Announcing ... New Series Cover Art!

Sometimes the stars are in the right alignment . . .

Can you tell I’m so excited I can hardly stand it? I’ve found the perfect art for the covers for this series—at least most of them—and they were right under my nose! It just never occurred to me until recently that these gorgeous and historically accurate paintings might be available for licensing.

If you’ve ever done much research into American history from the French and Indian War through the Civil War, you’ve undoubtedly run into Don Troiani’s paintings. Several years ago I purchased his beautifully detailed Soldiers in America: 1754–1865, with text by Earl J. Coates and James L. Kochan. I refer to it whenever any questions about the uniforms and weaponry of the Revolution arise. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Troiani’s work, here’s his bio from the dust jacket.

Mr. Troiani’s paintings have appeared in numerous national collections, including the National Park Service, West Point Military Academy, and the Smithsonian Institute. Known for his incredibly accurate renditions of the American Revolution and the Civil War, he is also a respected authority on uniforms and equipage of the American military. His collection of military antiques ranks among the most important in the country.

Once it occurred to me that I might be able to get the rights to use some of Mr. Troiani’s images, I did an internet search, which immediately led me to the Military and Historical Image Bank. I was pretty sure the fee to use them was going to be more than I could afford, but happily good folks at MHIB were willing accommodate my budget. It always pays to ask!

There are also a whole lot more of Mr. Troiani’s paintings than are shown in the book. I was able to match several to the volumes in the series, along with several smaller images for some of the back covers, such as one of an officer of the British 17^th Light Dragoons, to go on the back cover of Daughter of Liberty to represent Jonathan Carleton. There are only a couple of volumes that I’ll need to find other artwork for. Below is a list, with the volume and the corresponding image. Since I only have permission for the first image so far, the others are shown with the watermark.

1. Daughter of Liberty: Stand Your Ground, the Battle of Lexington Green
Back cover: British 17th Light Dragoons (an almost perfect stand-in for Carleton!)

2. Native Son: The Battle of Oriskany, 1777 (Okay, it’s the wrong battle and date for the story and the Indians are Oneida instead of Shawnee, but this is as close as we’re gonna get!)




3. Wind of the Spirit back cover image: Shawnee Indian Warrior 1750-80




4. Crucible of War: General George Washington at the Battle of Princeton (tentative, above). To the right is the image I’d love to have.
Back cover (left): Battle of Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781. (Yeah, I know, but it’s a great stand-in for Carleton in this volume when he comes within a hair's breadth of being captured by the British. Ummm. . . forget I mentioned that!)




6. Refiner’s Fire: The Cavalry Battle at Cowpens 1781 (tentative)






7. Forge of Freedom: A Prayer of Thanksgiving, April 19, 1783



For the front covers of Wind of the Spirit and Valley of the Shadow, and also potentially for Crucible of War, I’ll need to find other artwork. I’m hoping to find appropriate historical paintings that can be licensed. Valley of the Shadow and/or Refiner’s Fire will need a naval image. There’s one of the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis (right) that would be perfect for Refiner’s Fire, if I can only find out where it’s located and whether it can be licensed. Also one of Washington at the Battle of Princeton that would be absolutely fabulous for Crucible of War, but I haven’t yet been able to determine who the artist is or where the painting resides. But I’m working on it.

These images will take up only part of the front cover, either the top or bottom. The rest of the space will have an image representing Elizabeth Howard or something else relevant to the volume, and a bar with the title and my name. I’m saving up my pennies to purchase the rights for each as we get to work on the cover, so it’s going to take a while to get them all done. But at least I finally have a plan and a basic design, and that feels great. And Crucible of War is flowing right along, which feels pretty exhilarating too!

Head Banging

Okay, so I’ve been procrastinating. Writing a tight script for this video has turned out to be considerably more of a challenge than I anticipated. For some reason I’m having a really hard time getting it pared down to where it’ll move quickly and carry viewers right along. I’ve trimmed and tweaked and deleted and put back what I deleted, and I’m still not entirely satisfied.

Here’s what I have so far, numbered by sequence.

1. Eastertide 1775

2. British warships blockade Boston’s once-thriving port

3. while the Regulars occupy the city.

4. As conflict builds to a deadly confrontation

5. Elizabeth Howard plays a dangerous game

6. By day she flirts boldly with British officers

7. and by night, as the elusive courier Oriole,

8. she smuggles intelligence and weapons to the patriots

9. But with the arrival of Jonathan Carleton

10. an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons

11. she must fight a war of wits and words

12. as he quickly becomes her most dangerous foe.

13. As the first blood is spilled at Lexington and Concord

14. and Elizabeth is drawn ever closer to the carnage of Bunker Hill

15. Carleton sacrifices his life to save hers

16. Now can she rescue him from the hangman’s noose

17. and her heart from his keeping?

18. The nation’s epic war for independence begins . . .

19. Book cover

20. Credits

I’m fairly happy with the beginning, but segments 9 through 15 are driving me crazy. Obviously I need to convey that information, but it has to be concise and flow naturally. Right now it feels awkward and clunky, and I’ve played with it to the point that I’m no longer objective.

Of course, a huge obstacle to writing this is knowing that I have to find images to illustrate each sequence. I’ve accumulated a number that work fine, including a couple of video clips. But for several of these lines, finding anything that’s even an approximation of what I need is going to be a major task. How do you illustrate fighting a war of wits and words, for pity’s sake? But I love that line. It captures the interaction between Jonathan and Elizabeth in this book perfectly in just a few words, so I don’t want to give it up.

Well, crumbs. I guess I’ll just have to set this project aside for the time being, mull it over, and pray the muse eventually comes up with a stroke of genius.

The good news is that I’ve made good progress on Crucible of War. I’ve gotten my characters across the Delaware with considerable travail, and now I’m adding research notes about the Battle of Trenton directly into the file. Once I have a moment-by-moment narrative of a battle in front of me, scenes develop vividly in my head and spill out on the page. So I’m eager to finish entering the dry narrative so I can use them as a springboard to create some exciting action.

By a fortuitous stroke, the latest issue of the DAR’s magazine, American Spirit, included an article about American prisoners of war during the Revolution that I found quite helpful for the development of my plotline at the end of Crucible and beginning of Valley of the Shadow. Lots of great detail there that will make its way into my story! When the stars all come into alignment like that, it keeps me forging onward.