
Abolitionist Durksen Hurst and three black friends return home to a devastated Mississippi, the sole survivors of a Union colored cavalry regiment. But instead of peace, they find unregenerate Confederates who reject emancipation still in charge. Undeterred, Durk opens a law practice to help disenfranchised freedmen — only to be threatened by powerful planters and nightriders. A black school is burned; a petition march to Jackson is terrorized. And when one of his friends goes missing, Durk is horrified to discover Black Codes being used to force freedmen into brutal servitude. Clever Durk schemes to liberate them, but must contend with armed ruffians — and a rigged court system. Will fire and bullets prevail?
I utilized real events and attitudes from the era, as well as varied points of view — black, white, mixed-race, Native American, male and female — to ground both the characters and the story in reality. Sadly, the reverberations of such issues still echo today. But hope for a better future is strong in the human spirit, and that’s what I wanted to convey in writing the trilogy.
- Ed
Something in Madness can be read as a stand-alone novel or as the satisfying conclusion to books 1 and 2 of the DarkHorse Trilogy, The Lies That Bind and Honor Among Outcasts.
Connect with Ed on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and LinkedIn.
Given that May is Get Caught Reading Month, a nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read, my publisher has joined in the effort by making available the Kindle editions of its authors’ titles during May for only 99¢ ea.
So, take this special opportunity to escape into worlds filled with intrigue, suspense, hardship — and hope — by ordering your Kindle edition of THE LIES THAT BIND and HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS (Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy, books 1 and 2), and THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER (suspense/thriller) for only 99¢ ea. Print copies of all three, plus audiobook of The Antiquities Dealer also available.
(Note that book 3 of the DarkHorse Trilogy, SOMETHING IN MADNESS, will be released late in 2020.)
Go to Amazon and order yours now!
October — I’ll be giving away an autographed print copy of The Antiquities Dealer. The contest is being sponsored by The Suspense Zone website. It will run throughout October and the winner will be drawn after that. To enter, just visit http://www.thesuspensezone.com/contests by Oct. 31. Of course, the book can always be ordered (print, Kindle or audiobook) at: http://bit.ly/TheAntiquitiesDealer
The website will post an interview on Oct. 14. That link will be: http://www.thesuspensezone.com/ed-protzel-interview-3 /
In November — Copies of my three novels will be available at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival’s bookstore, Nov. 3-15: The Antiquities Dealer, The Lies That Bind and Honor Among Outcasts. Try to stop by. Proceeds profit the JCC.
Late-2019 or early 2020 — I expect the release of Something in Madness (DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 3), which takes place in rural Mississippi during Reconstruction when freedmen faced black codes, violence and intimidation at every turn. If you haven’t yet read books 1 and 2, now would be a great time to do so! If you have, I think you’ll be satisfied about the way the DarkHorse journey wraps up. I’ll announce the release date asap!
Each Friday will pose questions in a different category:
• March 1: Name the Mythology
• March 8: Translate the Yiddish
• March 15: Translate the Hebrew
• March 22: Decode the Clue
• March 29: Name that Tune/Line
Instructions will be posted each Friday in March on The Antiquities Dealer Facebook page. The person who submits the most correct answers will win a paperback copy direct from the publisher. In case of a tie, the winner will be drawn by the publisher and announced the following Monday of each week.
If you haven’t already done so, you can “Like” the page now by clicking here.
Good luck!
At 11:10 (CT), I’ll be joining the Historical for the Holidays Book Tour on Facebook for a 20-minute discussion of my DarkHorse Trilogy. I’ll be one of over 40 historical fiction authors taking part throughout the day (until 7 pm CT). If you’re a historical fiction fan, I guarantee you’ll discover some great books for yourself or to give as gifts. There will be comments and giveaways.
Find the event at: http://www.edprotzel.com/new-events-1/2018/12/12/passages-to-the-past-historical-for-the-holidays-book-tour
Then from 4:30 to 4:50 pm (CT), I’ll be interviewed live on Authors on the Air. For info, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/2192500537447008/
If you miss it, you can catch the podcast at any time thereafter at: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair
I just learned from my publisher that The Antiquities Dealer will be available as an audio book this spring on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes! I’ll let everyone know when it’s out.
Take care and enjoy this holiday season!
Ed
With “Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” the theme of the March 2018 Women’s History Month, I thought it fitting to give credit to two of the female characters in my DarkHorse Trilogy—Antoinette DuVallier and Marie Brussard French —and the pivotal roles they play in the story lines of all three books: The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts, and soon Something in Madness.
As I was writing the novels, I consciously tried to balance the importance of the female and male roles, but when pressed, I’ll usually identify Durksen Hurst as the protagonist. And certainly, the trilogy revolves around Durk, a flawed yet inventive man who befriends a group of former slaves during a chance encounter in the swamps of Mississippi, as told in The Lies That Bind. They subsequently follow him to Missouri to fight for the Union (Honor Among Outcasts), and return home with him to Mississippi during Reconstruction (Something in Madness).
By Durk’s side through all these travels has been his love, Antoinette DuVallier, a complex, smart and savvy sophisticate from New Orleans, hardly the demure, stereotypical “Southern belle.” Would any of Durk’s ideas have flowered without Antoinette’s wisdom, guidance, and gumption? Is she the glue that holds the trilogy together?
Antoinette DuVallier, as the author imagines her
Does this sound like another case of the “woman behind the man,” with the man getting all the glory? I tried not to fall into that old trap. Writing Antoinette within the context of history, though, I had to make her a woman of her time, yet with depth and dimension, who had the courage to stand her ground, to fight for what was important to her, to persist, as so many women did, and do, without acknowledgement.
Mrs. Marie Brussard French, as the author imagines her
Of course, every heroine needs a nemesis and the character of Mrs. Marie Brussard French could not be more fitting. As the matriarch who controls her family estate, as well as the economy of the entire town, Mrs. French is smart and shrewd when it comes to finance, although less so in her personal life, as Antoinette learns to her horror.
In fact, Mrs. French is the character who adds the Southern Gothic hot sauce to The Lies That Bind. She’s a complicated woman who leaves you asking, is she evil or is she tragic? Can one be both?
So who is the protagonist of the DarkHorse Trilogy? Maybe that’s that the wrong question? For, as one person does not define a family, a government, or a company, can one protagonist define a novel? Or does the DarkHorse Trilogy revolve around its women, who, like actual women throughout history, had the gumption to stand up and fight for what they wanted? No easy task in 1860s America, and no easy task still.
More over, Durk, and make room for the women!
If you're in St. Louis on Thurs., May 10, plan to stop by Subterranean Books in the Delmar Loop at 7 pm, where I'll be presenting "Civil War Missouri: Facts + Fiction," giving background about the history and reading excerpts from Honor Among Outcasts (DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 2).
I’m proud to announce the release today of HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS, the second book in my Civil War-era DarkHorse Trilogy centering on the unorthodox friendship between a Southern abolitionist and a group of escaped slaves.
Set amid the bloody Missouri-Kansas guerrilla war of 1863, HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS takes you on a pulse-pounding journey of desperate men and women caught up in the merciless forces of hatred and fear that tear worlds apart—and affirms the healing power of friendship and love to bring them together.
If you enjoy journeying to the past through fiction, stories depicting actual events, and inspirational tales that will touch your heart, you’ll relish the adventure that awaits in HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS — a great read as a stand-alone novel or as part of the DarkHorse Trilogy.
What brought this unusual group to Missouri in the first place? Read THE LIES THAT BIND, Book 1 of the DarkHorse Trilogy, and find out. A Readers' Favorite!
And stay tuned for SOMETHING IN MADNESS, the final book in the trilogy, set in Mississippi during Reconstruction.
THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER, a futuristic thriller about antiquities dealer David Greenberg, who is drawn into a conspiracy by an ancient Israeli society to clone the great minds of history — beginning with Jesus Christ — think Hitchcock meets Dan Brown, with a dash of Michael Creighton!
I'm thrilled to announce that TouchPoint Press will be publishing my newest novel, The Antiquities Dealer, a noir, futuristic mystery/thriller hybrid in which human evolution, millennium religious movements, and biotechnology collide in a cauldron boiling with deeply existential ironies. The book is planned for release in 2018.
The story takes you from St. Louis to Jerusalem and back again:
When Miriam Solomon, the love of David Greenberg’s life, phones him at his antiquities gallery in St. Louis, the black hole at the center of his heart shudders. Twenty years earlier, Miriam had inexplicably run off to Israel with his best friend, Solly, a brilliant but nerdy young scientist. Now she tells David that Solly has committed suicide and she needs his aid on a secret research project Solly left unfinished: to acquire the one remaining nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. Is she telling the truth? And why does that nail have such significance?
Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo., honors black soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
With controversies over Civil War and Confederate monuments and statues continuing in the news, I thought it timely to reflect on my experience researching some of the heroes, events and places in Missouri that inspired my upcoming historical novel, Honor Among Outcasts: DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 2.
A particularly moving and historically important site is the Soldiers’ Memorial at Lincoln University, a historically black college founded by the veterans of the 62nd and 65th U. S. Colored Infantry in 1866 to educate blacks after the Civil War.
Just off Missouri Highway 63 in Jefferson City, the state capitol, a visit to the campus of lovely modern university buildings, peopled by a vibrant student body, takes you suddenly and jarringly into a troubled, yet hopeful, time of immense challenges to a people recently freed from generations of subjugation and abasement.
Arriving late-morning, I first stopped at the school’s large ROTC facility seeking directions to the plaza, as students in workout clothing were engaged in strenuous exercise in strict formation, ignoring the summer heat, preparing to serve the nation that the school’s founders so nobly gave their last full measure of devotion to preserve.
Approaching Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo.
Starting up the steps toward the plaza, I found myself passing two isolated bronze-cast Union Colored Infantry soldiers trudging toward the memorial, weary from battle, carrying their backpacks and rifles, their faces and bodies reflecting the hardship and danger they’d experienced. It was an eerie feeling.
Lifting a fellow soldier up to freedom, Soldiers' Memorial, Lincoln University
Continuing, I glanced up and my heartbeat accelerated when I spotted the frieze on the south side of the pedestal depicting a line of marching black Union infantry. Atop the pedestal were four unarmed, uniformed black soldiers: the two standing in front offering books, while another stands behind them. In a dramatic twist, the fourth soldier on the pedestal is kneeling down to lift the lead soldier in the frieze up onto the pedestal. Their hands and arms are locked tightly together: one soldier helping to lift another up to freedom, citizenship and learning! This moving depiction put a lump in my throat; it told the story better than thousands of word could ever hope to.
Museum of Missouri Military History, Jefferson City, Mo.
Prior to emancipation on Jan. 1, 1863, blacks in Missouri and elsewhere had been barred by law from learning to read and write. Of course, some free blacks were well-educated. And there was some surreptitious learning by bondsmen and -women, a dangerous business for Missouri’s 150,000 slaves, most of whom toiled near the Missouri River that cuts the state roughly in half. The war changed all that.
Over 100,000 black servicemen fought bravely for the United States during the war, hoping to free their people and preserve the Union. Of course, their primary motivation was personal freedom, which military service granted, a farsighted policy of President Abraham Lincoln. But another major incentive to enlist was the chance to learn to read and write, offered by the abolitionists of the American Missionary Association who taught blacks at their regimental schools — a story not widely told.
Yes, black soldiers fought for their freedom and for the country where they were born; but we should remember that they were fighting for the right of every person to fulfill his or her potential as human beings.
By the time the war ended (technically), the nation’s impoverished black population, following generations of debasing enslavement, was hungering for knowledge, a significant addendum to our great national epic. The newly freed people believed that only through learning could they avoid being re-enslaved and that learning would also open the doors to prosperity and full citizenship for themselves and for their children.
Adding to their sacrifice, black infantrymen were paid less than whites. When the Union began accepting black soldiers, the military only paid black soldiers $7 a month, while white soldiers received $13. There was an attempted strike by black troops in the East to protest this inequality, but the leading black sergeant was hung, and it took an act of Congress in 1864 to grant equal pay to blacks, who faced such challenges stoically and bravely. You can find full details at the National Archives.
Educator James Milton Turner, Boonville, Mo.
Another significant memorial I found was in Boonville, which promotes several nearby historical Civil War sites, mainly skirmishes and raids. But I was captivated by a memorial in Morgan Street Park just off Main Street, which among the visages of the town’s early luminaries, including George Caleb Bingham, stands a bust of black educator James Milton Turner.
Born into slavery in St. Louis County in 1839, James Milton Turner founded a remarkable 52 schools for black citizens after the Civil War. In their desire to be educated, even as desperate as their economic situation was, post-war blacks founded and taught at their own schools — and taxed themselves to support them. (One former Confederate, none too pleased by the development, complained black schools were “springing up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.”) The bust of James Milton Turner is modest; yet his legacy is profound, far-reaching.
Yes, the Civil War was perilous for blacks, but the peace was no less threatening, nor less deadly. I was heartened to find such respectful tributes to those black citizens of Central Missouri who suffered and sacrificed for a more perfect Union.
* Drawing inspiration from Missouri’s 62nd and 65th U. S. Colored Infantry, Honor Among Outcasts features the fictional Missouri State Militia 9th Colored Cavalry, the DarkHorse Regiment, outcasts all, who proudly and honorably serve their country. The DarkHorse troops also get entangled in the black-white pay discrepancy, but in an ironic and humorous plot twist, which I won’t divulge here.
* Quantrill’s 1863 Massacre of Lawrence (Kansas), where 400 Confederate guerrillas/bushwhackers actually burned the town and slaughtered its male citizens.
Painting by George Caleb Bingham showing the destructive General Order No. 11 at The State Historical Society of Missouri, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
* The Union’s General Order No. 11. In Honor Among Outcasts, four black members of the fictional 9th MSMCC, attempting to protect a pro-secession family from being murdered by corrupt Union troops, risk death by defying orders. The infamous Order 11 actually wiped out four entire counties to clear them of pro-Confederate citizens and supplies against any potential Southern invasion.
* And in 2018, fiction will again follow fact in the final novel of my DarkHorse Trilogy, Something in Madness, when former slave and Union veteran Big Josh Tyler (inspired by the likes of James Milton Turner) returns to Mississippi during Reconstruction determined to form a school for blacks, but is confronted by the Southern Black Codes and deadly “Gun Clubs.”
Illustrating the "happy slave" myth.
Some of the myths (falsehoods) sown by Southern planters—and cultivated from the antebellum period and Reconstruction to Jim Crow—stubbornly cling to some perceptions of this pivotal upheaval in American history. These include the myth of the "happy" slave and the "benevolent" master, and the notion that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, but over states’ rights and secession. These are specious arguments.
What states wanted was the right to own slaves!
Still an emotional and controversial issue 150 years after the Civil War, the movement to remove Confederate war symbols (monuments, statues, as well as flags) from our public places, thankfully, has grown, reawakening passions and awareness of what these symbols mean and the reasons behind them, and creating front page news from South Carolina to Texas. [The New York Times: “Calls to Drop Confederate Emblems Spread Nationwide.”]
Monument moved from Forest Park in St. Louis to the Missouri Civil War Museum at Jefferson Barracks.
Nothing could be a better barometer of times a-changin’ than here in Missouri, technically a Union state during the war, but with strong Confederate leanings. Recently in St. Louis, moving a Confederate war memorial from the city’s Forest Park to the Missouri Civil War Museum at Jefferson Barracks, an active military post during the Civil War, drew some outrage, with one letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch claiming: “over fifty thousand blacks fought for the Confederacy. “ [The St. Louis American, U.S. News & World Report]
This is nonsense.
The truth is, with the war lost, Gen. Robert E. Lee attempted to have the Confederacy draft slaves to fight the Union, offering them freedom in return for their service. This proposal, however, drove Confederate state legislatures into an uproar, one prominent senator declaring: “If we allow this, the war has had no point.” [Daily Beast]
Was maintaining racial superiority more important than victory?
Historically, on a rare occasion when a black Confederate company was formed and marched through a town, they were hardly met with cheers and roses. Rather, citizens actually threw rocks at them. Black Confederate soldiers never did get into battle, although there was some shooting: more a warning “don’t come this way” than an actual battle.
On the other hand, over 100,000 black soldiers and sailors, including many free blacks, did fight for the Union to free their people and to established their full manhood in the country in which they were born.
![A great book on the trials and challenges of black Union soldiers is A Grand Army of Black Men, Edited by Edwin S. Redkey. [See MELUS article.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/547bb19fe4b0ab191e9b7993/1500940951338-JNFX55K9EYPQKQI95LQV/image-asset.jpeg)
A great book on the trials and challenges of black Union soldiers is A Grand Army of Black Men, Edited by Edwin S. Redkey. [See MELUS article.]
This “principle” is demonstrated in my upcoming Civil War novel, Honor Among Outcasts, the second in my DarkHorse Trilogy (October release). Here, the war is raging, and the DarkHorse men (former partners from Book 1, The Lies That Bind) have joined the Union army to fight Confederate guerrillas in western Missouri. Since “colored” (black) regiments were required to have a (superior) white officer, this role is played ironically by their partner, pacifist/abolitionist/foolhardy Durksen Hurst.
Note: An important element of the DarkHorse Trilogy, and my most personally compelling reason for writing it, is to debunk these hurtful falsehoods by showing the values, hopes, fears, ambitions—and flaws—we all share as human beings, and our equal right as Americans, white and black, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Sacking of Lawrence, May 21, 1856
Certainly, the battlefield slaughter and destruction in the eastern part of the country was brutal. But the savage guerrilla war fought in western Missouri took violence and inhumanity to a new level—even by today’s standards.
During the antebellum period, the counties bordering the Missouri River, with its rich bottom-land, were home to the majority of the state’s slave population. Hemp, a valuable commodity, was grown on plantations there and shipped east to St. Louis for transit via the Mississippi River down to New Orleans.
Decades of bloody conflict between pro- and anti-slavery factions were prevalent along the Missouri/Kansas border, which meant bad blood was already at the boiling point, waiting only for secession to touch off an explosion.
And explode it did.
Prior to the war, anti-slavery Kansas Jayhawkers and pro-slavery Missouri Rowdies raided each other back and forth across the border, spreading killing and destruction. (As part of this conflict, anti-slavery martyr, John Brown, became infamous for massacring pro-slavery civilians in Kansas.)
Battle of Pea Ridge (Missouri), March 7-8, 1862
After the Confederates were defeated at the Battle of Pea Ridge, many returned to their western Missouri homes. But Kansas Jayhawker raids stirred them to action again. In retaliation, the Confederates became guerrillas, called bushwhackers, and an escalating cycle of horrors, pitting neighbor against neighbor, was born.
Both the Confederate guerrillas and the Union guerrilla-hunters carried out scalpings and displayed the trophies on their horses’ pommels. Yes, Americans actually did this to other Americans. Civilians were robbed and murdered; homes, farms, and towns were burned.
Quantrill's infamous raid on Lawrence, Kansas
On Aug. 21, 1863, Quantrill’s Confederate guerrillas raided Lawrence, Kansas, burning the town, massacring its men and boys. To clear out western Missouri, the base of most of the guerrilla activity, the Union issued General Order No. 11. Under Order No. 11, the Union army destroyed four entire Missouri border counties, burning the farms of loyal Unionists and Confederate sympathizers alike. The whole area became known as “the burnt district,” and that, in fact, is what it was.
After an admittedly long hiatus to complete book 2 of my Civil War-era DarkHorse Trilogy, Honor Among Outcasts (planned for release this fall), I’m resuming my weekly blog with an emphasis on history, my special interest, which I use liberally in all my writing. So on this post-Independence Day, I thought I’d share a fascinating, little-known fact about America's history as the perfect way to re-launch my blog.
It seems that, according to a July 3 article in The Washington Post, a woman’s name was added to the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.
Yes. Women may not have had the vote in 1776, but that apparently didn’t stop Mary Katherine Goddard from adding her “Jane Hancock” at the bottom of printed copies of the Declaration, an act considered treason against the powerful British Empire. Not only did Goddard risk being charged with treason, according to the Post, she also received death threats. Remember, a large percentage of the original thirteen colonies’ inhabitants, perhaps about half, were Tories, meaning they remained loyal to Britain!
History, it seems, is never as clear-cut as imagined in popular mythology.
Columnist Petula Dvorak writes that Goddard, a newspaper editor (and publisher), was hired by the Founding Fathers to print copies of the Declaration for distribution to the public.
As a fighter for the rights of women to pursue a career, Goddard, who must have had a great deal of chutzpah, wrote and published “scoops” on the early battles in the Revolution, including Bunker Hill. When she printed those copies of the Declaration on her presses, the gutsy Goddard added her name, along with the founders—potentially a hanging offense against the powers that be.
How’s that for speaking truth to power?
Also cited in the article was the fact that taking arms against the Empire showed that “Americans would rather die than live slaves.” Goddard must have been one tough-minded lady. Later, she ran a newspaper in Baltimore under the name M. K. Goddard, and became the first female postmaster of Baltimore.
History recognizes the “Big Names” who help bring change and new ideas to society. But sometimes the real power behind change are the great mass of people who throw real passion into fights for justice and equality. The real heroes and heroines, while often unheralded, are pervasive, and deserve our praise for their efforts.
To learn more about Mary Katherine Goddard, I recommend these two articles:
“Mary Katherine Goddard and Freedom of the Press,” by Christopher T. George
“Revolutionary Woman: Mary Katherine Goddard,” American Law Journal
Click the image below to find my article, "Writing Powerful Dialogue," posted on Southern Writers Magazine's blog, Suite T. Comments always welcome!
Photo of Abraham Lincoln taken in NYC in February of 1860 (National Park Service)
The other day I was thinking about why so many of us love historical fiction. Why historical fiction, an adaption built upon past reality, as opposed to literary fiction, mystery or thriller genres, wholly based upon creative or imaginary constructions? (Some historical fiction is, in fact, quite literary.)
For one, history is much richer than most writers’ imaginations. As human actions are so varied and unpredictable, actual history is, therefore, far stranger than fiction. Yet, if you think of the figures of the past as real people—flesh and blood creatures with fears and desires like our own—then even their most improbable actions make perfect sense. We know what they did—that part is history. But deducing their motives, understanding the conflicts inherent in their times—and writing about them in a way that shows them to be parallel to the issues of our time in a meaningful way—takes imagination.
We writers tend to sculpt history’s icons to fit narratives that justify our own belief systems, to use the real struggles of historical figures to prove that our own ideas are somehow the inevitable result of humankind’s progress. But the men and women of the past were not chess pieces moved by the grand hand of history. They were people as complex and contradictory as you or I, living in what was not really a simpler time. Far from it.
Bringing History Alive
In every crisis throughout history, the result was in grave doubt at the time it transpired. Thus, the real drama that makes a good story already exists. It is up to the writer to bring it alive. Further, not all the historical forces we admire today succeeded. Look at Athens, its Golden Age snuffed out by military force. Or consider the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The so-called “Good Guys” sometimes lose; and their cause, if not lost entirely, can be delayed, often for centuries.
Even when the Good Guys triumphed, it was often only by a razor’s edge. Take the American Revolution. Was democracy certain to survive against the powerful British world empire? Not at all. Was the Union destined to win the America Civil War? In fact, was slavery necessarily destined to end in the Nineteenth Century? Perhaps without Abraham Lincoln’s personal predisposition against the South’s “peculiar institution,” 1865 might have been just another year.
Literature is Character
And that gets to my main point—that historical figures were real people, with depth, personal quirks, and dimensions that even the greatest writers would have difficulty creating. Think of Abraham Lincoln as a fictional character. Problems with depression. Burdens that would crush most humans—including the loss of two beloved children! And his wife who had deep problems of her own. Not to mention he had a chaotic war to manage. Yet, his wisdom soared above his time. His mercy and foresight are justifiably legendary. And the whole poor boy/self-taught/log cabin background? How about rising from a country lawyer to represent the powerful railroads? And taking a stand against slavery, with his great Cooper’s Union speech, and then becoming president?
And Lincoln’s wit and storytelling? He was a great writer himself, not merely his speeches, but also his use of simple country humor to explain very complex issues.
How could you possibly conceive of a greater character than that?
Two Categories
There is more than one type of historical novel. One type takes actual events and, through good writing, dramatizes them. This is what Michael Shaara has done in The Killer Angels, one of the novels in his trilogy in which he dramatizes battles of the Civil War.
Then there is the imaginative use of the past to create an entirely new story, an alternative history, with deep themes. Joseph Conrad does this in Heart of Darkness, which makes an important statement about imperialism. Or E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, which mixes historical figures and fictional characters to reveal issues surrounding racism, marriage, women’s rights, and more.
My novel, The Lies That Bind (Book 1 in my DarkHorse Trilogy), is this second category of fiction. Using some unusual twists and concepts, The Lies That Bind attempts to create a new experience for the reader, even though it is set in a familiar place and time, a rural hamlet in antebellum Mississippi. Using this method enabled me to offer the reader different perspectives on race, gender, family dysfunction, friendship and brotherhood, power lust, economic markets, and a host of other issues. Precisely because The Lies That Bind isn’t tied to actual events, I was free to add in surprising plot twists, as well as pathos, irony, humor, really anything that I felt fit the story.
There is much good reading out there to fulfill and enlighten historical novel readers of all kinds. For me, I’m re-reading Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose.
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Historical Novel Society Review of The Lies That Bind: “The action and drama are compelling from the first page to the exciting conclusion. The animosity between the French plantation and Hurst builds to an exciting and surprising climax. Antoinette is so mysterious, one doesn’t know of her mission until the end. Highly recommended, and I am anxious to read the next installment.”