This is the road through the middle of the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill near where I live. It’s peaceful looking, isn’t it? No traffic runs on it today except maybe what the workers of the living history museum there use to carry supplies, etc. But at one time this was the main road for everybody wanting to go between Harrodsburg and Lexington. And it wasn’t peaceful at all during the time of my Shaker novel that is being shipped out to stores and readers now. The Seeker takes place during the first two years of the Civil War and soldiers were continually marching along this road between battles and skirmishes. John Hunt Morgan actually mustered in his troops in the middle of the Shaker village since it was a central location for the soldiers from the nearby towns. Later Morgan came back through the village on one of his guerilla raids through the area. The Shakers hid their horses, but prepared food for the soldiers. They did that all through the war. Before the Battle at Perryville, the Shakers served 1,500 meals on one day to soldiers marching through the village. And I set my characters of The Seeker right down in the middle of it all.
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That’s one of the fun things about writing historical fiction. I get to read history out of the history books and then say what if this woman or this man (my characters) was there. What would they do? How would it change their lives? The War Between the States certainly changed our country and the lives of the people who lived then. That included the everyday life of the Shaker village.
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The Seeker is being shipped out to stores and those people who pre-ordered copies should be getting them in the mail soon. I got a couple of boxes of books today to have for my book launch in July and to take with me to the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference Friday and Saturday. I’ll be teaching three classes. Two on “Making Characters Come to Life” and one on “Revise, Revise, Revise.” Have no idea how many people will be in my classes, but hoping a few people sign up so that we can have fun learning together. I taught some writing classes for Community Ed several years ago and enjoyed teaching. But I like writing better.
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I did finally type “The End” on my work in progress, Shaker book four. But really that’s just another beginning. Now I have to go back and pay attention to my teaching about “Revise, Revise, Revise.” I’m anxious to read back through it and see what I need to do to make it better. Anxious as in excited as well as anxious in worried that I’ll see major holes that need patching. I’m hoping nothing too major since Mr. Deadline is stomping ever nearer.
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I’m doing a guest interview on Margaret Daley’s Blog tomorrow, June 10. Check it out at www.margaretdaley.blogspot.com. She had some great questions and if you make a comment there you’ll be entered in yet another drawing for a copy of The Seeker.
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I’ll draw for another winner in my book giveaways this weekend. Check out the details on my website, https://www.annhgabhart.com/. Hope I get to meet some of you this week at the KCWC. Two whole days of nothing but talking about writing and books. Sounds like great fun! If you’re in the area (Elizabethtown, KY is really close to a lot of towns in KY) and want to come, they are taking same day registrations at the door on Friday and Saturday morning. You can check things out at their website. http://www.kychristianwriters.com/.