I'm interviewed on One Writer's Journey

Fellow author and blogger Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz is interviewing me today on her blog One Writer's Journey. Besides my endless nattering on about my Civil War novel, I talk about how I got into writing, my creative process, and my take on the future of ebooks.

This is a very cool blog I've been reading for a while now. Penny gets a wide variety of authors to talk about their careers and books. Interesting stuff!

Book review: The Civil War in the Western Territories by Ray Colton

The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah by Ray Charles Colton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Civil War in the Far West--New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah--is the least studied theater of the war. Having lived there I find that strange because those years redefined the borders of all the states and created Arizona. Colton's classic study has been around since 1959 and it still makes useful reading today.

Colton gives a relatively brief (209 page) description of the conflict in this region, focusing on the military aspects. A long final chapter goes into politics, but those seeking in-depth political coverage will have to seek elsewhere. Same goes with the economic and social aspects. These are covered, but take a back seat to military operations.

It's here that Colton is at his best. the descriptions of battles are clear and full of color, and even the tiniest skirmish gets its due.

A few criticisms: the maps are a bit simple and the map of the Battle of Glorieta is reproduced so small that it is almost illegible. Also, there is little coverage of the motivations behind the Native Americans. They are seen as simply another combatant with little context as to why they did what they did. The Native Americans are shown in a somewhat sympathetic light (rare for work from the 1950s) yet they remain voiceless.

I would recommend this book as a starting point for those looking to study the war in the Far West, or as a basic coverage for those who only want to read one book on this aspect of the war.


View all my reviews

More Neoconfederate nonsense

As I mentioned in my last post, the Neo-confederates don't like my Civil War novel's negative portrayal of Bloody Bill Anderson, rapist and murderer of unarmed prisoners. Big surprise.

The admin over at the Missouri in the Civil War Message Board deleted the thread, saying,

"The message boards extend a courtesy to our "Contributing Authors" to promote their books, articles, speaking engagements, etc. In the case of a book or article posting, I must ask that any critique of an author's work be on the highest and most polite level. If you have an "historical" issue with the content of an author's work, please specifically address a statement from the book or article with page numbers, dates, the text in question and your documented response to the author's position. No personal or "petty" exchanges will be tolerated on the message board from authors or respondents. Thanks for your cooperation."

Yeah, I was partly guilty for the petty exchange, but as anyone who knows me knows, I have a zero-tolerance policy to assertive stupidity. Despite the admin's words, Bloody Bill's #1 fan Neil Block wrote again. This time he used a spell checker, sort of.

"One last time, if it remains here, I'll express an opinion. I hope it suits this board:

I find it unexceptable for anyone to make remarks or assumptions about the mental condition of anyone who has been involved in close quarters combat in any war. If you ain't been there, don't assume that you would be able to handle the stress in any given situation or the results of having war waged upon "your soil" and againest your friends and family. None of us can judge others or be for sure how many of us would regain their humanity after having cared so little for it to survive. For 150 years those have that demeaned Missourians to be less than perfect in their eyes have assumed that they are moral & intellectual superior to the rest of us. Promoting work that makes statements about real life soldiers should be based on works by those that actually knew the soldier and not statements made in judgement by his adversaries. I know there are soldiers and former soldiers that read this message board and if they have been CQC they may have known a few "Bill's", but they have also known some "John's"........John McCorkle suffered the same fate as Bill Anderson did, CQC, losing family in the same event, but John was able to return and make a life after the war. We don't know his ghosts but he was able to maintain his civility thru some pretty tough times...........Nobody Knows Who Will Return..............that is why soldiers make the best peace makers...........beating up on Bill Anderson has made quiet a few folks a little $$$......."Doing right ain't got no end" is the redleg way..........defending his victims is mine..........Neil Block"

To which I responded,

"And I find it unacceptable for anyone to make remarks or assumptions about a book they haven't even read.
I hope this thread does stay up because it points out the narrow pro-Confederate bias that is all too obvious among some in the community. The idea that one side was bloodthirsty and evil and the other side was perfect and honorable is contrary to the facts. Both sides did terrible things in that war, and both sides included honorable men.
Mr. Block says: "Promoting work that makes statements about real life soldiers should be based on works by those that actually knew the soldier and not statements made in judgement by his adversaries."
I'd like to see him apply that idea to Union soldiers and Redlegs as well Confederate soldiers and bushwhackers."

Will this end the debate? I doubt it, considering the Neoconfederates griping at me anonymously in the comments section. Those comments were all redirected to my blog from the same cc'ed message sent via Yahoo mail. Gee, I wonder who sent THAT? Blogger tells you some amazing things if you understand the system.

Neo-Confederate threatens author of Civil War novel

My Missouri Civil War novel A Fine Likeness has only been out ten days and it's already getting an angry response from Neo-Confederates. I posted an announcement on the normally sane Missouri Civil War Discussion Board and included my blurb. Skip down if you've already read it.

A Confederate guerrilla and a Union captain discover there’s something more dangerous in the woods than each other.

Jimmy Rawlins is a teenaged bushwhacker who leads his friends on ambushes of Union patrols. They join infamous guerrilla leader Bloody Bill Anderson on a raid through Missouri, but Jimmy questions his commitment to the Cause when he discovers this madman plans to sacrifice a Union prisoner in a hellish ritual to raise the Confederate dead.

Richard Addison is an aging captain of a lackluster Union militia. Depressed over his son’s death in battle, a glimpse of Jimmy changes his life. Jimmy and his son look so much alike that Addison becomes obsessed with saving him from Bloody Bill. Captain Addison must wreck his reputation to win this war within a war, while Jimmy must decide whether to betray the Confederacy to stop the evil arising in the woods of Missouri.

Bloody Bill Anderson was a real person. Neil Block, Commander of the Captain William T. Anderson Camp #1743 SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans), posted this response. I've kept his and grammar spelling intact.

"Any writing, even fiction, especially fiction that portreys Capt. Anderson in a negitive light should be considered a Hertiage Violations by the Captian William T. Anderson Camp #1743 SCV and steps will be taken to address this writers material as such............"

Okaaay. Neil Block can't even spell the name of his own organization! As you can see from their website, they're desperately trying to rehabilitate the name of this guerrilla who killed unarmed prisoners, scalped victims, and according to the scholarly biography Bloody Bill Anderson: the Short, Savage Life of a Civil War Guerrilla, had a fondness for raping young black girls. This isn't just some damned Yankke talking. The self-styled modern Missouri Confederate government admits Anderson's band had a penchant for rape.

I used Bloody Bill as a character in my novel because while he was a real person, his personality was like something straight out of central casting for a horror movie. I didn't include the rapes because I didn't want to write those scenes, so in a sense I was actually kind to Anderson's memory.

Of course I responded:

"Mr. Block,
You misspelled "portrays", "negative", "heritage", and "captain".
And you forgot the apostrophe in "writer's".
After careful consideration of the evidence I find you guilty of a Literacy Violation and hereby sentence you to complete grade school."


You can read the inevitable continuation of the thread, here.

Interview with the Missouri Writers Guild

Fellow Missouri author Dianna Graveman has published an interview I did for the Missouri Writers Guild's newsletter. I talk about my travel and history writing. I'll be back on her blog this Thursday talking about why I picked Missouri as the setting for my Civil War novel A Fine Likeness. Check my page of Online Appearances for a complete and constantly updating schedule for my virtual book tour.

To learn more about Dianna, check out this interview I did with her about her local history writing and research.

Guest blogging about historical fiction over at Cynthia Hope Clark's blog

Today I'm guest blogging at Cynthia Hope Clark's blog on Tips for Writing Historical Fiction. Hope is a great inspiration for lots of writers out there and has been plugging away at this crazy game for many years now. If you are an aspiring, struggling, or professional writer, you can get a lot out of her blog.

Be sure to check out my Online Appearances section for more stops on my virtual book tour. I have several this week!

The horror photography of Amanda Norman

Dark Road Nowhere by Amanda Norman

Horror photography enjoys a growing acceptance among fans of all things frightful. While most of us think of books and movies when we think of horror, talented photographer Amanda Norman sees terror through the lens of her camera.

Graveyards, Gothic architecture, forests in winter, even beaches become places of eerie light and shadow. Most of these aren't straight-up horror in the style that Hollywood embraces. The shots have disturbing subtly, more like The Seventh Seal than Seven. Occasionally she goes for fanged punks growling at the camera, and these aren't nearly as effective as her main body of work. She's at her best when she's being contemplative and melancholy.

Some of these would work great as book covers, although as tiny Amazon thumbnails they'd be all but blacked out. That's one thing I don't like about ebooks or shopping online in general. It's like what happened when album labels went from being on big record sleeves to being on CD jewel boxes. A shame, because the image below fits perfectly with a dark fantasy novel I'm writing.

I have a feeling we'll be hearing more from Amanda Norman. Art of this quality could take her places.

Three by Amanda Norman