Darkness Until Dawn

     I want to have something to leave behind. After the dust has settled and the talk has died, I want there to be something left... something real. I want people to be able to read and feel connected to the story. I want them to feel like they are part of it. I want to connect with people through the words the way great writers do. Hopefully I can do that.       I don't like leaving the house. I worry about social pressures. I worry about intentions. I used to blend in somehow. That's become harder.       I want people to really know me. If I use the right words, then they can. I have to find the right words. I don't want to force my words or presence on anyone. But I want people to really know me. Words are elusive. And if I don't find the words, the narratives will be built anyways, and I'll be shut out. I took for granted that I would find the words. That people would know me. But if I don't find the words, what will they say a...

    I've gotten a touch distracted. I need to take great care. My desire is to finish some fiction. Something that people can enjoy. I'm still building up a well of projects. I'm generating ideas. I cannot afford to let myself neglect this. 

      I'm continuing to research the events and culture of the civil war era, the politics and the people. It's very interesting. I'll have to make some field trips. I'm trying to define the scope of the book. It was a large war, and I don't intend for it to be comprehensive on the war itself. I'd like to cover a number of key events, however. I definitely plan to mention Bull Run, the aftermath of Gettysburg, and the burnings of Columbia and Chambersburg. 

I've moved from researching the bloody fourth to refreshing my general civil war knowledge and finally to knowledge specific to Greenville circa 1861. This morning I did a rough outline of the first few chapters and begin writing chapter one, in which the protagonist has arrived in Greenville to find and assist his father, who had traveled with the rest of the family down to sell some goods, leaving his son behind to manage the estate.

    I've definitively identified 3 of 4 Earles that were supposedly part of the Palmetto Rifleman (B Company) of the 4th Volunteers: Captain Alexander Campbell Earle of Greenville, Lieutenant Charles Eugene Earle of Greenville, and George Washington Earle of Anderson. The First two were brothers and the third was a first cousin. A.C. went on to lead the Earle Cavalry after the 4th dissolved and moved to Alabama after the war. Charles Eugene committed suicide the day after commanding company B in the unexpected absence of its captain during the first battle of Bull Run. G.W. survived the war and returned to Anderson.      The fourth Earle, Joe, is a bit mysterious. There is a Joseph Earle, cousin of A.C. and Charles Eugene and also from Greenville, but he joined the Charles Artillery Battery, not the 4th Volunteers. He survived the war and died as a sitting U.S. Senator. I've decided to write a fictional character to take his place. I'm going to place him as the ...

I've compiled the major events of the 4th volunteers and Alexander C. Earle's Cavalry and I'm beginning to put down some prose for the beginning of the story. I'm also working on filling out a works in progress page to track my completion of the different stories I'm writing. So far, it's... Tales of the Attick All the Colors of the Rainbow The Watcher Induced Psychosis The Messenger Greater America The Bloody Fourth

      I've decided to write the story of the Bloody Fourth, also known as the 4th South Carolina Volunteers, a regiment of upstate soldiers who held the line at the 1st Battle of Bull Run, a.k.a. the 1st Battle of Manassas. I found a book of letters that's giving me some background. The unit was formed in Anderson, SC with men from Anderson, Greenville, Oconeee, and Pickens. The unit saw heavy fighting at Bull Run and did not survive the war, but was broken up into other units, one of which, Earle's Company of cavalry, eventually was disbanded in Greenville, though not before being charged with desertion.