Dear Reader,
Please say “Hello” to this week's guest author, Jack Kelly. He has published nonfiction works on American history, specializing in the Revolutionary era. He is also the author of five novels. In his spare time, he volunteers as an EMT.
Jack’s newest release is God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man...
Benedict Arnold committed treason--for more than two centuries, that's all that most Americans have known about him. Yet Arnold was much more than a turncoat--his achievements during the early years of the Revolutionary War defined him as the most successful soldier of the era. Kelly's insightful exploration of Arnold's career as a warrior shines a new light on this gutsy, fearless, and enigmatic figure. In the process, the book offers a fresh perspective on the reasons for Arnold's momentous change of heart.
You can win one of three copies of God Save Benedict Arnold. Send an email to: [email protected] Please put Kelly Giveaway on the subject line, and be sure to include your preferred shipping address, in case you're a winner.
Drop Jack a welcome note at: https://jackkellybooks.com/contact/
History, Reality, and Writing
Armchair generals talk about battles--real generals talk about logistics. It's one of the maxims of military history. Maybe it's also true of writers. It's not the big events but the small details, the supplies and ammunition, so to speak, that give life to a piece of writing.
What was the weather like? How did the place smell? Did a character walk or hurry, saunter or drag herself? Did she wear consignment shop casual or Giorgio Armani? Drawl her words or talk like an over-caffeinated auctioneer?
Applying this idea to writing about history, I always try to keep in mind that it's not just the events of the past that are interesting, but how the people of the time experienced them. Their lives, like ours, unfolded moment by moment. They were concerned not just about grand issues, but about their looks, an aching molar, the welfare of their friends, the small discomforts and pleasures of daily life.
They were motivated, as we are, by vanity and greed, by envy, grief and love. If we use our imagination, we can reach across years or centuries and understand them through our common human experience.
At the same time, we have to keep in mind the ways in which the past was a foreign land. The dark of night could not be erased with the flick of a switch. Travel was slow. Cold difficult to avoid. Diseases more dangerous. The weather less predictable. There were no screens on the windows.
We also have to keep in mind that our past was their future. They didn't know how things would come out. It's easy for us to make judgments in retrospect. But we have to remind ourselves that people then were groping blindly through a world full of endless possibilities, endless danger.
We see the Revolutionary War, for example, as a march toward victory and independence. But at many points along the way, the patriots' victory was very much in doubt. Some citizens gave up or changed sides. Others kept the faith and persevered. Nobody knew for sure what was coming, any more than we know our own perilous future.
The past is ultimately irretrievable. But we all live in the common sea of emotion and personality. And by examining the details of the other days, we can touch the all-too-human characters who shaped our history.
-- Jack Kelly
https://jackkellybooks.com/contact/
Enter to win one of three copies of God Save Benedict Arnold. Send an email to: [email protected] Please put Kelly Giveaway on the subject line, and be sure to include your preferred shipping address, in case you're a winner.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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