Over three months. That's how long it has been since my last post on here! As any teacher will tell you, the last quarter of a school year is always the busiest. School functions and responsibilities and things in my regular life have kept me pretty much focused on other things. Just in the past two months I have been on three reenactments, two trips to Shiloh (One of those being a school field trip), a three day field trip to Louisville, my son's third birthday, my wife's birthday, and did I mention my wife is pregnant? So as you can see, writing took a back seat for a while.
I have been able to push my manuscript to 110 pages, which is a good thing I believe. Every time I think I am getting closer, I find more things to write about. I can't imagine how I will be when I start sending off the "finished" product to publishers. I have been able to identify the approximate location of the Federal camp in Owensboro, plus the site of the September 19th skirmish. A student of mine, and his father, have provided some awesome resources that have really helped me in finding these locations. Not to mention, the amazing stories in the old newspapers! A teach friend of mine also greatly aided me in the thinking process of figuring out how the September 20th battle played out. With his help, we discovered that the actual "battlefield" is nearly twice as large as originally thought. We also are pretty confident that the Indiana Legion marched south on the "gravel road" and not the Livermore Road.
With summer finally being here, I am confident that this project I have been working on since November will finally come to an end. Even though it is a myth that teachers "get the summer off," I will still have a few free days to wrap this thing up. I am also hoping to complete the editing of John Locke's Diary as well. If you want to check out the 1861 portion, click on the Locke Preview at the top of the page. You can get it as a PDF or download it to any eBook app you prefer. Or you can just click on the picture below!
I'm keeping this post short, so I can write! A big thanks to all of you who have followed me from the beginning and to those of you who ask me how it is coming. That always helps me stay motivated!