I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
Do you like having Author’s Notes at the end of an historical novel so you’ll know what was true, what was fiction, and what actually happened but was adjusted time-wise or by location to fit the flow of the story?
The Author’s Notes are almost always found at the back of an historical novel. I used to wait and read the Author’s Notes after I had finished reading an historical novel, but now I always read those notes first. The notes not only give insight about the story, but also make clear which parts of the book are based on fact and which parts are fictional.
Do you read the Author’s Notes before or after you read an historical novel?
An example from my ghost story
I thought it only fitting to include Author’s Notes at the end of my short story: Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story. In case you haven’t purchased the short story yet, here is my Author’s Note from the ghost story:
“I’ve never believed in ghosts, but this story is based on the events my sister and her housemate experienced in their condominium in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1980s. The upstairs commode would flush when no one was upstairs. Cans occasionally fell off the pantry shelf. A house guest was frightened by the sensation that someone had walked into her bedroom and stood at the foot of the bed. In fact, she thought this person had called her by name – Mary. She had no knowledge of the unexplained incidents the residents had experienced.
“Peter Francisco was an actual American soldier in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. At six-feet-six-inches tall and 260 pounds, he was much larger than the average American man during that era. He was credited with being ruthless with his broadsword. There is a visitors’ center on the grounds of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse; however, the rest of the story is fiction.”
After reading my Author’s Note, are you more interested or less interested in reading my ghost story?
Since my last blog post
I’ve edited three of the historical short stories I drafted a few months ago. I took inventory of my historical short stories. I want to write five more from scratch before I publish the collection. Something to look forward to in 2024!
I’ve done more research about the colonial settlement of Bethabara, North Carolina and read more resources about Shallowford on the Yadkin River. This is needed research for my first historical novel. Something else to look forward to!
Until my next blog post
If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter through my website, https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com, please do so before you miss any more newsletters. The next one will go out around November 1. For subscribing, you’ll receive a free downloadable copy of “Slip Sliding Away: A Southern Historical Short Story,” so you can get a feel for my historical fiction writing. I have a “field trip” planned before October is over, but you’ll have to subscribe to my newsletter to hear about it.
Have you ordered my American Revolution e-ghost story? “Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story” is available from Amazon, along with my other books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH7JCP11/. October is the perfect time to read a ghost story!
Anytime is the perfect time to purchase a cookbook! Have you ordered your copy of The Aunts I the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes? Order one for yourself and one for each of your aunts at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJLKFDPR/. (It’s not too early to start your Christmas shopping.)
Make time for your friends and family.
Remember the people of Ukraine and Israel. Terrorism has no place in our world.
Calling all historical fiction fans: I need your help with something!
I mentioned in May 1, 2023 blog post, Some of the Books I Read in April 2023 that I was toying with the idea of writing some historical short stories related to the historical novel I’m working on. I’d read that suggestion in Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novels, by Rayne Hall as a way to create interest in the characters in one’s novel before that book’s publication.
Since I need to grow my mailing list greatly before I publish the novel, it appears I’ll have plenty of time to write a few short stories. The process should produce various benefits to me and my potential readers.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
In addition to my novel readers getting a head start in learning about some of the book’s characters and the 18th century world in which they live, such writing will help me flesh out the characters and get better acquainted with them. You and I can both get a good grasp on what makes them tick.
I’ve been brainstorming ideas for the stories. If it all works out like I envision, I will self-publish the stories in an ebook collection. My timeline is written in pencil with a big eraser nearby. If nothing else in the last year of self-publishing two local history books and trying to self-publish a family cookbook, I’ve learned that flexibility is a necessity.
Readers, what do you think? If you’re a fan of historical fiction, let me know what you think of this project. Would you enjoy getting acquainted with some of the characters in my novel(s) and the world in which they live in the 1760s and 1770s before getting to read the novel(s)?
Characters such as Elizabeth Steele who had tavern in Salisbury, North Carolina? George, who was a slave in The Waxhaws in South Carolina? Oliver McNair, who was educated at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and ended up in The Waxhaws? Betty Jackson’s story of family obligations in The Waxhaws?
Would you be interested in reading such short stories while I continue to work on my novels?
In the meantime… if you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter yet, please visit my website at https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and click on the “subscribe” button. In return, you’ll receive a free downloadable copy of my first historical short story, “Slip Sliding Away” and you’ll receive my e-newsletter every other month. Do it right now!
Since my last blog post
My research last week for my historical fiction writing focused on how food was cooked in the southern colonies in the 1760s and 1770s. I have a growing appreciation for how time consuming it was to prepare a meal then.
A funny thing happened to me at the public library the other day. I had been given some soft mountain mint and was eager to find a book with good information about how to root it. I typed, “how to grow mint” in the library system’s search engine. The response I received was, “Nothing found for how to grow mint. Did you mean ‘how to grow marijuana’? View 13 results.” It’s sort of a sad commentary that the system has no books about how to grow mint, but 13 books on how to grow marijuana. a sign of the times, I suppose. (Before you try to enlighten me, yes, the library had plenty of books about growing herbs. I just started by looking for one specifically about mint.)
Until my next blog post
Take time on this Memorial Day in the United States to remember and give thanks for those who gave their lives in the military service of our country.
I hope you have a great book to read.
Take time to enjoy friends and family.
Remember the people of Ukraine.
Don’t forget to give me some feedback about my short story plan!
This should have been a very short blog post. Two or three paragraphs should have covered the story. Actually, if that had been the case, I would have chosen a different topic for the post. I hadn’t planned to blog about this today.
When I started writing my blog more than 10 years ago, I set out to chronicle my journey as a reader and a writer. It’s been a bumpy ride and there have been detours, successes, and obstacles. I’ve tried to share my ups and downs.
Today’s post is about last week’s stress. Last week’s stress has lapped right over into this week. I’d like to think there’s light at the end of this tunnel, but after what I’ve been through, it’s hard to be optimistic.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Today’s post falls in the category of “you can’t make this stuff up.”
Here’s the timeline as tracked on Amazon.com:
February 19
Having submitted the formatted copy of Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 2 to Amazon for publication, I ordered a proof copy. After having some technical difficulties with several photographs in the book, I especially wanted to be sure they were going to be oriented correctly in the printed book.
I also ordered two paperback copies of Slip Sliding Away: A Southern Historical Short Story, but those two books had to be purchased as a separate order.
Amazon chose to combine the orders and deliver (or attempt to deliver) the three books to me via the United States Postal System, otherwise known as “carrier facility.”
February 21
9:11 pm Order left carrier facility, Concord, NC.
This is when I had a feeling that things had gone awry. Since Amazon does not print books at its facility in Concord, NC, which is about 12 miles from my house, I wondered why Concord was the first point of transit. The first point of transit should have been Amazon – not the US Postal Service. My books are usually printed either of Columbia, South Carolina or Indianapolis, Indiana.
February 22
Unspecified time Carrier picked up package in Columbia, SC (about 90 miles south of me.)
8:18 a.m. Package arrived at Amazon facility, Concord, NC (about 15 miles north of me.) [This is great! Maybe my proof copy and the short stories will arrive today or tomorrow at the latest! Life is good!]
February 23
6:18 a.m. Package arrived at carrier facility, Walkertown, NC (about 80 miles north of me.) [What?]
6:32 p.m. Package arrived at carrier facility, Harrisburg, NC (Post office is five miles from me. I live on a Harrisburg mail route.) [I’m not sure how it traveled 75 miles in 14 minutes, but okay. Whatever.]
7:47 p.m. Package arrived at carrier facility, Greensboro, NC (about 85 miles northeast of me.) [Wait a minute! Something’s not right.]
But I don’t want a refund. I want my books!
You know you’re in trouble when Amazon tells you on Thursday that you can request a refund if your package doesn’t arrive by Tuesday.
A refund won’t do me any good. I need to receive the proof copy before I can give Amazon the go ahead to start selling it. More importantly, I can’t order author copies to supply Second Look Books in Harrisburg until the book “goes live” on Amazon. Then, it takes about four weeks for me to receive the author copies, and my “Meet & Greet” at Second Look Books is scheduled for April 15.
February 24
5:19 a.m. Package left Amazon facility, Concord, NC (about 15 miles northeast of me.)
9:21 a.m. Package arrived at USPS distribution center, Charlotte, NC (about 18 miles west of me.)
February 25
3:15 a.m. After spending 18 hours at the USPS distribution center in Charlotte, the package left.
3:20 a.m. Five minutes later, it left again. (I’m not making any of this up!)
7:07 a.m. After traveling about 15 miles, package arrived nearly four hours later at the USPS in Harrisburg, NC.
7:18 a.m. Package is out for delivery “by 8 p.m. tonight.”
3:20 p.m. Package arrives at my house! According to the back page, the books were printed in Columbia, SC on February 20, 2023. There was only one 2×4-inch gaping hole in the package right over the cover of the Harrisburg book. These books have seen parts of North Carolina I’ve never seen. As far as I know, I’ve never been to Walkertown. I looked it up. It’s between Winston-Salem and Virginia.
Alas, I had the books in my hands.
I quickly turned to page 465 in the Harrisburg book to make sure Carl Higgins’ B-26 bomber was shown correctly; but, no! In the image, the plane is heading straight up instead of to the left.
Various subheadings in the book appear at the bottom of one page instead of at the top of the next page, although I painstakingly made sure that none of the subheadings were at the bottom of a page when I submitted the formatted manuscript to Amazon. Likewise, all images were oriented in the correct manner when they left my computer.
And did I mention that the cover is dark brown instead of red?
Photo by Taylor Deas-Melesh on Unsplash
I discovered, though, that the errors (except for the color of the cover) were my fault due to my lack of technical knowledge. If I’d been more in tune with general computer technology, I would have realized that I had created a problem… all the problems in the way the book was printed… except for the brown cover on the red book.
I still hold Amazon and the USPS responsible for shipping my book all over North and South Carolina for nearly a week. The best I can figure, the USPS transported it around 425 miles to get it 90 miles from Columbia, SC to Harrisburg, NC. If I could have received it five days ago, I’d probably have all the problems worked out in the formatting by now and would still be on schedule for publication.
Instead of giving Amazon the go ahead on March 1 to publish my book, I’m now working to correct errors. Then, I’ll submit the revised version. Then, with a great sense of foreboding, I’ll pay to get ANOTHER proof copy of the Harrisburg book. And I’ll wait who know how long for it to arrive. Then, if it is in good order, I’ll order author copies. Then, I’ll wait four weeks for them to arrive. Will they arrive in time for the “Meet & Greet” at Second Look Books on April 15th?
If I were a betting person, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Since my last blog post
Besides following the day-to-day saga of the trip the proof copy of my book has been on, I did some yard work. It’s been unseasonably warm here in North Carolina. I was surprised to see two black snakes on Wednesday. I’ve never seen a snake in February (or March!) before. It’s unusual to see one in April.
My email provider is a company called Windstream. There are many things I’d like to say about Windstream, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that on Saturday night, just five hours after I received the awful proof copy of my Harrisburg Book 2, Windstream downloaded into my inbox the last 4,449 emails I had already received. As we say in the South, “Bless their hearts!” Again, you can’t make this stuff up.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. I plan to write about the books I read in February.
If you’re looking for a good historical short story, just visit https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll be rewarded with a free e-copy of a short story I had fun writing, “Slip Sliding Away: A Southern Historical Short Story.”
Also, hurry and subscribe before March 1, in order to receive my first newsletter!
I hope to have a corrected copy of Harrisburg, Book 2 completed, submitted to Amazon, and have a new proof copy of it in my hands by the time I blog again on March 6. I can only hope.
Thank you for reading my blog!
Don’t forget the brave people of Ukraine who have been under unwarranted attack by Putin for a year.
Janet's Writing Blog 