This will be a day long remembered…
OK, so maybe it’s best to not mix sci-fi and historical fiction, but that’s how it feels to have my second novel published! Times That Try Men’s Souls is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions! Times That Try Men’s Souls
Pentian Publishing did a great job getting the book to market; I hope my readers will find it worth the wait!
I recently finished Chapter 6 of A Nest of Hornets. It is amazing to research and write about events that took place in and among the stomping grounds of my youth. In the forthcoming Times That Try Men’s Souls I wrote about great events which happened in my home state of New Jersey. But I always kind of knew that there were battles in Trenton and Princeton, and it was part of the lore of my alma mater, Rutgers University, that Alexander Hamilton’s battery had covered the retreat across the Raritan from campus grounds. But in researching the Forage War of 1777 I have finally gained an appreciation for the scale of the fighting that took place in New Jersey. Many of the actions were small–skirmishes at best. But they were constant and wide-ranging. The opposing armies criss-crossed the state in a constant duel, and men and women lost their lives every day.
My own experience of combat never involved a major battle. In Iraq and Afghanistan I experienced war with a lower case “w.” But when I felt the shock wave of an IED or lay face down on the ground waiting for a rocket impact, it was very intense and very personal.
None of my combat actions will be in any history book, just as most of the actions of the Forage War never made it into the books. But for the participants in 1777, as well as my characters, those events were very intense and very personal. I hope I do them justice.
Yesterday I finished Chapter 4 of A Nest of Hornets. In past novels I have placed my main character, Gideon Hawke, on many different battlefields. This time Gideon’s battlefield is very different: it is a dining room table in an elegant mansion, and he’s not sure who the enemy is…he’s not even sure there is a battle at first! Usually Gideon fights under the watchful eye of his friend, Andrew Johnston, but in this battle his only ally is his love, Ruth Munroe. Fortunately she is better prepared for this fight than Gideon!
While A Nest of Hornets remains deeply rooted in the history of the American Revolution, the plot gives me much more room to explore characters and dive into the divisive political tensions that made the American War of Independence a civil war as well as a political revolution. I am enjoying it immensely!
Lots of progress lately on A Nest of Hornets! I really like the way this novel is shaping up; it will have a different feel than This Glorious Cause or Times That Try Men’s Souls.
As Times That Try Men’s Souls (Gideon Hawke #2) works its way through the process of publication, I have turned more of my attention toward A Nest of Hornets (Gideon Hawke #3). This weekend saw me revise the novel’s timeline and outline. I feel the story is much stronger now, and I have sketched out a few chapters in detail, in addition to those already completed.
This novel deals with more obscure events, and more of the storyline focuses on Gideon, Ruth, and a few creative threads, so I hope it will be a bit more suspenseful than the previous two installments!
Teaser: There may be a spy in the Continental Camp! Gideon certainly thinks there is, and he means to catch him!
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis
When This Glorious Cause was ready for publication, I spent hours on Create Space copying, pasting, inserting, formatting, scratching my head, looking up FAQs, re-formatting, and so on.
Now Times That Try Men’s Souls is ready for publication. I put the files into an email and hit SEND. Done. Now I wait.
Fortunately I have another novel to write, so it as not as though there will not be any writing going on, but it is a strange sensation to have others so involved in the preparation of this novel. I suppose the good thing is that those other people are experts in their lines of work. I AM NOT an expert in their line of work, so I am guessing they will do a much, much better job than I could ever do.
Case in point: For this novel, graphic artist Ben Kloepper brought his prodigious skills to bear in preparing maps for my novel. When I compare his beautiful work to the “cave paintings” I did for This Glorious Cause I am very certain that the next time I need a map, Ben is getting an email! (In fact, if I re-release that novel, the maps are getting an upgrade)
I’ll just stick to the writing.
Within a few hours of posting about the end of my crowd funding campaign Pentian Publishing contacted me: our campaigned raised enough to publish, so while the promotional budget will be lower than I would have liked, publication will go ahead! The backers who helped make this possible will get to see the fruits of their investment in a few short months!
My recent crowd funding campaign through Pentian publishing did not reach its goal. I think of it as an experiment that did not quite work as planned.
That said, I was humbled by the number of fans who pledged their support! Thanks to everyone who pitched in!
“Times That Try Men’s Souls” is still on the move; it will be ready for publication by June 2016!
In 2015 I published my first novel, This Glorious Cause. Now, at the start of 2016 I am well on the way toward publishing the next book in the series, Times That Try Men’s Souls. I expect to publish it in June 2016. What’s more, I have started work on the third book, A Nest of Hornets, which should come out in January 2017. That’s a lot of writing–I’d better get going!
Robert Krenzel 