WELCOME ED LONDERGRAN AND THE DEVIL'S ELBOW

Today we welcome author Ed Londergan and his new work, THE DEVIL'S ELBOW, a thrilling historical story.

THE DEVIL'S ELBOW

Quick Facts

Release Date: July, 2012.

Genre: Historical Fiction, history, action/adventure, romance.

Formats Available: Paperback, Kindle

Giveaways!

International  -  $15 Amazon gift certificate

US Only  -  a copy of THE DEVIL'S ELBOW

Book Synopsis

Set in colonial Massachusetts, The Devil’s Elbow follows Jack Parker from his orphan childhood days as an apprentice to a greedy and brutal Boston merchant to the isolated pioneer settlement of Brookfield, where he ends up in the fight of his life to protect the people and place he loves.

The knowledge Jack’s father gave him, that the measure of a man is how he deals with the worst life can throw at him, the support of the powerful man who becomes his friend, and deep, unshakable love for the childhood girlfriend who becomes his wife, fuel Jack’s determination and will to survive. All Jack has learned on his eight year journey meets its greatest test when he and ninety-eight others are trapped in a four-room tavern for three hot, humid August days, fighting for survival against 400 once-friendly Indians, who are determined to wipe them out and reclaim their land and way of life.

Praise For THE DEVIL'S ELBOW

Brings the 1600's Bay Colony alive.
A rousing story about tragedy, triumph, perseverance, and love. Rich in historical detail with well developed characters you will come to know. An enjoyable read from start to finish.

- Jeff Lubs- August 9, 2012

A very good story:

This book is a wonderful read. Mr. Londergan brings history to life. His depiction of life in colonial Massachusetts is right on. It reminded me of Kenneth Roberts classic story "Arundel" but much easier to read. One of the best historical novels of this era. I hope there are many more coming.
Lawrence J. Murphy - February 25, 2013

Excerpt 

“I can’t believe we’re actually about to be married,” she said softly, looking up at me. Her face was radiant, a wonder that filled my heart with overwhelming emotion at how much I loved this woman. 

“We’ve been waiting for this for so long,” she said, looking at the three of them. “We’ve wanted to get married for years and now we will,” she told them earnestly, “and now we will,” she repeated in a whisper. 

Mr. Pynchon cleared his throat and began the short ceremony. “Rebecca Morgan,” he said formally, “In the sight of our most gracious God, this man, John Parker, asks that you be his wife, from this day forward, until the Lord removes you from one another by death. How do you answer him?”

She turned and looked into my eyes. I could feel her love for me and it felt so good, so strong, and so wonderful.

“In the sight of God, I will be his wife,” she said never taking her eyes from me.

“John Parker, the Lord has given you this woman, Rebecca Morgan, to be your wife until death parts you. In the sight of God, do you accept her as your wife?” I looked at this woman, this girl that I loved for so long and was filled with a joy and happiness I had never known before.

“Yes, in the sight of God, I take her as my wife.”

“May the Lord in all ways be good to you. You have our heartiest wishes and prayers. You are now husband and wife.”

LINKS:

AMAZON

GOODREADS

The Author

Author Ed Londergan

Ed Londergan is an author and passionate storyteller who enjoys sharing his work with everyone. He loves to write, is working on a sequel to The Devil's Elbow, and is an avid reader and an amateur colonial historian. A graduate of Holy Cross, he lives in Central Massachusetts with his wife Barbara and cat Duncan.

Find more about him at: www.edlondergan.com

And here's a guest post from Ed:

Research

by Ed Londergan

I love doing research. I need to learn and research is my way of experiencing the thrill of new discoveries, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Depending on what part of the story I am writing, I may make myself and expert on a particular topic.

For me, research takes many forms. I love to read, as most writers do, and will make myself an expert on a particular topic by reading book after book. I also like to go to the physical places that are part of a book. I am writing a story that takes place in Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York City, so I visited each of them and wandered around, soaking up the sights and sounds. I also like to talk to people who know more than I do, and that is quite a few people. They are flattered that you ask their opinion or to share what they know.

I also use the Internet quite a bit. It is an incredible tool. I use it to view a map or satellite image, find obscure bits of information; do research into historical characters or for any general question.  The amount of information you can find is overwhelming and can bog you down and keep you from writing if you let it. I take the basic information, the high-level stuff, and use that to develop the plot. I do far more writing than research.

Before I begin writing, I will do extensive research on the topics on which I am writing, kind of a crash course. I will jump in with both feet and spend hours each week devouring the information I find. Once I have completed the research, I digest it; let it roll around in my head for a week or so before putting it down on paper. 

Follow the tour:

Tour Schedule 

April 11: Black Lion Tours Blog: Tour Kick- Off.

April 12: Laurie's non Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews: Interview.

April 13: Ky bunny's Blog: Guest Post.

April 15: Kimberly Lewis Novels: Guest Post.

April 17: Jody's Book Reviews, Giveaways & Tours: Guest Post

April 18: My Devotional Thoughts: Guest Post.

.April 19: A Writer's Life: Guest Post.

April 20: Pure Jonel: Review.

April 21: Bookworm Babblings: Review.

              A Novel Idea Live: Live Interview.

April 22: Makayla's Book Reviews: Guest Post

               A Novel Idea Live: Promo.

April 23: I know that Book: Interview.

April 24: The Self Taught Cook: Review.

April 25: Black Lion Tours Blog: Wrap- Up.

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Many thanks to Ed Londergan and Black Lion Tours for sharing with us today.

Thanks for stopping by!

THE MOST FAMOUS WOMAN IN 17th CENTURY AMERICA!

Hannah's statue in
Haverhill, Massachusetts
shows her holding scalps
and a tomahawk

Usually, I talk about Southwestern events, places, or trivia. Today's post is one I originally wrote for the Hearts Through History online chapter of Romance Writers of America blog, Seduced By History. Forgive my reusing the story now, but life has interfered with art again and I’m under the weather. Besides, I was very impressed with this woman, who was once called “The Most Famous Woman In America.”


Ever heard of Hannah Dustin? In her lifetime, folk figure Hannah Emerson Dustin became a role model for pioneer women as her exploits spread across Anglo America. She is the first woman in the U.S. to have a statue erected in her honor. In fact, she has two statues . . . but I’ve gotten ahead of the story.


The time is March 15, 1697 and toward the end of King William’s War. When she learned they were being attacked, Hannah urged her husband, Thomas, to take their other eight children, aged two to seventeen, and flee to the nearby garrison and safety. Reluctantly, he left her in order to save their children. Less than a week after the birth of Martha, her ninth child, forty-year-old Hannah and her young aunt who cared for her, Mary Neff, were captured by Abnaki at Haverhill, Massachusetts.

For fifteen days the Abnaki marched the two women north and into New Hampshire. On the way, the Abnaki smashed baby Martha to death against an apple tree. Taken with at least ten other people from Haverhill, those who couldn’t keep up the Abnaki’s pace were killed. Hannah and Mary were parceled out as slaves to another Abnaki group consisting of half a dozen adults and several children, including an adolescent captive boy, Samuel Leonardson, who had been taken from Worcester eighteen months earlier.

The band set up camp at the conjunction of the Merrimack and Contoocook Rivers (now known as Dustin Island) near what is now Boscawen, New Hampshire and near Concord. One of the Abnaki men told Samuel that they would soon be moving to Canada where the captives would be stripped and forced to “run the gauntlet.” The white women knew they would never live through that experience.

Hannah Dustin, Mary Neff, and
Samuel Leonardson escape

As the story goes, Hannah led a captive rebellion. One of the Abnaki men had been teaching Samuel to fight and had showed him how to kill with a tomahawk. Hannah, Mary, and Samuel tomahawked ten Abnaki men, plus two women, and several children to death as they slept. They left only one elderly woman and a small boy. Hannah had the foresight to take scalps before leaving the enemy camp.


Hannah, Mary, and Samuel scuttled the enemy canoes except for one, which they used to travel down river at night. They reached Haverhill in three days. After some weeks of recovery, the now famous trio traveled to Boston where they requested bounty money for the scalps. The Massachusetts Bay courts had enacted a bounty on scalps in 1694, but it had been repealed. However, the Massachusetts General Court made an exception for Hannah and her two companions.

Accounts vary, but the most widely mentioned is that Hannah received twenty-five pounds and Mary and Samuel each received half that amount. In 1697, that was a considerable amount of money.

Hannah's statue at
Boscawen, New Hampshire

Hannah became famous for her escape and exploits. A statue of her stands in Haverhill, Massachusetts showing her with a tomahawk in one hand and scalps in the other. Another statue is located in Boscawen, New Hampshire, site of the escape. Her story is retold in “The History of Haverhill, in “Notable American Women,” in Henry David Thoreau’s “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and in Laurel Ulrich’s “Goodwives” and other accounts too numerous to mention. In some accounts, Dustin is recorded as Dustan, Durstan, or Duston.

Hannah's grave. She died in 1737

Was she a heroine or a murderer? Don't view her from a politically correct perspective, but from the ideas and practices of colonial life. Imagine the grief of seeing your baby killed in front of you, of watching others murdered because they couldn't keep up the pace. Imagine her concern for her other eight children and her husband. Were they all right? Who was helping care for them? None of us knows whether or not we could have followed in her steps. Would I have been able to kill and then scalp people? I don't know, but I doubt it. If they stood between me and my family, and to protect my aunt and a teenage boy, perhaps I could. It's hard to imagine ourselves in that terrorizing setting.

Regardless of your thoughts on whether or not you could follow her example, don’t you agree she was a formidable woman?

Please also stop in to visit me Tuesday, January 10th, at Calisa Rhose’s blog at http://calisarhose.wordpress.com/chit-chat/.

And please return here on January 11-12 for a new post and a chance to win lots of free books with the Amazing Authors Tour.

Thanks for stopping by!