HISTORY, IT'S JUST OLD STUFF

By Brenda Daniels

Don't immediately jump on me for that title. It's a quote from my seventeen year old niece. The comment came up during a discussion of her college classes.

Sad to say, that seems to be the attitude of many people. Those of us of a "certain" age remember the warning about learning from our past mistakes so we don't repeat them.

I did my best to explain the necessity of knowing how past wars started and having the ability to hold an intelligent political conversation.

If she can recite the words to a Taylor Swift song, she can explain the Monroe Doctrine. Wait, I'm not sure I could do that. Hmm, better come up with a better example. Thinking it over, I realized that to her, the 9/11 tragedy is history since she was a toddler at the time. Dang, I'm old.

I'm currently working on a historical novella set in the late 1800's. Thankfully, my critique partner, Caroline Clemmons writes historical romance and  has offered to check it for accuracy. I realized I needed help when I needed to know what a female mule is called and what type of plates would people be eating off of.

The historical romances I used to read in the 80's (1980's) are very different from those published today. Inaccuracy irritates me. Yeah, I've noticed the trend to be politically correct or completely avoid the nastier parts of our history. But, that's another rant that I won't go into today. My heroine is alone in a log cabin about to have a baby!

What Your Story May Inspire

For the past several days I’ve been hard at work on the edits my Wild Rose Press editor sent for historical romance novel, Traitor’s Legacy. While written to stand alone, this novel is the sequel to Enemy of the King.  Both are set at various times during the American Revolution. The hero of Traitor’s Legacy, British dragoon Captain Jacob Vaughan, was the ‘bad boy’ in Enemy of the King, but a humbler alpha male by the end of the story. His multifaceted character fascinated me, as did his illustrious lineage, so it was a no-brainer when choosing the next hero. But how this novel came to be is a story in itself, as is the unfolding buzz surrounding it.

Early summer 2012, I received an email from an ardent enthusiast of Enemy of the King, entreating me to write a sequel and set it in Historic Halifax, NC. My fan, now friend, Ann See, invited me and my husband, Dennis, to visit the historic area. She was particularly eager to have Person’s Ordinary, the oldest original stage coach stop on the east coast, featured in the story. Interestingly enough, I had begun the sequel a few years earlier and then shifted it to the back burner because the setting I’d chosen, a plantation along the James River, was too remote to incorporate the events I needed to unfold during this adventurous romance. I also wanted to include the intriguing element of espionage which played a key role in the revolution. As it turned out, all this and more awaited me in Historic Halifax as I came to learn the history of this oft overlooked ‘mini-Williamsburg’. Speaking of which, Ann was also responsible for my meeting with the head historian of Williamsburg, a godsend for what I can only describe as profound research.

Despite my renewed zeal, I got waylaid by suffering the worst writer’s block of my life when I failed to listen closely enough to the characters. Once I did, the flood gates opened and I finished the tale this fall. My editor loves the story and Ann is delighted. The good folk of Historic Halifax are rallying to organize an all-out book signing for Oct. 11^th that will include tours of the old town and Person’s Ordinary, reenactors, period music, and sumptuous refreshments. Historical groups, book clubs, libraries…and enthusiastic individuals  are involved in the preparations. The Bureau of Tourism for Halifax County is on board and various media sources have been alerted, including PBS. Flyers are going out, posters going up, and a billboard contemplated. Adds for the signing are being placed in magazines and newspapers. There’s talk of inviting the state governor, senator, and congressman to the event. What will ultimately come of it all remains to be seen, but I’m wowed by how excited people are to reconnect with their colonial roots. Traitor’s Legacy has become a rallying point for this rich and vital era.

So I say, onward and upward. You never know what your story may inspire.

Traitor's Legacy will be published in August. Exact date TBD.

***Submitted by Beth Trissel. For more on me, visit http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/