my journey as a civil war novel writer

It had been ten years since my last visit to the US. Although I never see myself permanently living in another country there are a few places on earth that I really miss when I am not there. It doesn't happen often that I find a place like that and the feeling is not always consistent but it always comes back. And it makes me so happy to return to them. One such place is Glastonbury in the UK and another is Gettysburg in the US. There is something about Gettysburg that makes me feel at home. Weird for a battlefield I know. I also still consider myself a pacifist as well. Yet that place feels like home. It took a bit of planning and saving for this trip. My financial state is not what it was a few years ago and these days I have to make choices on what I do. I saved up for this trip for a few years and decided it was doable in the off season. May turned out to be perfect. Lovely weather but not the high prices for airplane and airb&b that you can get in July or August. Also imp...

As I am from Europe a fascination with the American civil war may not be the most logical thing. I grew up in the seventies and eighties and as we did not have that many tv channels then I devoured many American series on tv. And during those years many good historical series were made. I learned about history through watching tv. It was not until much late that I started reading books to verify that what I had learnt was the truth or learning the real truth. Series like Centennial and Roots remained with me throughout my life and made me cry at the injustice people inflict on each other. The civil war fascination really started with the blue and the gray and that was because my favourite actor during those days Gregory Peck had a small part in it. He played Abraham Lincoln. I was hooked.  When I had to chose a topic for my history paper in secondary school I did not have to think very long and picked the American civil war. I hit the library [no internet i...

So I finished the first draft of part of my novel. Now it comes to an important decision, am I writing only for myself or will I share it with others?  I have had a hard time lately with stress and I don't deal too well with negativity at the moment. If I share it with others and they don't like it would that hurt too much at the moment? And would people judge me for the subject of my story? A confederate general. Can we still write about his in these woke times?  I see the viewing of history is becoming problematic. The taking down of statues in the US is one example. Also thinking about people from history with today's knowledge. We judge people by our current standards. And that is a problem. Now I am not saying that there was not a problem in the 19th century. I am reading widely on the time period and I can't understand how one man can see another as inferior no better than an animal. Even then. That was wrong, insane. Slavery is insane. One person holding another ...

My last entry here was over 12 years ago wow! I feel like a different person now. I am not going to summarize the last 12 years but I have changed the title of this blog and it will be mostly about my journey to become a writer. There will also be posts about my life and travels and my 2.5 cats. The one on the right is my book guardian called shadow. My other cat is called Bella. And the 0.5 cat is called Lucki who lives two doors down but comes to visit every day. They are much loved and the masters of the house and the books.  

I am doing a bit better so today I want to return to the blog. Also because I think one of the reasons of the stress is clearing up. There was some disagreement with a friend that I hold very dear. And I think we are getting closer again. That makes me very happy. Later this afternoon I will send her another email. And then go into to wn to talk about my glasses situation once more and determine how much money I want to spend on them now. I also have two crowns coming up this year and none of these costs were planned. Gulp! But as promised books! I finished a book of lists. Movies made about the american civil war. It wasn't much more then a list with lots of photo's. But it did give me ideas for of the older movies I would still like to see. Not sure if they are available on DVD. I also finished the second J.D. Robb novel, Glory in Death. They are futuristic detective novels and I am really starting to like them. The third book I finished was a dutch book with tips for peole s...