Winthrop Gilman had good reasons to stay out of Elijah Lovejoy’s troubles. He was a successful businessman in Alton. He was married, and his infant son was only a few months old. Gilman and his wife, Abia, had already suffered the death of their first child. He had a family to protect. He also hadContinue reading “The Young Father Who Risked His Warehouse for Freedom of the Press”
Tag Archives: fiction
When Abraham Lincoln Couldn’t Afford a Bed to Sleep in
Imagine arriving in a new city to begin your career with everything you own packed into your saddlebags. You’re twenty-eight old. You’ve managed to become a lawyer despite having almost no formal education. You’re ambitious. You believe you might be capable of something more. There’s just one problem. You can’t afford a bed…or a room.Continue reading “When Abraham Lincoln Couldn’t Afford a Bed to Sleep in”
The Woman Who Risked Her Life to Save Elijah Lovejoy from a Mob
Imagine several angry men trying to drag your husband out of the house and into the street. You don’t know what they intend to do once they get him outside, but they have threatened before to kill him. You only know that you cannot let them take him. So you wrap yourself around him andContinue reading “The Woman Who Risked Her Life to Save Elijah Lovejoy from a Mob”
Who Was Elijah Lovejoy?
I doubt very much that most of my audience is familiar with Elijah Lovejoy. Outside of Illinois, many people have never heard of him. Even here in the Midwest, his name is often only briefly mentioned in history books. Yet in 1837, Elija Lovejoy was one of the most controversial men in America. So, whoContinue reading “Who Was Elijah Lovejoy?”
When History Isn’t Enough
One of the biggest surprises I encountered while writing Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy was learning that good history doesn’t automatically become a good novel. I spent years reading court transcripts, newspaper accounts, speeches, letters, and memoirs. I wanted to understand not only what happened, but how the people involved thought and felt. AtContinue reading “When History Isn’t Enough”
How Much of a Historical Novel Is Real?
One of the questions I am asked most often is, “How much of your novel is true?” The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. Every historical novel is different. Some authors use history simply as a backdrop for an entirely fictional story. Others stay very close to the historical record. Neither approach isContinue reading “How Much of a Historical Novel Is Real?”
How Do You Bring a Historical Character to Life
I spend months–and sometimes years–collecting pieces of a person’s life. Newspaper articles. Letters. Court records. Speeches. memoirs. Census records. Even advertisements and legal notices can reveal something about a person’s character. One source rarely tells the whole story. A newspaper might describe a dramatic event. A court record may reveal what actually happened. A letterContinue reading “How Do You Bring a Historical Character to Life”
Why Was Everyone Talking About Alton?
To those of you who have been exploring Lincoln’s world with me, welcome back. As I wrote Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy, I thought about a question that would have seemed perfectly natural in Illinois during the autumn of 1837: Why was everyone talking about Alton? Today, Alton is a quiet river town onContinue reading “Why Was Everyone Talking About Alton?”
Returning to Lincoln’s World
To those of you who have been exploring Lincoln’s world with me, thank you for your patience. You may have noticed that my Tuesday and Thursday posts suddenly stopped for a couple of weeks. I wanted to let you know why. My father had a catastrophic fall and was in hospice, and shortly afterward heContinue reading “Returning to Lincoln’s World”
What Did Lincoln Know About Alton?
One of the questions I had to answer to write Lincoln Seeks Justice for Elijah Lovejoy was: What did Abrahm Lincoln know about the growing crisis in Alton. Today we can look back on history and see events as if they were inevitable. We know how the stories end. The people living through them didContinue reading “What Did Lincoln Know About Alton?”
The View From The Imaginarium 