Behind the Books

The Writing Life: A Single Scene in the Making

In case you've ever wondered why it takes so much time to write a historical novel, allow me to share with you last night's experience as a prime example. Right now I'm working on my third novel in the Heroines behind the Lines series, Yankee in Atlanta. I worked last night from about 5:30pm to 2am, with about an hour break to get the kids into bed. I wrote a single scene. *bashes head onto keyboard* *regains composure* Here's why. I wanted Noah to give Caitlin a shooting lesson before he leaves with the army. Sounds simple enough, right? Well... read on. And between each "Obstacle" just say to yourself "Time passes." Because it did. Ha! Obstacle #1: Where would you go to give shooting lessons? Away from the city, I decide, to be safe. OK, but where? What does it look like, sound like, smell like? I look at several maps of Atlanta in 1863-4, and see there is a creek about two miles east of the city. Good start, we can put them there. I look up "Sugar Creek, Georgia" using Google Images. Mostly a bunch of real estate comes up, but I do see trees. This makes sense. But what kind of trees, plants, grasses, flowers, etc. were there? I flip through my new book on native Georgia Wildflowers and find descriptions for the Upper Piedmont region. Now I know what the vegetation may have included. But what else? Stone Mountain is close to Atlanta. Could they have seen that in the distance? I look up some more maps, then look up the elevation of Stone Mountain and ultimately decide no, they would not have seen the mountain from where they were. Too bad. Finally, I can see where my characters are, and write: Out here, away from a city swollen with war and throbbing with nationalism, away from rutted roads that pulsed with people, away from fevered factories and screaming trains, Noah Becker could remember what he had loved most about America. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the pine scent carried by wind that hushed through the trees like a mother to her child. Sugar Creek gurgled and glittered in the sun, the land hugging its banks to it unsullied by man’s progress. The clink of his horse’s bridle, the drone of cicadas, the drilling of a woodpecker from some unseen place—[you can read the rest when it comes out!] Also: I remember that Carl Schurz, a German revolutionary who emigrated to the U.S. and fought in the Civil War, had a very romantic log-cabin view of American before he came here. I decide my character Noah Becker had a similar sentiment, as a German revolutionary immigrant himself. I decide to say so, since now we're out here away from the city in this scene, and he would have remembered his simplistic vision of America. But I want to remember exactly what it was Carl Shurz said about this. So I look up his Reminiscences on my Kindle and do a search for "log cabin" until I find the passage I'm looking for. Bingo. I write the next paragraph with confidence. Obstacle #2: I have never fired a gun before, let alone a Civil War gun. How does one do it? Well, first I have to decide on the weapon Noah leaves at home for Caitlin to use. Although I now know how to load and fire a Civil War musket/rifle from last year's research, I decide that he would be taking the rifle with him as a soldier. If he has an extra revolver, he could leave that with her to defend herself and her home. Right, a revolver. What kind of revolver would a Southern man have? How would you use it? I search online for firearm safety tips and find generic common sense things, such as don't store it loaded, don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot, etc. OK, but I need something more specific. I go to YouTube and after viewing several unhelpful videos (time passes, time passes) I find a video so brilliant I pinned it to my Yankee in Atlanta Pinterest board. Now I see a revolver (the Kerr) which my character could have used. (I'm saying a Rebel veteran client paid him for his legal services with this gun about a year ago, since Confederate money was so depreciated.) Not only do I get to see the gun, but the guy in the video shows me how to load it AND fire it, I get to see the accuracy of the thing, I see the recoil, what it sounds like...in short, it's a jackpot. For you fellow Civil War enthusiasts, here it is: Problem solved. [UPDATE: I ended up NOT using this gun, because I found a real live Civil War firearms expert who set me straight. Problem solved... again.] Obstacle #3: When Noah stands behind Caitlin as she's about to fire, he can smell her. But what does she smell like? Soap was a scarce commodity in the South. I pull out two books from my shelf: Ersatz in the Southern Confederacy (a book on Southern shortages and substitutions) and a little booklet on Civil War Herbs and Plants I picked up at one of a few Civil War museums I visited earlier this summer. Neither one is organized very well, so I go fishing for references to soap. [Time passes] In both places, I find that chinaberries made the best soap, and did not require grease. Great! But these books refer to chinaberry soap in Mississippi and Virginia. Were there chinaberries in Georgia? I look in my Georgia Wildflowers book but the index is incomplete and I lose patience. I Google chinaberry and Georgia, and find information that makes me comfortable in saying Caitlin made her own chinaberry soap. That's what she smelled like. Also, the scent is sweet and mild. Problem solved. Sidetrack: There is an ad on the Google article sidebar for some piece of news, and I click on it because I am woefully behind in current events. (Gee I wonder why.) But it ends up being a huge page of celebrity gossip. I actually spend a moment scanning the headlines, but refrain from clicking on anything that will take me deeper into the abyss. Pull out! I tell myself. Pull out! I close the Web page and return to my Word doc. Those were my three main obstacles last night. Other sidetracks included: Telling Pandora that "Yes, I'm still listening" so many times I give up and play my own music. I tried the soundtrack to Limitless, the movie about a writer who takes a wonder drug and finishes his book in three days. I spend time wondering, if presented with such a temptation, would I take the pill? Hmmmm.... Posting on Facebook that I am trying to write a sparky (romantically speaking) scene, and then checking back every once in a while to see comments on my post. (Hey, being a writer can get lonely.) Staring at my fingernails and cuticles Rolling around on my bouncy ball, pretending I'm giving my core a "work-out" during my moments of writer's block Rubbing BioFreeze into my right upper back, and onto my right forearm Looking up various words at dictionary.com to make sure they were in use in 1863 Gazing longingly at the covers of my first two novels and visualizing the day when this book, too, shall be DONE Snacks. I made a few trips to the kitchen. String cheese, blueberries, brownies. Not all at once. That was just one scene. I'm not even going to tell you how much time I spent looking for the perfect Greek Revival floorplan for Noah's house before hearing from a historian in Marietta that maybe a plantation plain style would be better for him. Or how long I researched dog breeds that were popular in Georgia homes before and during the Civil War. I'm sure other writers are way faster than me. But this is a glimpse into my process. It is S-L-O-W. But I hope the end result will be a novel you can trust. :) P.S. I may not be blogging again until the book is done. Now you know why. :)

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Behind the Books

Behind the Scenes: My Civil War Writing Soundtrack

You know I'm about to start writing another Civil War novel when I receive four more Civil War movie soundtrack CDs in the mail from Amazon! My most recent special deliveries: Lincoln, Gone with the Wind, Gods & Generals, and Dances with Wolves. I love writing with music in the background that stirs emotion and evokes a sense of Civil War drama. Here is my complete Civil War playlist. So far. :) Movie soundtracks are wonderful because the difference between a slow, contemplative song and a fast-paced "action" scene song remind me that as a novelist, my scenes should be about action and reaction. A novel full of action but with no time for the characters to digest what that means to them or for them could be a roller-coaster ride, but super shallow on character development. Likewise, a novel that's all about interior monologue needs to be spiced up with some action scenes. So writing with soundtracks has worked well for me. BUT-when I'm editing, I don't listen to any music at all. I don't want the music in the background to trick me into thinking my writing is good if it really doesn't stand on its own. By the time I'm done writing, the novel should be able to evoke its own emotion, without a soundtrack in the background. Now that I have my soundtrack all lined up, it's time to really get serious about my writing time. That means I'm going to drop off the blogosphere and Facebook for a little while. I'll pop my head up every once in a while, but for the most part, I need to buckle down and crank out the chapters. Yankee in Atlanta is calling my name. And I'm pretty excited. It's going to be a great story...

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Behind the Books

Civil War soundtracks

writing life

Civil War Amputations and Anesthesia

It’s impossible to write a Civil War novel about medical care in the Union army without having at least some text devoted to amputations. Here’s some of the information that helped me as I wrote both Wedded to War and Widow of Gettysburg. Contrary to popular belief, the days of “biting the bullet” (or a leather strap) during an amputation were over by the time of the Civil War. Anesthesia was available in the form of chloroform and ether, even in field hospitals. However, if the soldier had been wounded more than 24 hours prior to amputation, the surgeon would not give anesthesia for fear the patient would not recover from it. And unfortunately, the Confederacy had a severe shortage of medicines, including these, to work with. So even though the medicine existed, there were plenty of cases where the patients had to go without it. But in the cases where anesthesia was available, there were specific guidelines for how to administer it. Chloroform According to the Manual of Military Surgery Prepared for the Use of the Confederate States Army (published 1863): Chloroform should be given in the fresh air with the patient’s head on a pillow and the body remaining horizontal throughout inhalation. Clothing should be loosened about the neck, chest and abdomen so that breathing is not restricted. Only a light but nutritious meal should be given earlier, or the state of unconsciousness during the second stage of the anesthetic might bring on vomiting. Before giving the chloroform, first give brandy. (Union surgeons did not always follow this point. They used alcohol stimuli only on physically depressed patients because they felt it could slow down the induction of anesthesia in a healthy patient.) The Confederate manual went on to instruct: “all special instruments of inhalation have been discarded, and a towel or napkin, folded into a cone, by having its corners turned down, is not almost universally employed for the purpose. The chloroform, about a drachm (one-eighth ounce) is poured into this cone, and is held over the patient’s mouth and nostrils which should previously have been anointed.” Holding the cone a half-inch from the patient’s face prevented facial blistering and allowed adequate air flow. The first stage of anesthesia was one of excitement, producing “muttering, wild eyed, the cries, the exalted imagination” followed by “violent struggles, attempts to rise, and rigid contraction.” If the spasm extended to the larynx, there would be danger of breathing being obstructed. Surgeons were instructed to remove the cone temporarily if this were the case. The second stage was that of unconsciousness, insensibility and relaxation of the voluntary muscles. Eyelids would no longer contract when touched. The pulse would slow and weaken, respiration became shallow and feeble. Ether Ether was slow-acting, had a foul smell patients objected to, and caused coughing. But it was frequently used in general hospitals where time was not as pressing, because, unlike chloroform, it did not cause vomiting, prostration or increased excitement. It was also far less dangerous if the wrong dose was given. Throughout the Civil War, only four deaths were recorded from overdoses of ether, while chloroform’s rate was 5.4 deaths for every thousand that used it. The Operation The book, Civil War Medicine, by C. Keith Wilbur, M.D. has easy-to-understand explanations and diagrams of various types of amputations. Those interested in primary source material for the operations can thank SonoftheSouth.net for posting excerpts from The Practice of Surgery by Samuel Cooper, here: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/amputation.htm The book, written in 1820, would have served as the how-to guide for surgeons in the beginning of the war. These online excerpts provide detailed instructions for amputation of legs, arms, fingers and toes, including photos of original Civil War instruments. Carl Schurz, commander of the Union’s 11th Corps at Gettysburg, offers this account of amputations after the battle: Most of the operating tables were placed in the open where the light was best some of them partially protected against the rain by tarpaulins or blankets stretched upon poles. There stood the surgeons their sleeves rolled up to the elbows, their bare arms as well as their linen aprons smeared with blood, their knives not seldom held between their teeth while they were helping a patient on or off the table, or had their hands otherwise occupied around them pools of blood and amputated arms or legs in heaps sometimes more than man high. Antiseptic methods were still unknown at that time. As a wounded man was lifted on the table often shrieking with pain as the attendants handled him the surgeon quickly examined the wound and resolved upon cutting off the injured limb. Some ether was administered and the body put in position in a moment. The surgeon snatched his knife from between his teeth where it had been while his hands were busy, wiped it rapidly once or twice across his blood stained apron and the cutting began. The operation accomplished the surgeon would look around with a deep sigh. and then—“Next!” Read The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz at Google Books here: http://bit.ly/OCf1CD Recommended Sources: For more in-depth study, in addition to the resources I listed on my last post, I recommend: Cooper, Samuel. The Practice of Surgery. London: A and R Spottiswoode, 1820. Available at Google Books here: http://bit.ly/OvS97P. Hamilton, Frank Hastings. A Practical Treatise on Military Surgery. New York: Balliere Brothers, 1861. Available at Google Books here: http://bit.ly/O72JCN Teacher Tube video (5 min.) from the Museum of the Confederacy about amputations and artificial limbs. Not graphic at all. http://bit.ly/SZhlEF

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Revealed: Evolution of a Book Cover

Since Widow of Gettysburg has now had THREE (count them three) "final" covers that have each appeared at all the online retail sites, I thought showing you the evolution of the cover would be fitting. If nothing else, I'm sure I've confused you by posting varying covers for the same book, so it's time to explain! Before I go any further, THIS is THE FINAL FOR REAL cover of Widow of Gettysburg. Just finalized last week. Ta-da! Now here's how we got there. Step One: Shortly after Wedded to War released in July 2012, RiverNorth asks me to give them some ideas for images that would work for covers for the rest of the books in the Heroines Behind the Lines series. For Widow's cover, I throw out several ideas: how about the farmhouse turned field hospital, or maybe the battlefield, or perhaps. . . I don't even remember the rest. Step Two: They give me six conceptual covers to choose from, based on my suggestions, which clearly, were all awful. The farmhouse image isn't dramatic enough. The battlefield is too grotesque, not in good taste. The models on the covers are all wearing dresses I hate. Half are black for mourning, and half are just not right. I can't even find a single face on any of the six models that I like. Either their facial expression aren't appropriate, or they aren't pretty enough, or they are the wrong age. I tell myself not to be nervous, all of this can be fixed. Step Three: I have two brainstorms amidst my book cover angst (not to worry, all authors get a case of this from time to time, it's perfectly normal). One--I suddenly remember a Gettsyburg image from July 1863 which I love. Check it out, below. Some of you may recognize the building in the background as the Lutheran Theological Seminary building. It's one of the main landmarks/historic buildings Gettysburg is known for. The cupola was used as a vantage point for both Union and Confederate leaders, the building itself was used as a hospital during and after the battle, and my character Liberty has a scene there. Another character in my book was a former student there. Perfect, right? Also very fun--this building is the very spot where I conducted my research in the fall of 2010, when the Adams County Historical Society had their archives there. I took a photo of it when I made the trip (shown below) having NO idea that the inspiration I was about to find inside would lead to a series of Civil War novels. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"935", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-110 aligncenter", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"574", "height":"430", "alt":"Adams County Historical Society. This building once held wounded soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg."}}]] So I feel like I landed on a perfect new background image for the cover, and tell RiverNorth, while apologizing all over myself for not just thinking of this in the first place and saving the designer the time and effort already spent. Second brainstorm: The dress. I decide not to put the model in black for the cover because by the time we meet our main character, she is about to finish her official mourning period for her late husband, who was killed in the First Battle of Bull Run two years earlier. That opens up more possibilities. Now what? I had been "pinning" photos of Civil War era fashions on Pinterest for a few months by this point, and suggest to RiverNorth that I select several and allow you readers to vote on your favorites. Remember that? If so, you remember that's exactly what we did. (See that blog post here.) The winner: a coral day dress appropriate to a young woman living on a Pennsylvania farm in 1863. What I love about this dress is that it was really worn during the 1860s. I found it on an auction site--you can see close-ups and different angles of the dress here. It's threadbare beneath where the apron would be, stained in a few places and has some small holes in it. The hoops beneath aren't super wide--this was an ordinary girl's dress, not for formal occasions. Definitely an authentic look for Widow's cover! So now we have the background figured out AND the dress. I leave the rest up to RiverNorth. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"767", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-full wp-image-877", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"193", "height":"299", "alt":"widow cover 1"}}]] Step Four: They send me Final Book Cover #1 (see at right), and I am happy with it, except that in the book, Liberty's hair is curly, and it looks straight here. Oh well, I think, I'm not going to nitpick anymore! And I gleefully post the cover on Facebook for all the world to see. I think it's so great that the dress and seminary sort of match. :) Step Five: RiverNorth shows the book cover to some other staff and receive some pushback on Liberty's look. She doesn't look the way I've described her in the book enough. So they revise her, and we get Final Book Cover #2: [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"936", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-878 alignleft", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"277", "height":"430", "alt":"widow cover 2"}}]] This is better! Her face and hair look more like what I was picturing as I wrote. Not so anemic. I notice they added a collar to her dress, too. OK, fine. Her eyes don't seem as blue to me as I wanted them to be, but I won't mention it. I gleefully post to Facebook for all the world to see. Step Six: RiverNorth shows this cover to a very well-respected consultant who says immediately, "I don't like it." Liberty looks weak, she says. She's just standing there with her hands folded. "I need to see more resolve and motion." We get three seconds of a reader's attention before she decides whether or not to flip to the back cover or open it up. That's all. So RiverNorth decides to heed this insight, for which I am very grateful. Another improvement? Great! Ony problem--time is running out. They have to change it fast. I wonder--how are they going to show more resolve? Hand her an amputation kit? Gross. Step Seven: RiverNorth sends me two revisions from the designer. One of them is a close-up similar to what you saw at the beginning of this post. The second is of a woman with her hands on her hips but her face is cut off a little above the chin. I didn't like that, so voted for the close-up. "She looks stronger now," I say, "but I still don't see any motion. I wish her hair could be blowing in the wind, but it's pinned up so there's not much to work with." I feel sort of bad for pointing this out, but to my utmost delight, RiverNorth agrees with me. "Yes! Windblown hair! Let's do it!" (That was a paraphrase.) Feeling confident, I add, "As long as you're changing it, can we make her eyes definitely blue?" Time is still running out. The change must be made in a day, two at the most. But they did it, and that brings us to Final For Real Cover #3. I know you've already seen this at the beginning, but let's just look at it one more time for fun, shall we? [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"937", "attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"463", "height":"717", "alt":"Widow cover 3"}}]] I LOVE that they put in the extra effort for this, even at the last minute. Love the hair, don't you? One last little piece of cool book cover trivia--the Seminary building pictured is currently being converted into the Seminary Ridge Museum, where I will be doing a book signing this coming summer during their 150th anniversary of the battle festivities. WOW. Talk about full circle! (More details on that signing to come later!) The chief operating officer of this museum was a historical consultant for my novel, and has endorsed it. And now, please excuse me while I gleefully post this to Facebook for all the world to see. (Feel free to do the same!) The online retail sites will catch up later. :)

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Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Book Trailer

Publishing and promoting a book is definitely a team effort, and one of the teams whose work I am most fascinated by is the one who created this book trailer for Wedded to War, the first book in my Heroines Behind the Lines series. Read on for an interview with Phil Jacoby, creative producer of Mothlight Creative, the company who made this happen. (Behind the scenes photos from the filming days included!) *See the book trailer here--and then come on back to read how they did it! Jocelyn: Watching the book trailer, I could tell that you knew more about Wedded to War than just what was on the back cover. You used a piece of dialogue, the characters looked so much the way I described them in the book, and I recognized all the scenes in the trailer as actually being part of the plot. How did you do that? Did one of you read the book or get the cliff notes version from someone at RiverNorth? You were spot on! Phil: We were given a manuscript by RiverNorth. We all read a bit of it, but Luke, our director, read a good deal of the book. We knew we wanted to be able to capture the characters, at least the main characters, as closely as possible. And to do that in the length of a single trailer we knew we would have to understand the story and the relationships as well as any reader might. In order to do that, we had to read it (or at least most of it). [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"733", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-737", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"672", "height":"378", "title":"Screen Shot 2012-06-29 at 2 18 22 PM", "alt":""}}]] Screen shot from the trailer Jocelyn: Take me through the process of creating a book trailer, from the time you accept the job to completion. Briefly, what are the steps? How long does it take? Phil: It all depends on the project. We pitched a few directions to the publisher and the decision was made to proceed with the live-action option. Budget and time dictate (to an extent) what is possible in any project so we had to come up with a way to tell the story without overtelling it, lest we run out of time and/or resources. Once we had mapped out which parts of the story we wanted to hint at in the trailer we spent a few days– maybe a week– planning out shots, locations, finding actors, wardrobe, etc. From the time the project was approved to delivering the final product was roughly a month or so. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"922", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-728", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"477", "title":"settinghospitaltent", "alt":""}}]] Setting up the hospital tent [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"734", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-738", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"672", "height":"378", "title":"Screen Shot 2012-06-29 at 2 26 11 PM", "alt":""}}]] Screen shot from trailer: inside the tent Jocelyn: Where did you find your actors and actresses (including extras)? I noticed in one of your blog posts you mentioned some Mothlight staff were in the trailer too. Can you identify which ones those were? Phil: The actors who played the two main characters [Charlotte and Caleb] were hired from a local talent agency. We often pull from a list of people we know to act in videos, but we wanted to find people who fit the descriptions given in the book. The rest of the actors were Mothlight staff and friends. Two of the soldiers are Mothlight employees. The other three soldiers are friends of the staff. The woman who is the friend of the main character (seen giving birth in the trailer) [Ruby] is our director's wife and the villain of the story– the mustached character– was played by me. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"923", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-729", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"477", "title":"instructingcaleb", "alt":""}}]] Giving instructions to actor who played Caleb [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"735", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-739", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"672", "height":"378", "title":"Screen Shot 2012-06-29 at 2 23 52 PM", "alt":""}}]] Screen shot from trailer: Caleb and Charlotte Jocelyn: So you played Phineas! I love it! [Readers, see Phil's photo when he's not playing my villain on this page. Very dastardly expression on the third of his photos!] Where did you find the costumes and set pieces? Loved the amputation saw, by the way. Phil: The costumes and most of the props were furnished by a couple who live just outside of Pittsburgh. She is a writer for a local newspaper and he is a professor at a local university. In their spare time they are civil war re-enactors. When I told them about your book they looked it up and knew exactly which historical characters were being referenced and what the time period would have looked and felt like. All of the wardrobe belonged to them as well as the surgical tools and all of the weapons. The indoor sets and other various accessories were prepared for us by our co-director's wife. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"924", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-730", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"477", "title":"preppingpatient", "alt":""}}]] Behind the scenes: prepping the patient [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"736", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-740", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"672", "height":"378", "title":"Screen Shot 2012-06-29 at 2 28 08 PM", "alt":""}}]] Screen shot from trailer Jocelyn: I read on your Web site that the music you used was an original score you created, as well. I am so impressed! You did a beautiful job capturing the spirit and drama of Wedded to War with that music. How do you determine the best tone (in terms of music) for a book trailer? Phil: The score was created by Paul, one of our animators, and myself. We decided what the general tone of the trailer was and then added a pace to it. Music and sound tend to tell an audience how to feel about something, so even if we filmed images that we thought of as sad or tense, the audience would not necessarily fully believe those things unless the music told them to. I came up with a melody on guitar and Paul came up with a cooperative melody on piano. Once we had those things figured out all it took was placing percussion and small musical textures in the right places to create the dynamic shifts. We are pretty happy with how it turned out. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"925", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-731 ", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"477", "title":"housenotburning", "alt":""}}]] Behind the scenes: "Charlotte" runs from a building that is not burning. The team made it look as though it was on fire for the trailer using Adobe After Effects. Cool, huh? Jocelyn: Well I was more than pretty happy with it--I was thrilled. It was one of the first things I noticed. Were there any surprises or challenges that you encountered during the filming? Phil: I'm don't know if there were any surprises, but the heat was certainly a challenge. We filmed the trailer in mid July and the costumes, save for a couple of the dresses, were made of heavy wool. We were fortunate to have beautiful days on which to film, but it meant that we were right under the sun for the outdoor shots and the indoor shots were filmed in house that has no air conditioning. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"926", "attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-732", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"477", "title":"cameramen", "alt":""}}]] Jocelyn: That sounds like the way the characters experienced those scenes too--very hot, no air conditioning. Sweat is authentic. :) Now, last question. I’ve seen a lot of book trailers, some more impressive than others. In your professional opinion, what makes a trailer effective? Phil: A trailer is not supposed to tell you everything. A trailer is supposed to entice you. It is supposed to show you something indicative without spelling things out for you. I think a good trailer, be it for a film or a book, knows when to stop. It invites you, but it doesn't let you in. Jocelyn: Thank you so much, Phil, for your work on the trailer and for taking the time to answer all my questions! For more information about Mothlight Creative, visit the Web site here. BONUS: Book cover photo shoots are something else I find very interesting. We haven't done that for my books, but if you want to know a little about how it's done, check out this blog post from Joanne Bischof about the cover for her book Be Still, My Soul. Also super fun is this music video by Brandon Hill of two historical book cover photo shoots. Just so cool. And finally, a behind the scenes post on the cover shoot for Laura Frantz's upcoming book, Love's Awakening. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"927", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-741", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"672", "height":"378", "title":"Screen Shot 2012-06-29 at 2 22 18 PM", "alt":""}}]] Parting shot from trailer

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Wedded to War Historic Sites of Washington City

Last month I shared with you five historic sites of New York City that appear in my Civil war novel Wedded to War. Today, I want to take you to Washington, DC--or Washington City, as it was commonly referred to in 1861. There are many sites not on this list simply because the buildings no longer exist. My goal is to show you places both "then" and "now" that you can actually visit today. First, to give you a general idea, here's what Charlotte Waverly and her sister Alice Carlisle saw upon arriving from New York City: "The tour of the capital was disappointing, if not downright depressing. The 'city of magnificent distances' sprawled out in every direction, with long stretches of shanties, taverns, and vacant lots between a few marble buildings looking wholly out of place in the swampy city: the Capitol, the General Post Office, the Patent Office, the Treasury, the Executive Mansion, and the Smithsonian Institution. . . . Fish and oyster peddlers cried out from the corners, hawking their wares, while flocks of geese waddled on Pennsylvania Avenue and hogs of every size and color wallowed in the mud from Capitol Hill to Judiciary Square. In some neighborhoods, people still emptied slop and refuse into the gutters, and dead animals into the city canals." ~Wedded to War Now let's zoom in. 1) The Capitol "The Capitol building was unimpressive, a blunted, unfinished dome holding up the skeletal frame with a metal crane perched on top. Even the marble wings on the old sandstone Capitol building were so new they had no steps yet. Littering the grounds were columns, blocks of marble, keystones, carvings, lumber and iron plates, workmen's sheds, and depots for coal and wood. Rather than a stately symbol of a proud and steady country, it looked instead like an ambitious plan still under construction but with no certainty that any sense of order would ever prevail. Perhaps it was a fitting symbol of the nation, after all." ~Wedded to War Not everything in the above excerpt is visible in the old photo, taken in March 1861 during Lincoln's inauguration, but hopefully your imagination can help fill in the blanks. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"720", "attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-674", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"341", "title":"uscapitol", "alt":""}}]]The photo at left was taken May 15, 1861, and gives a better view of the construction materials lying around. By this time, more than 3000 soldiers were quartered in the House chamber. All work on the building was halted that day, and the iron contractors were told that they would not be paid until the country’s financial outlook improved. With more than 1.3 million pounds of iron stockpiled on the site, the contractors, Janes, Fowler & Kirtland continued the work without pay. More soldiers arrived every day during the spring and summer of 1861. Not only did they need places to sleep, but food, as well. One hundred fifty bakers worked around the clock in the cellars under the Capitol's west wing to bake 60,000 loaves daily. They were taken by wagon to the army camps encircling the city. Of course the Capitol has come a long way since then. No visit to Washington would be complete without a stop here. The Visitor Center is open Mondays through Saturdays, but you would need to book a tour of the building in advance. Directions are here. Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect of Central Park and executive secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission from 1861-1863, later returned to Washington City and designed the Capitol Hill grounds. 2) The Washington Monument Though the cornerstone of the Washington Monument had been laid July 4, 1848 (the close of the Mexican War), chronic shortages of funds abbreviated its growth until, by 1861, this stump was all but abandoned. The sheds you see in the photo above housed stone gifts intended for interior walls. This place became known as the Beef Depot, since beginning in May 1861, a large herd of cattle was brought here to graze while awaiting slaughter to feed the Union army. It was a pubilc nuisance which continued throughout the war. Walt Whitman complained of the ten thousand cows here. Other uses for this space included billeting transient troops, training grounds for cavalry and infantry, and occasional testing of new weapons. Today, at 555 feet tall, it is the dominant feature of Washington, D.C.'s skyline. The difference in shading on the monument we see today marks the line where construction stopped. The capstone was finally placed in 1884. Visit the National Park Service's Web site for the monument here. It is near the center of the National Mall. Find directions here. Also on the National Mall (which was not called that yet in 1861) was the Armory Square Hospital, where Charlotte Waverly nursed after the second Battle of Bull Run. It was built according to U.S. Sanitary Commission recommendations and had one thousand beds in twelve pavilions. Here's an illustration of it below, made in 1864, hence the finished Capitol Dome. 3) The White House Wedded to War's only scene in the White House takes place on Monday, Feb. 24, 1862. . . "The huge gilt mirrors in the East Room of the White House were draped in mourning, black fabric covering the frames, and white on the glass. Grief hung so thickly in the air Edward Goodrich felt as if he was choking on it. He had never been to a child's funeral before, and he'd never dreamed that his first one would be for President Lincoln's boy. But four days ago, in this very mansion, typhoid fever had claimed the life of eleven-year-old Williw. The entire nation mourned the loss, and Edward had a front row seat to the gut-wrenching grief of a parent burying his child." ~Wedded to War The East Room during Lincoln’s administration (pictured above) had wall-to-wall red and blue floral carpeting, wallpaper with gold highlights, massive glass chandeliers, tall golden mirrors, and a long rectangular table for dinner parties. It was the most impressive room in the White House. Mary Lincoln was too overwrought to attend her son's funeral, and wept in her rooms upstairs instead. Visit The White House Historical Society Web site for a wealth of information. To schedule a tour of the White House, you must submit a request through your Congressperson, up to six months in advance, and not less than 21 days in advance. See details here. For the rest of us, there is a virtual tour here. Incidentally, the White House grounds shown above were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted's son, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 4) Treasury Building Lady clerks leaving the Treasury Building In April 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott, then commander of the small Union army, decided the Treasury Building would be the city's last holdout in the event of an attack, protecting the President and Cabinet. This plan was never used. The Treasury Building also housed the small office of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, where Frederick Law Olmsted wrote his reports and recommendations for the army camps in and around Washington. Elsewhere in the building, supplies of the Commission were kept. Below we see the main Treasry building as it stands today at the corner of 15th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Tours of the Main Treasury Building are available by advanced reservation through your Congressional offices. For more information on tours and reservations, please click here. You can also take a narrated Virtual Tour of the Main Treasury Building. 5) Pensylvania Avenue Many historic addresses make their home on Pennsylvania Ave., including the White House and the Treasury Building. Imagine this road as it was on the morning of July 22, 1861--it was raining, muddy, and full of mobs of Union soldiers retreating after a shocking (at least to them) defeat at Bull Run. On this street, the Sanitary Commission set up tables to feed them and waited for ambulances to bring in their wounded. Ambulances came back--empty. The wounded that couldn't walk had been left on the field. An obscure address today is 627 Pennsylvania Ave., but back in the Civil War, it was the home of Matthew Brady's National Photographic Art Gallery. Matthew Brady was the world's first war photgrapher of note, considered by many the father of photojournalism. He took portraits of key figures in the war, and was on the fields at Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and more. If you want to see his work, have fun browsing the National Archives' Flickr collection. There are thousands here. 6) New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Though we don't see New York Ave. Presbyterian Church in Wedded to War, we do meet its pastor, Dr. Phineas Gurley, and heard him preach at the funeral of Willie Lincoln in the East Room of the White House. You may find the full text of that sermon here. In July 1862 the Army was in dire need of more hospital space. Dr. Gurley, as pastor, announced one morning that services would be suspended indefinitely since the building was needed for the wounded. According to Mr. Lincoln's City by Richard M. Lee: On hearing this, President Lincoln stood up in his pew, interrupting, "Dr. Gurley, this action was taken withouth my consent, and I hereby countermand the order. The churches are needed as never before for divine services." This was the Lincoln family's church throughout the Civil War. The Lincolns rented a particular pew, which was a customary means of supporting a church at that time. The "Lincoln pew" remains in approximately the same place it was in the 1860s. Visitors are allowed to sit in it, and any time a U.S. president attends, he and his family are seated in the Lincoln pew. For more information on this historic church, including photos of the Lincoln pew, and the Lincoln stained glass window, visit here. The address is 1313 New York Ave. NW. 7) St. John's Church "St. John's Church was emptier than usual today, and the conspicuous gaps in the high-backed pews distracted Charlotte from the sermon. Outside, the steady sound of carriages, gigs, hacks, and wagons rolling by was like one continuous low roll of thunder, punctuated by riders' laughter and son, and by champagne bottles clinking at their feet." ~ Wedded to War In the excerpt above, the congregation in St. John's Church heard the sounds of people skipping church to go picnic-ing on the battlefield near Manassas, Virginia, twenty-five miles west of Washington City, for a glimpse of the battle of Bull Run. It was July 21, 1861. After the church service, Gen. Winfield Scott shook hands with those who were there, then went home to take his afternoon nap, having no clue the disaster that was about to befall the Union army. St. John's Church on Lafayette Square is one of the most historic buildings of the city, and its appearance is unchanged since the Civil War--which is great for me, since I couldn't find a photo earlier than 1918 anyway. :) Known as the Church of the Presidents, James Madison and several early presidents after him were communicants, as were more recent chief executives. The bell in St. John's steeple was cast by Paul Revere's son, Joseph, at his Boston foundry in August 1822 and installed at St. John's on November 30, 1822. St. John's bell is one of two Revere bells in Washington, both cast and installed in 1822. However, of the two, St. John's bell is the only one that has been in continuous service since its installation. Find location and directions here. The church is open daily and is free to enter. Tours of the church are available on a regular basis following the 11:00 a.m. service (10:30 a.m. during the summer) on most Sundays. Special tours may be arranged by contacting the church office at 202.347.8766. 8 ) Willard's Hotel Willard's Hotel While Frederick Law Olmsted worked out of his office in the Treasury Building for the Sanitary Commission, he stayed in Willard's Hotel. Before the Lincolns moved into the White House, they stayed here. During the war, Willard's Hotel was known as the gathering place for Union supporters, and the heart of the Union, even more so than the Capitol building. Its bars, sitting rooms, corridors and dining rooms were full of lobbyists, politicians, contractors, officers, financiers, war correspondens, and anyone else who wished to learn anything or have any influence over the fate of the Union. It was in the lobby of the Willard Hotel that Ulysses S. Grant popularized the term "lobbyist." But more than just deals and handshakes took place here. On Nov. 19, 1861, Julia Ward Howe spent the night here, and in the predawn hours, awoke with lyrics running through her mind. Hastily, she wrote them down, to the tune of John Brown's Body, and went back to bed. She had just written the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which would become the rallying cry of the Northern army. In Wedded to War, while working in a field hospital on the Virginia peninsula, Charlote and other women sang this hymn to boost morale--and to drown out the drone of the wounded. Charlotte Waverly and Alice Carlise (my fictional characters) were staying across the street at the Ebbitt House when Julia Ward Howe was at Willard's. As a side note, the Ebbitt House is no longer in existence, but here is what it looked like: Original Ebbitt House For more history on the Ebbitt House, click here. Now back to Willard's. There is now an exlusive, luxury hotel at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave., called simply The Willard Washington DC. Directions and a photo gallery of the interior are here. The Willard This concludes the Wedded to War Historic Sites of Washington City tour! If I find more, I’ll add them. But my next project will be the Wedded to War Historic Sites of Virginia! Wondering what Wedded to War is all about? Click here for an overview and book trailer.

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Wedded to War Historic Sites of New York City

Monday, April 22, 1861 New York City When Charlotte and Alice told their mother they were taking the omnibus down Broadway, they weren't lying. They just didn't tell her where they would be getting off. There was simply no time for an argument today. So begins Wedded to War--on one of the most famous and historic avenues in the world. In fact, many scenes in Wedded to War are set in locations you can still visit today. If you love history, this blog post highlighting some of them is for you. (Future blog posts will feature historic sites in Washington and Virginia, the other two "stages" for the dramas in Wedded to War.) 1) Broadway Since the book begins on Broadway, let's start there on our virtual tour, too. Broadway 1860 Today, Broadway looks nothing like the above photo, but it did have a few things in common: dirt, noise and crowds. The avenue throbbed with life, like an artery coursing down the island of Manhattan. Ten days into the war, recruiting offices for the Union army had already cropped up along the avenue, their entrances clogged with eager young men. Between Canal Street and Houston, the street teemed with gentlemen in spats and ladies in silks, their musk colognes and lavender perfumes cloying on the warm breeze. The white marble facade of St. Nicholas Hotel between Broome and Spring Streets dominated the west side of Broadway. In front of The Marble Palace facing Canal Street, porters in their brass-buttoned, blue uniforms opened carriage doors and escorted their elite customers inside, where they would no doubt spend staggering sums on the latest Parisian fashions. ~Wedded to War Five Points A few blocks south and east of all this opulence was the world's most notorious slum--Five Points. (See a map of the area here.) The street names have changed in the last 150 years, and there is no discernible sign of the former poverty that marked this area. I don't really recommend making a special trip to see it. The illustration at right was made in the 1850s, and the one below, which was in Frank Leslie's Illustrate Newspaper, was published after the Civil War. Both are very similar to what the characters in Wedded to War saw and experienced. If Broadway was Manhattan's artery, Five Points was its abscess: swollen with people, infected with pestilence, inflamed with vice and crime. Groggeries, brothels, and dance halls put private sin on public display. Although the neighborhood seemed fairly self-contained, more fortunate New Yorkers were terrified of Five Points erupting, spreading its contagion to the rest of them. This was where the Waverly sisters got off. ~Wedded to War 2) St. Patrick's Old Cathedral When we first meet the character Ruby O'Flannery, she is outside St. Patrick's Cathedral on Mott Street, searching the Irish 69th Regiment for a glimpse of her husband Matthew. Here is what that scene may have looked like, below. We also see Ruby revisit the cathedral later in the novel, but stay outside the fence for reasons I will not divulge here. :) Visitors to New York City can still visit this cathedral, which is now referred to as Old St. Patrick's, since there is a more recently constructed cathedral by the same name. This is what it looks like today (below). St. Patrick's Old Cathedral After Ruby's visit to the cathedral, she returns to her tenement in the 14th Ward. If you're interested in tenement living, do check out the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. It chronicles the lives of residents over several generations, beginning in 1863, and looks fascinating! If I get back to the city, I will definitely go there myself! Directions to the Tenement Museum. Tenement Museum 3) Bellevue Hospital He offered her a cup of lemonade as if seeing each other again were the most natural thing in the world. As if a decade of silence between them made no difference whatsoever. "I'm just in town for some lectures on anesthesia at Bellevue Hospital this week. Two of the other doctors at Bellevue were invited to attend the ball this evening but one of them had to bow out when a patient began bleeding after surgery. . ." ~Wedded to War Bellevue Hospital was a mere mention in the early part of Wedded to War, but without that lecture Dr. Caleb Lansing attended there, he and Charlotte would never have met at that ball just after the start of the Civil War. The hospital itself is America's oldest public hospital, and a magnificent piece of architecture. Take a look at what Dr. Lansing would have seen: In order to serve more patients, the building was expanded in 2005, but the original facade of the old Administration Building wasn't torn down. Instead, it is preserved in a glass atrium. For better photos, including some which showcase the hospital's impressive Christmas decorating, I highly recommend that you visit this blog post, from a New York movie location scout. He also tells us that inside the main entrance there is a neat exhibit on the hospital, which dates back to the 1700s, and a pamphlet you can take with you. (If you go, will you grab an extra one and mail it to me? Please?) Find maps, parking info and directions here. 4) Cooper Union Charlotte sat on the edge of her chair at the association's Cooper Union headquarters, spine straight and feet flat on the floor, as if perfect posture even now might have a favorable bearing on her fate. ~Wedded to War Cooper Union was the headquarters of the Women's Central Association of Relief, which grew into the U.S. Sanitary Commission, so this is where we find Charlotte Waverly in the excerpt above, waiting her turn to be examined by the medical committee about her suitability to become a nurse. Cooper Union, the tall building on the left in the illustration below, is an extremely historic building. To read more about its significance, visit this Web page. The illustration below depicts the first meeting of the Women's Central Association of Relief inside Cooper Union. More than 4000 of New York City's women gathered here to organize volunteer efforts to aid the Union army. Out of this meeting, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell gained support for her idea to train women nurses--a revolutionary idea at the time. What an incredible moment in history! I would have loved to have been there. By the way, Dr. Blackwell's New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children is now New York Downtown Hospital. Not really worth a sightseeing visit, but if you're interested in the history, check out this bio on Dr. Blackwell, who plays a major role in my novel. But back to Cooper Union. Below you'll see it as it stands today. Find a map to this building here. 5) Central Park Central Park, the first public landscaped park in America, is important in Wedded to War. Completed in the 1850s, it's Charlotte Waverly's favorite spot in New York City. Irish immigrant Ruby O'Flannery has a different attitude toward the park since she and her family were evicted from their neighborhood (Seneca Village), a community of African American and immigrant citizens, so the land could be appropriated for Central Park. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted became the executive secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission for the first two years of the Civil War, proving his administrative genius and saving thousands of lives. The historical figure Olmsted plays a major role in Wedded to War. Click the image below to see Olmsted's map of Central Park much larger. (Then click that image again to zoom in even further, if you like.) Present Day Central Park The image at left shows Central Park today. Visit the Web site of Central Park, which has maps, events, and other information. They also have a page to show you the Site of Seneca Village. This concludes the Wedded to War Historic Sites of New York City tour! If I find more, I'll add them. But my next project will be the Wedded to War Historic Sites of Washington! Wondering what Wedded to War is all about? Click here for an overview and book trailer.

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My Book Baby: The Labor and Delivery Room

Last week, I turned in my second novel, Widow of Gettysburg, to the publisher. Whew!!!!!! Before I clean up my desk and get ready for the next book, I thought I would give you a glimpse into my office--which I also refer to as the labor and delivery room for my book baby. If you've ever wondered what a novelist's desk looks like, I offer you exhibit A. Take a good look, and then I'll explain. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"914", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-528 aligncenter", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"717", "height":"538", "title":"100_3941", "alt":""}}]] I know this looks more like a page out of an "I Spy" book, but if you look closely you will see some key items, such as: Two computer monitors. I let my husband talk me into this arrangement a few years ago and I'll never go back, if I can help it. Usually, I have my research up on one screen, and the Word document of my novel in progress on the other. Or I'll have the novel up one one screen, and separate Word doc on the other to make notes such as "Make sure Major never climbs the stairs until the attack scene" or "Insert a scene at the cemetery somewhere" Index cards, everywhere. The cards in the black container are my research. The cards scattered on my desk were once in a specific order as my book outline, but I rearranged them and threw some away as I went along. Lots of research materials. A notebook full of notes, an open book about the Gettysburg aftermath, a binder full of photocopied first-person accounts from Gettysburg civilians. The glimpse of red on the lower left corner of the picture is a little stop sign with the word "QUIET" written on it, glued to a popsicle stick. I use this with my kids. The other corner of the desk has the Tangled DVD on it. I often let the kids come in and watch a movie in my office if it's a weekend day. The clipboard holds a waterstained poem my husband wrote me before we were married. I dug it out of a filing cabinet at some point and keep it around now for inspiration. :) Beneath the clipboard is my Bible, but it's NIV, and writing books set in the Civil War, I can only use the King James version, because that's all they had. VERY important: under my desk is a mini fridge. It's a new addition to the office as of this summer, and very helpful. Stocked with beverages and healthy snacks like string cheese, apples, and carrot sticks. It's really hard to write hungry, and if I go downstairs to the kitchen, I might be tempted to wash dishes or clothes, which makes it really hard to write, too. A coffee warmer in front of my keyboard. A must have. I'm sure you can't see this, but I do: my first grade daughter's spelling test. How did it get there? I don't even know. I also see half of a plastic Easter egg. Hmmm. It's October, right? Really not sure. Even though I delivered a book baby last week to my publisher, it's now going to be fixed up in the editorial phase before it releases in April 2013. (I guess that's like the baby being in the NICU before being released from the hospital?) So as I said, it's time to clean, but I thought you might like to see the craziness first. Widow is the second in my Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War series. The first book was Wedded to War, which released in July.

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Civil War Recipes: Gingerbread, Switchel, Beef Tea

Last week, I shared three Civil War recipes for your Wedded to War book club--or just for your own enjoyment at home. Today I'd like to share three more. 4. Alice Carlisle’s Gingerbread Gingerbread was popular among soldiers in both the North and South. Wives like Alice Carlisle often baked and sent loaves of this spicy bread to their husbands in camp, and when hospitals had the ingredients, they baked this for the patients who could eat it. Ingredients: 1 TB butter 2 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup butter 1 1/4 cups molasses 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp. allspice 1 cup very hot water Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9″ square baking pan with the butter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, soda and spices, and cut in softened butter to the flour mixture with a fork. Combine molasses, egg and water in a small mixing bowl. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well. Pour the batter into a baking pan and bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 9 servings. *Recipe courtesy of Total Gettysburg 5. Fanny Hatch’s Switchel “Make some switchel, I says, and she uses too much vinegar, not enough ginger. Dust it, I says, and she leaves rims of the fuzzy grey filth on the edge of the mantelpiece.” Fanny threw up her hands in a state of helplessness, and Phineas murmured his sympathies. ~Wedded to War Switchel was a refreshing drink to quench summertime thirst, also known as Haymaker’s Punch. There are countless variations on the recipe, as it depends on the person’s taste. Here is one version you can make at home. Ingredients: 9 cups water, divided 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger 1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup 1/4 cup molasses 3/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup cider vinegar Fresh berries, mint sprigs or lemon slices for garnish 1. Combine 3 cups water with ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let infuse for 15 minutes. 2. Strain the ginger-infused water into a pitcher, pressing on the ginger solids to extract all the liquid. Add honey (or maple syrup) and molasses; stir until dissolved. Stir in lemon juice, vinegar and the remaining 6 cups water. Chill until very cold, at least 2 hours or overnight. 3. Stir the punch and serve in tall glasses over ice cubes. Garnish with berries, mint sprigs or lemon slices, if desired. 6. Charlotte Waverly’s Beef Tea Soon the Daniel Webster would be full of living, pulsing cargo, men needing beef tea and brandy, milk toast and gruel. Charlotte wouldn’t get a moment’s sleep until they were all washed, bedded, fed, and cared for. She would snatch back to life men teetering on the brink of death. Fever patients would rage in their madness, and she would not rest until they were consoled. Charlotte couldn’t wait. ~Wedded to War Beef tea is mentioned several times in Wedded to War, as one of the staples of the “special diet” intended to revive and restore health to patients with typho-malarial fever. Here are two variations on the recipe, from Outlines of the Chief Camp Diseases, by Joseph Janvier Woodward, published in 1863. Recipe 1 for Beef Tea A pound of lean beef should be cut into small dice, a little salt and a quart of water added; simmer very gently for two hours, then bring to a boil, and remove from the fire; skim off the fat, and give a wineglassful every two hours. Pepper in moderate quantities is not objectionable, if it makes the tea more agreeable to the patient. Recipe 2 for Beef Tea Cut 3 lbs. of beef into pieces the size of walnuts, and chop up the bones, if any; put it into a convenient sized kettle, with ½ lb. of mixed vegetables, such as onions, leeks, celery, turnips, carrots (or one or two of these if all are not to be obtained), 1 oz. of salt, a little pepper, 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 2 oz. of butter, and a half pint of water. Set it on a sharp fire for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, stirring now and then with a spoon, till it forms a rather thick gravy at the bottom, but not brown; then add 7 pints of hot or cold water, but hot is preferable; when boiling let it simmer gently for an hour; skim off all the fat, strain it through a sieve, and serve.

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Civil War Recipes: Tea Cakes, Hardtack, Camp Potatoes

Of course no book club is complete without food, and what better way to add flavor to your experience than to sample some of the foods eaten by characters in the novel? Below you’ll find recipes for Civil War foods enjoyed by characters in Wedded to War. Some of these have been modernized so you can try them at home, and some are taken straight from cookbooks published during the Civil War. 1. Charlotte Waverly’s Tea Time Sighing, Charlotte reached for the Blue Willow teacup on the walnut table next to her, and breathed in the fragrance of orange and cloves. She picked up the New York Times and froze. Without taking her eyes off the paper, she rattled the cup back on its saucer. ~Wedded to War Afternoon tea was a regular routine in the Waverly household. Try these Tea Cakes with Charlotte’s favorite tea—orange spice—or her sister Alice’s favorite—raspberry. Ingredients: 5 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 cup butter 1 cup buttermilk 2 large eggs 2 cups sugar Heat the oven to 375 F. Grease the cookie sheets with butter. Combine flour, soda, and nutmeg together in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 Cup milk, 2 eggs, and sugar. Pour into dry ingredients. Stir well. Wash hands and lightly coat your fingertips with butter. Shape the dough into 1 inch round bowls. Place the balls on baking sheets. Dip a fork in flour and use it to flatten the balls in a criss/cross pattern like you might do for peanut butter cookies. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 5 dozen. *Recipe courtesy of Total Gettysburg 2. Dr. Caleb Lansing’s Hardtack Wiping his glistening forehead with the back of his hand, Caleb looked through the haze of smoke at the rest of the camp. The men sat on the ground or overturned barrels, unwrapping small bundles of hardtack from their haversacks. He pulled out his own, placed it on a flat rock, and rammed a Sharp rifle butt onto it, breaking it into pieces. ~Wedded to War Hardtack was a staple food in the Union soldier’s diet, but notorious for being either rock hard or full of weevils. Imagine drilling and marching for miles with very little but hardtack to eat! Ingredients: butter for greasing the baking pan 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 TB baking powder 1 TB salt 1 2/3 cups water Preheat the oven to 450 F. Grease the baking sheet. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and water. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. With freshly washed hands, squeeze the flour mixture with your fingers, this will be a very stiff dough. Flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch into a large rectangle. Using a knife, lightly trace lines into the dough to divide the pieces into 3 X 3″ square pieces. Use a toothpick to prick holes across the entire surface in neat rows 3/4 of an inch apart. Be sure the holes go all the way through the dough to the baking sheet. Bake the dough about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Remove the hardtack from the baking sheet with a metal spatula. Makes about 9 hard crackers. *Recipe courtesy of Total Gettysburg 3. Matthew O’Flannery’s Camp Potatoes We don’t get to see Matthew eating his camp potatoes with his fellow soldiers in New York’s 69th regiment in the novel, but as an Irishman, you can bet he was eating these as a welcome break from hardtack whenever potatoes were available. This recipe is a simple one, from Camp Fires and Camp Cooking, or Culinary Hints for the Soldier, by Capt. James M. Sanderson (1862): “Cut the vegetable into thin slices and throw them into cold water for half an hour; then put them into fat hissing hot and fry them until they acquire a golden hue. Some persons cut them only into quarters, but they are not near so crisp and nice.” Which Civil War recipe would you like to try? What food would you not want to live without during wartime? Find three more Civil War recipes to try here.

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