Historical fiction for young readers (and old too!)
Hattie’s War is a historical fiction novel. That means the book is a fictional story based on real historical events, in this case, events associated with the American Civil War. The book is written with young readers in mind. Would a high schooler or adult enjoy the book? Sure! The Harry Potter novels are a great example of the widespread appeal of books geared toward young readers. An added twist to the story is that the main characters are part of my family. Hattie is my Great-Great Grandmother, and her parents are my Great-Great-Great Grandparents.
The purpose of this website
Unlike many book/author websites, I am doing something a little different here. I’m deconstructing the book, breaking it down, and showing you how I put the story together. Of course, much of it is made up, a product of my imagination, but as historical fiction, it has to be routed in fact and true to the time period it is set.
Why break it down?
If you are a young person, you’ll be asked plenty of times in the years ahead to write for school or college projects. You’ll need to do research and figure out ways to incorporate that research into your writing. That’s what I had to do. I’ve never done this before. Never written a novel. I’m no Civil War expert either or that knowledgeable about history. But I had an idea for a story. A story I needed to tell. With no prior experience, I had to figure out how to make a compelling and readable tale. I learned a lot. I’ll be sharing some of what I learned here.
If you’re an aspiring author, I hope you’ll find these pages both useful and inspiring. If I can do it, so can you!
What I’ll cover:
I’ve broken things down into three sections I call Deep Dives.
Story Building
As the title says, this section is about how I created a story out of tidbits of information. You learn the backstory and something about the real people talked about in the book.
Learn More
Here, we’ll look at the broad range of resources I used and how they informed the story.
Writing
I’ll take you through the stages of the book’s development from idea-to-print. I am no expert; I’m simply sharing my writing experience.
I promise lots of examples of before and after excerpts from the manuscript. I’ll explain why changes were made. You’ll see for yourself how a few words, a well-crafted sentence here and there, can transform a story and keep the reader turning the pages. Be aware that some topics appear in more than one section.
One other thing… You don’t have to read in any particular order. However, I suggest reading the first few posts in Story Building in order before poking around.
A Family Trip and A Tattered Cardboard Box
A Story Has To Begin Someplace
So, let’s get started. ➣A Family Trip and A Tattered Cardboard Box ➣➣➣➣.