Behind the Book: Source Material

​I've shared on Goodreads how I found my source material for Clingstone, but I wanted to share it here on my blog as well. For those of you who enjoy history, particularly the American Civil War, Ms. Cook's historical nonfiction book is still available on Amazon (print only).
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I am constantly astounded by history’s blunders. I discovered the source material for my novel by happenstance over a decade ago in an Alabama bookstore. I was browsing the American history section and read the spine of an unassuming volume entitled, “North Across the River” by Ruth Beaumont Cook. It chronicled the ordeals of Georgia millworkers imprisoned during the American Civil War. I read the description on the back and immediately realized the potential was there for an interesting novel. Over the next couple of years, I piecemealed my own research with what I had learned from Ms. Cook’s history book and came up with the first draft of Clingstone. American history is riddled with conflicting testimonies and poor record-keeping, and so I dedicated a couple of more years to editing, a second draft, more research, copy-editing, and eventually a final draft. History truly is stranger than fiction, and I consider myself fortunate that I stumbled across that unassuming paperback in that Alabama bookstore all those years ago; Clingstone would not have existed without “North Across the River.”

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