“It’ll be glorious fun”
Paths to Freedom – book 2 The Mallory Saga
By Paul Bennett
A
brief catching up – last year I was pleased to contribute a guest post on Mary
Anne’s fine blog, in which I explained how I came to write the 1st
book in The Mallory Saga, Clash of Empires. You can check it out by clicking HERE
— though a quick rundown of Clash goes like this… the three main characters are
Daniel, Liam, and Elizabeth (Liza) Mallory and the story is about their trials
and tribulations during the French and Indian War. Many of the major battles
are part of the tale, e.g. the two attempts to take Fort Duquesne (later Fort
Pitt) and the taking of Fort Carillon (later Ticonderoga), and feature the
historical figures of the time such as Generals Braddock, Forbes and Amherst,
and the young Virginian George Washington. Clash ends with Pontiac’s Rebellion,
an aftershock of the British victory over the French, and finds our protagonist
family recovering from the horrors and the joys of the prior seven years.
When
I embarked on this journey, the road to authorhood, I really hadn’t given much
thought to the hazards, pitfalls, ambushes, and the overriding need for an
organized chart of characters that awaited this poor naïve scribbler of tales.
Naturally, I most likely complicated the process by listening to my Muse. “Go
ahead now,” she purred in my head, “a family saga will be glorious fun.” Fun she says…hah, I say. Mind you I’m not
complaining. After all, this was a completely new adventure for me, writing
novels, and I didn’t have a map or GPS to plot my course through the ever
increasing number of progeny my characters were producing. Rule number one for
writing a family saga that is projected to encompass about 150 years of
American history, is that the family has to still be around…has to procreate to
ensure the family line continues. Oh, let’s complicate it even more by creating
multiple family lines to follow as the children grow, marry and have their own
children. It seems that humans, real, and apparently fictional ones as well,
like to have sex, it is inevitable. I hope I can find enough historical events
for the kiddies to get involved in. J
In
Paths to Freedom the children of the three Mallory siblings begin to make their
presence known, especially Thomas, the oldest child of Liza and Henry Clarke
(see right there, already another family line to follow), but Jack and Caleb,
the twin sons of Liam and Rebecca along with Bowie, the son of Daniel and
Deborah are beginning to get involved as well. The French and Indian War, the
historical setting for book 1, was over, and the Mallory/Clarke clan is looking
forward to settling and expanding their trading post village, Mallory Town, now
that the frontier is at peace. And for a time they had peace, but the
increasing discontent in the East, not so much toward the increasing rise in
taxes, but the fact that Parliament was making these decisions without any
input from the colonies, slowly made its way west to the frontier. Once again
the Mallory/Clarke clan would be embroiled in another conflict.
Another
aspect of my saga is that the main characters are not always together in the
same place or even the same event. In Paths my characters are spread out; some
have gone East, some have gone West, some are sticking close to Mallory Town,
so in effect there are three stories being told, and that means more plots,
subplots, twists and surprises. One of the aspects of the lead up to The
Revolutionary War, was the attempt by the British to ensure cooperation with
the Native Americans, especially the Iroquois Confederation. The British had
proclaimed that they would keep the colonies from encroaching on tribal lands,
a strong inducement indeed. However, some tribes, like The Oneida, had
established a good relationship with the colonists. I knew right away when I
started book 2 that the relationship between the Mallory’s and the tribes would
be part of it. Among the historical Native Americans who take part in Paths are
the Shawnee Chiefs; Catecahassa (Black Hoof), Hokoleskwa (Cornstalk),
Pucksinwah (father of Tecumseh), and the Mingo leader Soyechtowa (Logan).
I
also realized that I needed to get someone to Boston, and the Sons of Liberty.
Thomas Clarke, the eighteen year old son of Liza and Henry, was the perfect
choice for the assignment (mainly because he was the only child old enough at
the time). J Through him we meet the luminaries of the Boston contingent of rebels,
Paul Revere, Dr. Joseph Warren, John Hancock, and the firebrand of the bunch,
Sam Adams. Plenty of history fodder to be had…British raid in Salem…Tea
Party…the famous midnight rides…culminating with the Battle of Lexington and
Concord. Oh yes, plenty of opportunities for Thomas.
An
untenable situation arises in Mallory Town resulting in Liam and his two
companions, Wahta and Mulhern, finding themselves on a journey to the shores of
Lake Michigan and beyond. Driven by his restless buffalo spirit, Liam has his
share of adventures; encountering a duplicitous British commander, meeting many
new native tribes, some friendly, some not so much. A spiritual journey in a
land not seen by many white men.
Writing stories like this, as it turns out,
requires quite a few characters. Some are just cameo roles, but some take on a
larger part in the narrative…a few of them, through their audacious behavior,
actually demanded more page time. All of these characters need names. As in
Clash of Empires, I have borrowed the names of some of my internet
acquaintances in the writing world. So appearing in Paths to Freedom you will
find, Martin Lake, Steven McKay, Rob Bayliss, and Paul Collard. It’s not
surprising that each of them performs spectacularly, so much so that they
clamored, cajoled, threatened, and generally made it known they were worthy of
continuing on into book 3. We shall see. J
Many
of the authors who I am acquainted with talk about the editing process as one
that produces a polished manuscript ready for publication, but at the cost of
many hours spent staring blankly at printed pages, holding off the urge to
scream into the void – “what the heck is a dangling participle?” or “why are
adverbs so bad?” Normally I wouldn’t be
asking those questions. Normally I would just be responding to all the gaffes,
missed commas, and dangling adverbs that were pointed out to me by a real
editor. Normally I wouldn’t be self-editing the third draft, but when my real
editor is unavailable due to life events, I must do the deed myself. This
doesn’t come naturally to me, and thus instead of an already completed, and
published Paths to Freedom, I am slogging through the draft as quickly as
possible, consuming vast quantities of coffee, and gaining more and more respect for the job
that an editor does. The bottom line is that I do not have a definitive date as
to when Paths will be available, however, I do believe I will have it ready…oh
heck, it’ll be done when it is done.
To
keep up with all of the news, and excitement that is The Mallory Saga, here’s the link to my Facebook
page
So,
my peeps and fellow travelers – turn off the TV… put down the cell phone or
tablet … Read a book, expand your mind and soul, and don’t forget to leave a
review. J
Clash
of Empires
A
Novel of the French & Indian Wars
Thomas and Abigail
Mallory move their family from their farm on the Susquehanna River to a
frontier trading post near Fort Duquesne (modern day Pittsburgh) at a time when
the French and the British both seek to control the lucrative fur trade along
the Ohio River. Clash of Empires is the story of the Mallory family as
they are caught up in the conflict that would become The French and Indian
War. It is a tale of the three Mallory siblings, Daniel. Liza and Liam
and their involvement in the conflict; the emotional trauma of lost loved ones,
the bravery they exhibit in battle situations; the friendships they develop
with the young, first time militia commander George Washington, and the
friends, or enemies, made with many of the Native American tribes caught up the
war. Clash of Empires is the first book in The Mallory Saga, a saga that will
follow the Mallory clan through the making of the United States, and its rise
to power in the 19th century.
Pick up your copy of
Clash
of Empires
Paul Bennet
Paul’s
education was of the public variety and when he reached Junior High he
discovered that his future did not include the fields of mathematics or
science. This was generally the case throughout his years in school as he
focused more on his interest in history; not just the rote version of names and
dates but the causes. Paul studied Classical Civilization at Wayne State
University with a smattering of Physical Anthropology thrown in for good
measure. Logically, of course, Paul spent the next four decades drawing upon
that vast store of knowledge working in large, multi-platform data centers, and
is considered in the industry as a bona fide IBM Mainframe dinosaur heading for
extinction. Paul currently resides in the quaint New England town of Salem, Massachusetts
with his wife, Daryl. The three children have all grown, in the process turning
Paul’s beard gray, and have now provided four grandchildren; the author is now
going bald.
For
more information, please visit the Mallory Saga Facebook page. You can also
find Paul on his Blog, Twitter, and Goodreads.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx