The Unmentionables sequel, called All to Pieces, which I began to write in earnest last summer, is now 40% complete. The story takes place in 1862. In that year, no one knew how the war would end. People undoubtedly felt that their lives were unstable. There was widespread confusion about what constituted legal tender. The only means of communication with friends and relatives, the telegraph and the post office, were either closed down or unreliable in many parts of the country. The carnage from the war, reported daily in the newspapers, was overwhelming. Being immersed in that world makes it easier for me to come back to 2017, where, as troubling as the political situation is to me, it's not nearly as bad as the situation in 1862.
The plot of the new novel has me working hard to find the right point of view for the complex dynamics of slavery, homosexuality, and 19th century attitudes. This week I've been studying this picture of a Civil War soldier. He's the model for a character that Cato meets on a train from Chicago to Cairo. Private Jack Robinson, a soldier in the 74th Indiana Infantry, Company C, who ends up at the Battle of Munfordville in Kentucky.
In the story, he's a simple man, who's unaware of his own beauty.
The plot of the new novel has me working hard to find the right point of view for the complex dynamics of slavery, homosexuality, and 19th century attitudes. This week I've been studying this picture of a Civil War soldier. He's the model for a character that Cato meets on a train from Chicago to Cairo. Private Jack Robinson, a soldier in the 74th Indiana Infantry, Company C, who ends up at the Battle of Munfordville in Kentucky.
In the story, he's a simple man, who's unaware of his own beauty.