Life During the Civil War

I'm reading journals about life in the south during the Civil War. Did you know that more soldiers died of disease than battle wounds?  One of the men I researched died of measles before ever seeing the battlefield; one was taken prisoner after the end of the war, marched to Ohio and died in a prison camp of diarreah. The final soldier saw action in many of the major battles of the war only to return home with consumption (TB) and he wasted away for several years before dying.

Life at home was not much better with food shortages, no men for the heavy labor and the threat of Yankee troops.  What a life changing event this war was for everyone.

Character Development

Since the story I'm telling is based on fact I must do research to develop the personalities of my characters. Their lives will affect how they react and what they do. So I'm doing research into life in Salisbury during the Civil War, consumption, measles, battles, the bread riot, New York in the 1770's, the gangs of NY and many other consuming topics. I'm getting to know my characters more and more through the things they experienced.

Setting the stage

I've been searching for clues as to how the scenes for the story had looked back in 1875. I've visited as many of the sites as possible and taken pictures. Here are a few of my background shots. They are the China Grove Train Depot, house where William Meismer and Sarah may have lived, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, the site of the dam and mill creek owned by the Heilig's, and Sarah Heilig's home.

When do you stop researching?

It's so hard to stop doing research and start writing. That is a major problem for me; so I have begun writting and am still researching as well. Which has really paid off since I've unearthed some major new information which will certainly find its way into the story.

My husband and I are heading off to the mountains for a few days. He will be attending a Fiat event and I plan to spend the time writing. I've found a beautiful B & B with a private screened in porch where I plan to park myself and write the untire time. We'll see how it goes, there is a lovely view from the porch, with hiking trails, flower gardens and plenty of distractions; but I will write!

Things

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it." -- A.A. Milne, from The House at Pooh Corner.  And so it is with writing, quite often I am a Bear of Very Little Brain.

Woman in the Well

I have begun to record the search for the story of the woman in the well. I am surprised at the amount of primary source material I was able to find. So I am writing about my search, my interpretation of the facts, and what may have really happened. One thing that makes this endeavor so much fun is that I'm living right where the events took place. So I don't have to imagine what Sarah saw or what her house looked like, I just have to look around and describe what I see. Of course there is much research that needed to be done about the time, and lifestyle; plus all the information on the trial and  ------whoops can't tell you that! It would give away the ending.