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Ed Protzel's Blog, page 4
December 10, 2018
A couple of quick announcements
At 11:10 (CT), I’ll be joining the Historical for the Holidays Book Tour on Facebook for a 20-minute discussion of my DarkHorse Trilogy. I’ll be one of over 40 historical fiction authors taking part throughout the day (until 7 pm CT). If you’re a historical fiction fan, I guarantee you’ll discover some great books for yourself or to give as gifts. There will be comments and giveaways.
Find the event at: http://www.edprotzel.com/new-events-1/2018/12/12/passages-to-the-past-historical-for-the-holidays-book-tour
Then from 4:30 to 4:50 pm (CT), I’ll be interviewed live on Authors on the Air. For info, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/2192500537447008/
If you miss it, you can catch the podcast at any time thereafter at: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair
And finally…
I just learned from my publisher that The Antiquities Dealer will be available as an audio book this spring on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes! I’ll let everyone know when it’s out.
Take care and enjoy this holiday season!
Ed
November 12, 2018
Down a 2,000-Year-Old Rabbit Hole
When Miriam Solomon, the love of David Greenberg’s life, phones him at his antiquities gallery in St. Louis, the black hole at the center of his heart shudders. Twenty years earlier, Miriam had inexplicably run off to Israel with his best friend, Solly, a brilliant but nerdy young scientist. Now she tells David that Solly has committed suicide and she needs his aid on a secret research project Solly left unfinished: to acquire the one remaining nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. Is she telling the truth? And why does that nail have such significance?
“...equal in intensity and depth to any Dan Brown novel.” — Book Review Crew, Authors on the Air Global Network
”...deep story of religion, evolution, and sci-fi...excellent characters that will resonate...” — Readers’ Favorite 5 Stars
THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER is available from Amazon in paperback & Kindle; B&N Nook.
October 3, 2018
Rave review of The Antiquities Dealer
Being released Nov. 5; pre-order Kindle, Nook.
Read more: http://www.edprotzel.com/the-antiquit...The Antiquities Dealer
May 17, 2018
One Novelist’s Addiction to Fiction: The Lost Titles of an Ancient Writer
April 20, 2018
“The Breathtaking Power of Secondary Characters,” by Ed Protzel
https://southernwritersmagazine.blogs...
Honor Among OutcastsThe Lies That Bind
March 23, 2018
Saluting the Women of “DarkHorse” during National Women’s History Month
With “Nevertheless She Persisted: Honoring Women Who Fight All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” the theme of the March 2018 Women’s History Month, I thought it fitting to give credit to two of the female characters in my DarkHorse Trilogy—Antoinette DuVallier and Marie Brussard French —and the pivotal roles they play in the story lines of all three books: The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts, and soon Something in Madness.
As I was writing the novels, I consciously tried to balance the importance of the female and male roles, but when pressed, I’ll usually identify Durksen Hurst as the protagonist. And certainly, the trilogy revolves around Durk, a flawed yet inventive man who befriends a group of former slaves during a chance encounter in the swamps of Mississippi, as told in The Lies That Bind. They subsequently follow him to Missouri to fight for the Union (Honor Among Outcasts), and return home with him to Mississippi during Reconstruction (Something in Madness).
Antoinette DuVallier: Brave, Fragile, ProudBy Durk’s side through all these travels has been his love, Antoinette DuVallier, a complex, smart and savvy sophisticate from New Orleans, hardly the demure, stereotypical “Southern belle.” Would any of Durk’s ideas have flowered without Antoinette’s wisdom, guidance, and gumption? Is she the glue that holds the trilogy together?
Antoinette DuVallier, as the author imagines her
Does this sound like another case of the “woman behind the man,” with the man getting all the glory? I tried not to fall into that old trap. Writing Antoinette within the context of history, though, I had to make her a woman of her time, yet with depth and dimension, who had the courage to stand her ground, to fight for what was important to her, to persist, as so many women did, and do, without acknowledgement.
Mrs. Marie Brussard French, as the author imagines her
Marie Brussard French: Manipulative, Powerful, Conflicted
Of course, every heroine needs a nemesis and the character of Mrs. Marie Brussard French could not be more fitting. As the matriarch who controls her family estate, as well as the economy of the entire town, Mrs. French is smart and shrewd when it comes to finance, although less so in her personal life, as Antoinette learns to her horror.
In fact, Mrs. French is the character who adds the Southern Gothic hot sauce to The Lies That Bind. She’s a complicated woman who leaves you asking, is she evil or is she tragic? Can one be both?
Persistence is KeySo who is the protagonist of the DarkHorse Trilogy? Maybe that’s that the wrong question? For, as one person does not define a family, a government, or a company, can one protagonist define a novel? Or does the DarkHorse Trilogy revolve around its women, who, like actual women throughout history, had the gumption to stand up and fight for what they wanted? No easy task in 1860s America, and no easy task still.
More over, Durk, and make room for the women!
Learn about National Women’s History Month:http://www.nwhp.org/
https://womenshistorymonth.gov/
Look for another strong female character coming your way later this year—Miriam Solomon, the love interest of David Greenberg in my new futuristic mystery/thriller, The Antiquities Dealer !
Honor Among Outcasts Book Launch May 10 in St. Louis
If you're in St. Louis on Thurs., May 10, plan to stop by Subterranean Books in the Delmar Loop at 7 pm, where I'll be presenting "Civil War Missouri: Facts + Fiction," giving background about the history and reading excerpts from Honor Among Outcasts (DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 2).
Click here for details, and plan to attend!February 2, 2018
History comes alive in HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS — released in conjunction with Black History Month
I’m proud to announce the release today of HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS, the second book in my Civil War-era DarkHorse Trilogy centering on the unorthodox friendship between a Southern abolitionist and a group of escaped slaves.
Set amid the bloody Missouri-Kansas guerrilla war of 1863, HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS takes you on a pulse-pounding journey of desperate men and women caught up in the merciless forces of hatred and fear that tear worlds apart—and affirms the healing power of friendship and love to bring them together.
If you enjoy journeying to the past through fiction, stories depicting actual events, and inspirational tales that will touch your heart, you’ll relish the adventure that awaits in HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS — a great read as a stand-alone novel or as part of the DarkHorse Trilogy.
Order HONOR AMONG OUTCASTS now on Amazon — print or Kindle. Other outlets to be posted soon.
What brought this unusual group to Missouri in the first place? Read THE LIES THAT BIND, Book 1 of the DarkHorse Trilogy, and find out. A Readers' Favorite!
And stay tuned for SOMETHING IN MADNESS, the final book in the trilogy, set in Mississippi during Reconstruction.
And late this year, something completely different ...
THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER, a futuristic thriller about antiquities dealer David Greenberg, who is drawn into a conspiracy by an ancient Israeli society to clone the great minds of history — beginning with Jesus Christ — think Hitchcock meets Dan Brown, with a dash of Michael Creighton!
December 5, 2017
Futuristic thriller, The Antiquities Dealer, to be published
I'm thrilled to announce that TouchPoint Press will be publishing my newest novel, The Antiquities Dealer, a noir, futuristic mystery/thriller hybrid in which human evolution, millennium religious movements, and biotechnology collide in a cauldron boiling with deeply existential ironies. The book is planned for release in 2018.
The story takes you from St. Louis to Jerusalem and back again:
When Miriam Solomon, the love of David Greenberg’s life, phones him at his antiquities gallery in St. Louis, the black hole at the center of his heart shudders. Twenty years earlier, Miriam had inexplicably run off to Israel with his best friend, Solly, a brilliant but nerdy young scientist. Now she tells David that Solly has committed suicide and she needs his aid on a secret research project Solly left unfinished: to acquire the one remaining nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. Is she telling the truth? And why does that nail have such significance?
Read the synopsis here.Stay tuned for details on all fronts!
The Antiquities Dealer to be published by TouchPoint Press
I'm thrilled to announce that TouchPoint Press will be publishing my newest novel, The Antiquities Dealer, a noir, futuristic mystery/thriller hybrid in which human evolution, millennium religious movements, and biotechnology collide in a cauldron boiling with deeply existential ironies. The book is planned for release in 2018.
The story takes you from St. Louis to Jerusalem and back again:
When Miriam Solomon, the love of David Greenberg’s life, phones him at his antiquities gallery in St. Louis, the black hole at the center of his heart shudders. Twenty years earlier, Miriam had inexplicably run off to Israel with his best friend, Solly, a brilliant but nerdy young scientist. Now she tells David that Solly has committed suicide and she needs his aid on a secret research project Solly left unfinished: to acquire the one remaining nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. Is she telling the truth? And why does that nail have such significance?
Read the synopsis here.
In addition to this news, Honor Among Outcasts, the second book in my DarkHorse Trilogy, will be released on Feb. 2. Read the synopsis here.
Stay tuned for details on all fronts!August 29, 2017
A Civil War Monument Worth Saluting: Lincoln University’s Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza
Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo., honors black soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
With controversies over Civil War and Confederate monuments and statues continuing in the news, I thought it timely to reflect on my experience researching some of the heroes, events and places in Missouri that inspired my upcoming historical novel, Honor Among Outcasts: DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 2.
A particularly moving and historically important site is the Soldiers’ Memorial at Lincoln University, a historically black college founded by the veterans of the 62nd and 65th U. S. Colored Infantry in 1866 to educate blacks after the Civil War.
Just off Missouri Highway 63 in Jefferson City, the state capitol, a visit to the campus of lovely modern university buildings, peopled by a vibrant student body, takes you suddenly and jarringly into a troubled, yet hopeful, time of immense challenges to a people recently freed from generations of subjugation and abasement.
Arriving late-morning, I first stopped at the school’s large ROTC facility seeking directions to the plaza, as students in workout clothing were engaged in strenuous exercise in strict formation, ignoring the summer heat, preparing to serve the nation that the school’s founders so nobly gave their last full measure of devotion to preserve.
Approaching Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo.
Starting up the steps toward the plaza, I found myself passing two isolated bronze-cast Union Colored Infantry soldiers trudging toward the memorial, weary from battle, carrying their backpacks and rifles, their faces and bodies reflecting the hardship and danger they’d experienced. It was an eerie feeling.
Lifting a fellow soldier up to freedom, Soldiers' Memorial, Lincoln University
Continuing, I glanced up and my heartbeat accelerated when I spotted the frieze on the south side of the pedestal depicting a line of marching black Union infantry. Atop the pedestal were four unarmed, uniformed black soldiers: the two standing in front offering books, while another stands behind them. In a dramatic twist, the fourth soldier on the pedestal is kneeling down to lift the lead soldier in the frieze up onto the pedestal. Their hands and arms are locked tightly together: one soldier helping to lift another up to freedom, citizenship and learning! This moving depiction put a lump in my throat; it told the story better than thousands of word could ever hope to.
Museum of Missouri Military History, Jefferson City, Mo.
Blacks Banned from Education
Prior to emancipation on Jan. 1, 1863, blacks in Missouri and elsewhere had been barred by law from learning to read and write. Of course, some free blacks were well-educated. And there was some surreptitious learning by bondsmen and -women, a dangerous business for Missouri’s 150,000 slaves, most of whom toiled near the Missouri River that cuts the state roughly in half. The war changed all that.
Over 100,000 black servicemen fought bravely for the United States during the war, hoping to free their people and preserve the Union. Of course, their primary motivation was personal freedom, which military service granted, a farsighted policy of President Abraham Lincoln. But another major incentive to enlist was the chance to learn to read and write, offered by the abolitionists of the American Missionary Association who taught blacks at their regimental schools — a story not widely told.
Yes, black soldiers fought for their freedom and for the country where they were born; but we should remember that they were fighting for the right of every person to fulfill his or her potential as human beings.
By the time the war ended (technically), the nation’s impoverished black population, following generations of debasing enslavement, was hungering for knowledge, a significant addendum to our great national epic. The newly freed people believed that only through learning could they avoid being re-enslaved and that learning would also open the doors to prosperity and full citizenship for themselves and for their children.
Unequal Pay for BlacksAdding to their sacrifice, black infantrymen were paid less than whites. When the Union began accepting black soldiers, the military only paid black soldiers $7 a month, while white soldiers received $13. There was an attempted strike by black troops in the East to protest this inequality, but the leading black sergeant was hung, and it took an act of Congress in 1864 to grant equal pay to blacks, who faced such challenges stoically and bravely. You can find full details at the National Archives.
Educator James Milton Turner, Boonville, Mo.
Tribute to Educator James Milton Turner
Another significant memorial I found was in Boonville, which promotes several nearby historical Civil War sites, mainly skirmishes and raids. But I was captivated by a memorial in Morgan Street Park just off Main Street, which among the visages of the town’s early luminaries, including George Caleb Bingham, stands a bust of black educator James Milton Turner.
Born into slavery in St. Louis County in 1839, James Milton Turner founded a remarkable 52 schools for black citizens after the Civil War. In their desire to be educated, even as desperate as their economic situation was, post-war blacks founded and taught at their own schools — and taxed themselves to support them. (One former Confederate, none too pleased by the development, complained black schools were “springing up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.”) The bust of James Milton Turner is modest; yet his legacy is profound, far-reaching.
Yes, the Civil War was perilous for blacks, but the peace was no less threatening, nor less deadly. I was heartened to find such respectful tributes to those black citizens of Central Missouri who suffered and sacrificed for a more perfect Union.
Actual Events Depicted in Honor Among Outcasts* Drawing inspiration from Missouri’s 62nd and 65th U. S. Colored Infantry, Honor Among Outcasts features the fictional Missouri State Militia 9th Colored Cavalry, the DarkHorse Regiment, outcasts all, who proudly and honorably serve their country. The DarkHorse troops also get entangled in the black-white pay discrepancy, but in an ironic and humorous plot twist, which I won’t divulge here.
* Quantrill’s 1863 Massacre of Lawrence (Kansas), where 400 Confederate guerrillas/bushwhackers actually burned the town and slaughtered its male citizens.
Painting by George Caleb Bingham showing the destructive General Order No. 11 at The State Historical Society of Missouri, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
* The Union’s General Order No. 11. In Honor Among Outcasts, four black members of the fictional 9th MSMCC, attempting to protect a pro-secession family from being murdered by corrupt Union troops, risk death by defying orders. The infamous Order 11 actually wiped out four entire counties to clear them of pro-Confederate citizens and supplies against any potential Southern invasion.
* And in 2018, fiction will again follow fact in the final novel of my DarkHorse Trilogy, Something in Madness, when former slave and Union veteran Big Josh Tyler (inspired by the likes of James Milton Turner) returns to Mississippi during Reconstruction determined to form a school for blacks, but is confronted by the Southern Black Codes and deadly “Gun Clubs.”
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