Savannah of Williamsburg devotees have been anxiously awaiting Book IV in my 18thC. historical-fiction series. Well, pour some tea and put up your feet, folks ... be prepared to wait a little longer. Happily, my non-Savannah writing affords me a bevy of opportunity: as of late, covering various comic book conventions, reviewing the odd TV series, interviewing other writers and some producers and actors, to boot. As I am inextricably bonded to geek culture, I heartily enjoy writing in this genre. Although, because it is raw-ther niche, the more I write, the more call I get to do so. It's a nerdy, vicious cycle, my pretties. Unfamiliar with some of my geek oeuvres? Find them at GoodToBeAGeek.com, under the pseudonym Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the Hotel del Coronado, and syndicated at RocketLlama.com and, soon, Nerdspan.com!
Additionally, I recently wrote a children's book about Bigfoot, set in the northern California woods and incorporating Native American folklore of the local, Hupa Indians. This tale I scribed at the behest of a family member, whom thought she might stick a fork in her temple if she had to read the same bunny, bedtime story aloud one more time.
Submitting articles to the likes of New Yorker, Sunset, Fanhattan and San Diego Comic-Con have also distracted me from my dear Miss Savannah. The biggest distraction by far, however, besides beachwalks, cosplay, American Dad!, Seinfeld and Portlandia? Marketing my Savannah of Williamsburg series and, my fourth novel The Darlings of Orange County. Keep in mind, too, The Darlings (my first contemporary-fiction novel) was written and and published just after Book III in the Savannah Series was published. Phew! So, see, I haven't just been sitting on my Seven Jeans. Fret not though, loyal Savannah readers ... Book IV is finally in earnest motion!
Daniel Boone, Peter Jefferson, Paul Revere, George Washington, Queen Aliquippa (Queen of the Delaware Indians), Joshua Fry, Christopher Gist and a very wee Thomas Jefferson are all on board for this adventure! As the series moves closer to the Revolutionary War, my research becomes more diligent and the data more plentiful: diaries, letters, artifacts, military journals, government manifests, etc. The resources are seemingly endless. Trust me folks, this one's the hardest tale to write thus far. It will be worth the wait, though! Pennsylvania outposts, French Colonial trading forts, Scottish trappers, portaging, canoeing the Mississippi River, New Orleans, Creoles, Choctaws, Apaches, rushing rivers, cottonmouths and a whole host of new friends, fun, danger and adventure awaits our Savannah, Dante, Ichabod and Anthony behind every rock and tree of Colonial America and the Ohio River Valley. (Not to mention a new animal character: a French-Indian beaver named Mingo, Sorbonne-educated in civil engineering, naturally. Bonjour, Mingo!) Plus, there's plenty of action, political and otherwise, going on in the taverns, coffeehouses and gardens of Governor Dinwiddie's Colonial Williamsburg, the prosperous and powerful seat of King George II in 1754 Colonial Virginia.
In mid-18thC. America, when the Wild Wild West sat just west of Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains, the French and Indian War (a.k.a. Seven Years' War) burned and ravaged up and down the land, from Québec to New Orleans. Some historians claim the initial powder keg was a very polite dismissal by a French commander of a young, British envoy named George Washington, dispatched personally by Lt. Governor Dinwiddie in Williamsburg to the frontier wilderness of soon-to-be-Pittsburgh (founded in 1758) and its French forces.
A side-trip to Fort LeBoeuf, a glass of port, a flip of the wrist and a firm "Non, merci." later, young George hustled back to Williamsburg, mission failed: the French refused to vacate the Three Forks area of Pittsburgh, a strategic commercial and transportation nexus where the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers converge. Adding insult to injury, the French would now build a fort to assert their claim: Fort Duquesne (pron. English: /duːˈkeɪn/ French: [dyken]) in honour of the Governor-General of New France: Michel-Ange Du Quesne de Menneville, Marquis Du Quesne. Well, to be certain, that chuffed the British just a touch and, well ... that's where Book IV, Savannah of Williamsburg: Washington's Folly and the French & Indian Wars commences. Hold tight, folks. It's coming by year's end ... I promise both of us! It's time!
In the meanwhile, catch up on Books I-III, all available at via traditional paperback and digital formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, JennyPop (signed copies avail here!) and various other book outlets, online and in stores!
