Review of A House Divided Against Itself

A House Divided Against Itself by Bob O'Connor is a book for serious Civil War buffs. O'Connor takes the fairly well-known story of the Culp brothers, John (Wesley) and William who fought on opposites sides of the conflict, and expands the known history into a fictional narrative. The story also involves Mary Virgina (Jennie) Wade, the sweetheart of Wesley's best friend "Jack" Skelly. Jennie Wade was the only civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg. The brothers actually faced each other twice in battle during the conflict.

Over ninety letters written by the principal people have survived. O'Connor uses those letters to create first person narratives by each of the people. From chapter to chapter the point of view changes to give each person's perspective on the same events. Other well-known writers use this technique to create extremely accurate stories, and yet they must be considered fiction, as exact dialogue, etc. is only implied in the historical record. Allen Eckert is an example of this kind of writer, although Eckert weaves the stories together into one chronological tale.

A House Divided gives the reader a personal perspective on an enlisted soldier's life, both on the Yankee and Confederate sides. A wonderful addition is an image with nearly every chapter. Sometimes these are photographs of a person featured in the chapter, sometimes maps, or contemporary drawings of places where events in the chapter occurred. At the end of the book, modern photographs of the graves of most of the people are shown as well as vital statistics.

The cover art is taken (with permission) from a painting by Mort Künstler, and provides an great eye appeal for the cover.

To be honest, this book is less novel and more history. Although the events leading up to Gettysburg are quite dramatic on their own, the book is pretty much a re-statement of the letters. This provides excellent accuracy, but there is no building of a particular dramatic moment with a crisis and denouement. One must just take the events as they occur.

I also felt that the different voices were very similar, which lent a flat tone to the book. I wanted Jennie to be more feminine, and William to be more stiff and arrogant, and Wesley to be more consistently colloquial and defensive about his decision to fight for the Confederacy.

Nevertheless, for anyone who likes Civil War history, this is a more personal account of this somewhat famous family than has been previously presented.

Bob O'Connor lives in Charles Town, West Virginia, close to most of the sites of his books about the Civil War.

He has been involved in public speaking for years and years. Since 2006, his speaking engagements have spanned 11 states and the District of Columbia. He speaks at libraries, schools, civic organizations, Civil War Round Tables, book clubs, and to most anyone who will listen.

A House Divided Against Itself is available on line at www.boboconnorbooks.com or at amazon.com. It is also available on all e-book formats.

Kindle:

Paper:

Paddy Plays Enrolled in Smashwords Summer Sale

cover design by Farah Evers

 
Smashwords is running a Summer Sale for the entire month of July. I've enrolled Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp for 25% off. This means that if you choose to buy this book from Smashwords during July, you'll be sent a coupon code and the book will cost only $2.24 if you use that coupon.

Even if you haven't finished reading the first two books, July would be a great time to buy Paddy, and save some change!

Interviewed on A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

Listen to internet radio with Jennifer Walker on Blog Talk Radio

Yesterday, I was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio, by Jennifer Walker, on her program "A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book."

Jenn and I have been internet friends for several years, and it was a lot of fun to connect with her by voice. She is an author herself, having written the excellent Green Meadows young adult books. See Author Jennifer Walker

In the interview we chatted about both my Anastasia Raven mystery series, and my non-fiction book, North Country Cache. The program is 30 minutes long.

The link above takes you directly to the interview with me, but all episodes are archived, and you can find them at A Cup of Coffee and a Good Book

Anastasia Raven Mysteries- 300 Likes= 3 Winners

So, I've heard that Facebook is cracking down on some pages that are using likes as a way to run contests. They are particularly manic about posting that you are doing it on Facebook, and then sending the results via their message system. Since I don't wish to be unexpectedly banned, I'm announcing the winners of the three Dead Mule Swamp books here.

I hope you've come over to check out if you are a winner. I used Random.org to generate three numbers, and the numbers correspond to the order in which people "liked" the page. I got lucky, and one of the numbers is between 201-300; I wanted one of the "new" people to be a winner.

If you are: Joseph Beekman (28), Donna Thacker (48), or Anna Gikas (219) please email me at jhyshark@gmail.com to tell me if you would like News from Dead Mule Swamp or Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp.

Congrats! Keep the likes coming. I'm still writing.

If you didn't win, hey... "News" is only 99 cents, and "Paddy" is $2.99. Still a great deal! And "Hollow Tree" is always free at Smashwords.

Smashwords or Amazon

Review of The Opium Equation

The Opium Equation, by Lisa Wysocky, is a cozy mystery set in the American South. The protagonist is Cat (Catherine) Enright who owns a stable of Appaloosa horses. She’s a relative newcomer to the Nashville area, but has been there long enough to be respected by some residents, and to have antagonized others.

Cat is constantly annoyed by the bad behavior of ten-year-old Bubba. The book opens with the boy throwing rocks at her truck. She’s also unhappy with the retired actress Glenda Dupree who thinks she can win riding competitions just because she will look good on a horse.

When Cat finds Glenda beaten to death, and Bubba’s hat covered in blood, her dislike of these people makes her a suspect in the mind of the local Sheriff. But Cat thinks any child is worth trying to save, so she begins looking for Bubba.

I liked The Opium Equation a lot. For starters, it begins with a cast of characters list, just like an old Perry Mason book. And the descriptions of the characters are quirky enough to pique interest.

Cat is funny and sarcastic- the current word is snarky- and I enjoyed that part of her personality. The owner of one of the horses claims the mare Sally Blue is psychic, and Sally Blue does seem to act strangely until the mysteries are solved.

The plot is just complex enough for a cozy. There are several possible suspects, so the reader-sleuth has plenty of potential outcomes to contemplate.

The setting includes a mixture of real places and some imaginary ones. The inclusion of local history and geology in the plot appeals to me.

The story is well-written and the pace doesn’t drag. The ending is well-crafted. Final details are placed in an epilogue. Some people like knowing how all the loose ends tie up. I guess the epilogue format allows the other people to skip them!

The cover leads one to expect a book with lots of horsey parts, however, other than the ownership of the stable and the intriguing Sally Blue, this book isn’t really about the horses. Perhaps there are other Cat Enright books in the works. At any rate the stable allows plenty of opportunities for interaction with a group of people.

Lisa Wysocky is also the author of several non-fiction books.

Visit Lisa Wysocky's web site Visit Cat Enright Stables blog

Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp is Published!

cover design by Farah Evers

 
Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp is ready for purchase!

It's available right now at Smashwords, and Amazon. Keep in mind the Kindle format is offered at Smashwords too.

Cost is $2.99- not as cheap as News from Dead Mule Swamp, but it's longer, and hopefully better written. It's still a great deal, and this price is in line with comparable mysteries.

Thank you, faithful readers, and enthusiasts who wanted to read more about the adventures of Anastasia Raven. Enjoy!

Synopsis:
When Anastasia Raven agrees to keep Paddy, her cousin's Irish Setter, for the summer, she didn't understand the mischievous nature of a large puppy. As a volunteer with Family Friends, she meets Corliss Leonard, and his granddaughters Star and Sunny, whose mother disappeared seven years ago. The girls fall in love with Paddy, but can the dog solve their problems?

Previously in the series:
#1- News from Dead Mule Swamp
#2- The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp

The Value of Multiple Beta Readers

cover design by Farah Evers

 
The editing of Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp is in full swing. I asked four people to beta-read the manuscript. Two are men and two women. Two had read the previous Anastasia Raven books, and two had not.

My hope was that this would give me a good variety of feedback, and that the readers who hadn't read the earlier stories would catch flaws related to providing enough background so that the book could stand on its own. I think it worked really well!

I've now processed the notes from all four readers. I have to admit that I'm quite impressed at the quality of their comments and honesty where things were confusing. Places where multiple people found a passage difficult were better than red flags. These sent up rockets of warning that I needed to fix something. Things that seem crystal clear when I wrote them may look muddy to someone whose brain works differently from mine.

Most of their suggestions I've taken to heart and tried to provide clarification without wandering down bunny trails.

It amazed me that each of the four people caught small errors and typos that the others didn't. It's SO easy to read right over mistakes like that. Having many eyes on a manuscript can help reduce the number of those kinds of goofs. We all make them, and it seems nearly impossible to get them all out. Yet, we should all strive for a professional final product.

Of course, the final decisions concerning how much to add or take out are mine, for better or worse. For example, I'm not on board with the current trend to take out almost every instance of the word "that." I've cut a lot of them, but personally, I think some sentences just sound stupid without it. OK- that's my little hissy fit for the day.

Seriously, if you are writing a book or a story, don't let yourself get bent out of shape over the idea of constructive criticism. Welcome it, listen to what people tell you, and think carefully about each of their suggestions.

Tomorrow, I'll start reading Paddy through once more, for any final changes I want to make.