I found my voice

No, I don’t have laryngytis. I found my voice in a story, though it certainly doesn’t sound like me.

I’m working on a non-fiction story about a Garrett County coal-mining town. I wrote about it years ago for my column in the Cumberland Times-News. Since then, the story has stayed in my mind. I knew there was more to tell, but I just didn’t have the sources that would help me put it together.

Last summer, I was still debating whether I should tell this story as non-fiction or fiction. Fiction would allow me to get more into the lives of the people involved with the story and use more dialogue, but the story is so incredible, I kept thinking that unless it is told as non-fiction, no one would believe that it could happen.

So I set out to write a non-fiction book. I put together the outline, struggling with where to start the story. Once decided, I started out writing and the first few chapters came out pretty easily.

Then an odd thing happened.

One night, I started writing a passage that did not fit into the story where I was writing it. Instead of deleting it, I kept writing. The language was more casual than I had been using so far, but when I re-read what I had written, I realized it would serve as a perfect opening. It also allowed me to include information in the story that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I had followed my outline.

More interesting to me was the approach I had taken. The voice was that of the story’s narrator, but not the author.  So now I’ve got a fictional character in my non-fiction book. He’s not putting himself into the story so that the story remains non-fiction, but it’s being told by unnamed fictional person.

If it’s confusing to you, imagine how it is for me. But it works. I’ll put up the opening passage in a few days and you can tell me what you think. Given how this story has made some sharp turns, I wonder if the storyteller will make it to the final draft. If not, I’m sure I’ll learn something that I need to in order to tell this story properly before he gets cut.

Waylon Jennings role as the unseen "Balladeer" on the old "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series is a good example of what I'm doing with my newest book.

Book signings are more than book selling; they’re chances to talk to readers

I had my first book signing for Battlefield Angels: The Daughters of Charity Work as Civil War Nurses on Saturday . I wasn’t sure how good it would go because customers at the bookstore are used to me typically writing about things that happened in their neck of the woods in Maryland. Though I checked, the Daughters of Charity weren’t out there during the Civil War. (Other Catholic sisters were and I wrote about them for two Allegany Magazine articles.)

This book attracted a new group of buyers, which I what I had hoped for but only half-expected to happen. The people I met yesterday were Catholics and Civil War buffs who seemed very excited about the book, though I guess anyone who gives up their time to come to book signing is usually excited about the book.

While some authors are moving away from book signings because of the lack of venues, cost or inconvenience of them, I still enjoy them. I like meeting readers face to face and taking a few minutes to talk with them. I don’t think I’ve ever had a book signing where I haven’t learned something new and many times useful in my writing.

This may be because of the history aspect of my writing. People like to buy the books because they have a connection with the history in it. I don’t know if I would have the same kind of reaction if I was writing fantasy or mysteries. People will stop by and start talking about a relative or a related history story they’ve heard. We wind up having a fun conversation and I get nuggets that might make their way into future stories.

Here I am at The Book Center in Cumberland, MD, on Nov. 19. I'm the one on the left, in case you couldn't tell.

Fun at the forums

If you are looking for information or ideas, I’ve learned that forums are a good place to start your search. I’ve joined a few in the past weeks as a way to market my new book, Battlefield Angels, but also to get feedback about not only my books but other books. I’ve always found it interesting that professional book reviewers and movie reviewers tend to like books that the general public doesn’t.

Also, by participating on the forums and not just going there to sell a book, I’ve been able to get information

• I can use in articles
• Ideas for new articles to write
• Leads for where to search for information

 I’ve joined some Civil War forums and quickly learned that these posters know the minutiae of the war. Rather than jump right in and make a fool of myself, I

1. Read some of the threads that seemed pertinent to my subject (Civil War nursing). I got a feel for the type of questions that were raised and the quality of the comments on the forum.
2. Next, I began posting responses to questions that I thought I could answer.
3. At that point, the forums begin sending e-mail updates to me pertaining to that thread so I can follow it and answer any follow-up questions.
4. Last week, I started a couple of threads, asking questions about an article I was working on and another one about the Gettysburg battlefield that I had always wondered about.

The response was great and useful. Now the problem I’m running into is that I’ve got to try and keep all the conversations I’ve contributed to straight so I don’t wind up repeating myself over and over again on a thread. There are forums for just about every topic you can imagine. Having found them another useful resource, I expect you’ll find me popping up on them time and again.

T-1 day “Battlefield Angels” hits

My new book, Battlefield Angels: The Daughters of Charity Work as Civil War Nurses, is supposed to be delivered tomorrow and I’m having to gear myself up to switch from author to promoter for awhile.

 My life will be crazy through the end of the year.

• I’ve got a number of things that I have to do each time one of my books is released:
• Send out press releases
• Bookstore signings
• Making sure the book is in various stores and with my distributor
• Making sure the book is listed on the big sites
• Getting reviews
• Author interviews and speaking engagements
• Order fulfillment

There’s probably other stuff I’m not thinking of right now, which will jump up and slap me in the face when I least expect it. I’ve tried to so some of this before now, but some things just have to wait until I’ve got the book in hand.

Much of this work is going to be a lot heavier than usual, too, because of the nature of Battlefield Angels. My previous books had a smaller primary audience that was easier for me to do the first phase of my marketing. Battlefield Angels not only has a larger primary market, it has two primary markets.

Add to this, I’ve still got to do all my regular writing work and the additional family things that happen in the holiday season and you can see why I think I’ll need a nice long break in 2012.

Not that that will happen. I’ll probably have to settle for a nice, long nap.