Introduction
Welcome! If you're here, I'm assuming you love historical fiction. I thought I would start off this blog by giving a brief history of my work and what my intentions are. I hope you'll stick around and join me on my writing journey.
I've decided to start this blog as a way to share not only updates on my writing, but also to discuss some of the more interesting topics I find in my research, something that I thought would be too lengthy and involved for Facebook. If you have read any of my works, you'll immediately know my interest lies in 19th century history, namely in the United States, Japan, and France. A long time student of history, (I hold a BA in History and an MA in English and Education -- not history as I love English too and did not want to compete for jobs with my husband who already had a graduate degree in history), I discovered writing historical fiction and creating art with historical themes to be an outlet for my passion for the past. And in case you did not know, I am also a living historian:
(Me tearing a cartridge with my teeth. Yummy gunpowder--actually, it's salty and I learned later, in modern times, it is made with bat guano...)
My current project is a series that follows a Confederate soldier from the end of the War Between the States through his journey as an expatriate in Asia and Europe, mirroring the adventures of some real historical figures that are lesser known to most individuals today. I am also beginning research for a story to take place in the early part of 16th century in Scotland, based around some figures I discovered in my own family tree. However, it will be some time before I am ready to write that story, for as my readers know, there is a tremendous amount of research behind my novels. I also need to really get to know my characters, as they have a lot of control over where the story goes.
I began writing very early. My first book being a time travel story where I went back in time to the 1700's. I was only in 5th grade, so it was it was undoubtedly horrible. My first serious attempt at a book was while a senior in high school. At that time I wrote what could be considered the first rendition of Bertram Tambling. I called him Charlie and he was a drummer. Still horrible. 400 pages of horrible, but it allowed me the chance to
really begin to learn to write.
With a lot of bad writing behind me, I toyed with fantasy fan fiction in college. While it was fan fiction, I evidently was writing well enough that I formed a fairly large fan base and the comments and feedback made me feel perhaps ready to revisit my own original stories.
I like to share this part as I feel it is a path many modern writers have taken or are currently on, and I think it is a fun and effective way to improve your writing. It also shows that it was an important step in my writing career. Perhaps you might be at one of these steps in your writing journey. Stick with it if you are!
Bertram Tambling's next reincarnation came after my short stint writing fan fiction and after reading about some young sharpshooters--my favorite being Berry Benson. This time his name was Patrick. And it was still horrible, though I found it better and even imagined a story of him going on to Japan. I began that sequel when the movie "Last Samurai" came out, which made me angry since I was afraid it would appear I was just ripping off a movie, and I put the story away.
Life then got in the way and I worked for several years as a lead at a major book chain, and I was spending my time reading and paying bills, not writing. That was until I was watching a writing club that met in the store and the itch to write returned. I pulled out Bertram Tambling's story once again and rewrote it. He was now fairly much in his current form, and I bravely shared him with the other writers in the club. One, a published romance writer, was very helpful and gave me a wonderful critique I will always be grateful for. However, I did not fix the story right away, and once again, it got put in a drawer.
The final form of Bertram Tambling came several years later when I was teaching high school. I was teaching English in a little country school, in a town where most everyone goes to church, and I had a student approach me about recommendations on fiction. Namely, they knew I was a reenactor and so wanted a good military historical fiction novel. My immediate thought was "Rifles for Watie." He'd already read it. Then I thought Bernard Cornwell but was worried about some of the content not being appropriate for a student--or at least for a teacher to recommend to a student. I thought on it more and most everything I could think of was geared more for girls. It was then I thought, "Tambling's story would be perfect in this situation." As a result, I went home and pulled out my story, read the old critique notes, and rewrote. By the end of the Summer, I had "Grayback: Long Road to Damascus."
I first called it merely, "Grayback" as I had no intention of returning to the sequel. For those that do not know, the term "grayback" was an insult used by Union soldiers for their Confederate rivals. Made more insulting as they also used that term for lice. Additionally, it was also a nickname for Confederate paper money, which was by mid-war, useless. I thought it fitting, though, as the story was about a young man with glaring imperfections, who many times sees himself as useless, and who is an enemy to many of those around him. It is all about first impressions and how Bertram struggles throughout the book, (and really, throughout the series), to define what honor means and defy what so many think of him. (Sharpshooters were not well loved, even by those on their own side.)
I tried for a time to get "Grayback" published, and landed an agent fairly quickly, who after a quick edit or two, shared it with an editor. The editor came back wanting some major changes. Those changes included rewriting the ending to where Bertram transformed to having Union sympathies. It was a change I was not willing to make. I tried altering a few parts of the story--hence why it is probably the kindest of the books when viewing the Union side--but it wasn't good enough. About this time, eBooks had taken off and I decided if my last edit was not accepted, I was just going to self publish. And that is exactly what I did.
Now unfettered and not looking to please the publishing industry, I shared my idea of the second book with my husband. After hearing the story and reading my notes, he felt my story was based so much more on fact and different enough from "Last Samurai" that I should not worry and just write it. So I did, and hence, Bertram Tambling's story got to continue.
I will thank you for reading this first article and I encourage you to come back when I dig more into the fascinating and amazing true stories behind much of the Grayback series. Comments are welcome, especially if you have specific question about something you've read in the series.
I've decided to start this blog as a way to share not only updates on my writing, but also to discuss some of the more interesting topics I find in my research, something that I thought would be too lengthy and involved for Facebook. If you have read any of my works, you'll immediately know my interest lies in 19th century history, namely in the United States, Japan, and France. A long time student of history, (I hold a BA in History and an MA in English and Education -- not history as I love English too and did not want to compete for jobs with my husband who already had a graduate degree in history), I discovered writing historical fiction and creating art with historical themes to be an outlet for my passion for the past. And in case you did not know, I am also a living historian:
(Me tearing a cartridge with my teeth. Yummy gunpowder--actually, it's salty and I learned later, in modern times, it is made with bat guano...)My current project is a series that follows a Confederate soldier from the end of the War Between the States through his journey as an expatriate in Asia and Europe, mirroring the adventures of some real historical figures that are lesser known to most individuals today. I am also beginning research for a story to take place in the early part of 16th century in Scotland, based around some figures I discovered in my own family tree. However, it will be some time before I am ready to write that story, for as my readers know, there is a tremendous amount of research behind my novels. I also need to really get to know my characters, as they have a lot of control over where the story goes.
I began writing very early. My first book being a time travel story where I went back in time to the 1700's. I was only in 5th grade, so it was it was undoubtedly horrible. My first serious attempt at a book was while a senior in high school. At that time I wrote what could be considered the first rendition of Bertram Tambling. I called him Charlie and he was a drummer. Still horrible. 400 pages of horrible, but it allowed me the chance to
really begin to learn to write.
With a lot of bad writing behind me, I toyed with fantasy fan fiction in college. While it was fan fiction, I evidently was writing well enough that I formed a fairly large fan base and the comments and feedback made me feel perhaps ready to revisit my own original stories.I like to share this part as I feel it is a path many modern writers have taken or are currently on, and I think it is a fun and effective way to improve your writing. It also shows that it was an important step in my writing career. Perhaps you might be at one of these steps in your writing journey. Stick with it if you are!
Bertram Tambling's next reincarnation came after my short stint writing fan fiction and after reading about some young sharpshooters--my favorite being Berry Benson. This time his name was Patrick. And it was still horrible, though I found it better and even imagined a story of him going on to Japan. I began that sequel when the movie "Last Samurai" came out, which made me angry since I was afraid it would appear I was just ripping off a movie, and I put the story away.
The final form of Bertram Tambling came several years later when I was teaching high school. I was teaching English in a little country school, in a town where most everyone goes to church, and I had a student approach me about recommendations on fiction. Namely, they knew I was a reenactor and so wanted a good military historical fiction novel. My immediate thought was "Rifles for Watie." He'd already read it. Then I thought Bernard Cornwell but was worried about some of the content not being appropriate for a student--or at least for a teacher to recommend to a student. I thought on it more and most everything I could think of was geared more for girls. It was then I thought, "Tambling's story would be perfect in this situation." As a result, I went home and pulled out my story, read the old critique notes, and rewrote. By the end of the Summer, I had "Grayback: Long Road to Damascus."
I first called it merely, "Grayback" as I had no intention of returning to the sequel. For those that do not know, the term "grayback" was an insult used by Union soldiers for their Confederate rivals. Made more insulting as they also used that term for lice. Additionally, it was also a nickname for Confederate paper money, which was by mid-war, useless. I thought it fitting, though, as the story was about a young man with glaring imperfections, who many times sees himself as useless, and who is an enemy to many of those around him. It is all about first impressions and how Bertram struggles throughout the book, (and really, throughout the series), to define what honor means and defy what so many think of him. (Sharpshooters were not well loved, even by those on their own side.)I tried for a time to get "Grayback" published, and landed an agent fairly quickly, who after a quick edit or two, shared it with an editor. The editor came back wanting some major changes. Those changes included rewriting the ending to where Bertram transformed to having Union sympathies. It was a change I was not willing to make. I tried altering a few parts of the story--hence why it is probably the kindest of the books when viewing the Union side--but it wasn't good enough. About this time, eBooks had taken off and I decided if my last edit was not accepted, I was just going to self publish. And that is exactly what I did.
Now unfettered and not looking to please the publishing industry, I shared my idea of the second book with my husband. After hearing the story and reading my notes, he felt my story was based so much more on fact and different enough from "Last Samurai" that I should not worry and just write it. So I did, and hence, Bertram Tambling's story got to continue.
I will thank you for reading this first article and I encourage you to come back when I dig more into the fascinating and amazing true stories behind much of the Grayback series. Comments are welcome, especially if you have specific question about something you've read in the series.
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