Ok, so I spoke too soon about no significant book events for me, until the Weinachtsmarkt – I will have an interview posted this weekend at the Unusual Historicals group blog. It’s based in the UK, so most of the other contributors and spotlighted books are based in England … so I might be rattling their cages a bit, eh?
Until I looked around at the Kendall Inn website, I didn’t know how well Boerne had flourished as a health spa and summer resort in four decades after the arrival of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass railroad. The little town on the Cibolo Creek was the summer retreat for wealthy San Antonians, for the families of high-ranking officers stationed at Fort Sam Houston – and for people seeking relief from all kinds of ailments. For a certainty, the Hill Country is usually cooler than the lowlands – and with the flowing creeks and green hills and stands of oak and pecan trees, it was as much a refuge from the big city as it is now.
The Kendall Inn was a part of that, even before the railway made it convenient. The original owners – who built a large house in classical Southern Colonial style out of cut-stone with walls twenty inches thick – often rented extra rooms to travelers and visitors, as there was no other accommodation for them until after the Civil War. The Kendall expanded – with the addition of wings built in the same pillared porch-and-gallery style – and early in the 20th century, the luxury of en-suite bathrooms.
So I was there on Friday last to do a talk for the local chapter of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, on what had gone on in the Hill Country during the Civil War. Quite a few of the members were military retirees, arriving in Texas through the medium of a tour of duty – so the ins and outs of the whole mini-Civil War in Kendall, Gillespie and Kerr Counties was of at least some interest to the group. And I did the talk first, so that the luncheon was something that I could relax and enjoy.
The next big thing on the schedule for me, as far as events will be the Weinachtsmarkt in New Braunfels, November 16-18 at the Civic Center. We did so very well at it last year, that I will have a table for all three days, rather than just Saturday as we did last year. And – I have something new to ornament my official author table; my daughter and I found a model of a covered wagon at a sidewalk sale, which will be perfect to hold items like my business cards and postcards, and informational flyers about my books. Not bad for only $10!
We were in Comfort this last Saturday … no, that doesn’t mean we were comfortable, exactly – just that we were in Comfort, Texas – a nice little town about an hour’s drive north from San Antonio, a lovely little Hill Country town situated where the Guadalupe River is crossed by the IH-10. In the larger world, Comfort is known for being the final burial place of a number of German Unionists, who either died in a vicious fire-fight on the Nueces River in August of 1862 or were murdered shortly afterwards. I was there because … well, this is the community in which a number of my books are set, and the ‘middle’ book of the Trilogy covers this tragic period. So, when another writer and enthusiastic local historian told me at the Meusebach Birthday celebration that I really ought to get in with this one … and we swapped copies of our books … well, I really must do things like this, meet people, talk to fans, and sell some books. It’s not a chore to actually be there and do that, but setting it up is sometimes a bit of a job and full marks to Blondie for taking the bull by the horns.
The plan was that a number of other local authors, some of whom had books about the Germans in the Hill Country, the Civil War in the west, or about the Nueces Fight and the subsequent execution of a number of Hill Country Unionists would have table space to sell their books at a picnic luncheon in the Comfort City park which would follow the commemoration ceremony and wreath-laying at the monument. After the the luncheon, there would be a symposium in the parish hall of the Lutheran Church … and we could set up again to vend books, through the good offices of the Comfort Historical Association … for a simple donation of 20% of total sales to them when all was done for the day. We headed up to Comfort, located the park without much problem, and set up on our portion of table, which was just large enough and under the shade of the park pavilion.
So, I missed most of the commemoration at the monument itself, although I did go up and take some pictures during the ceremony – while William Paul Burrier was explaining on what exactly had happened during the early morning hours of August 10th, 1862 on the bank of the Nueces River. He has explored those events and personalities involved to almost the sub-atomic level. (Alas, I can’t find any links to the book that he has written about it all.) Pictures taken, I spelled my daughter so that she could go and check out an interesting resale shop just across the field from the park … and then the three cannons at the memorial gathering were fired, and everyone came down to the park. There is a small problem at events like this – trying to eat. Just as you’re ready to tuck in to your plate, there are three or four people wanting to talk to you. Our place at the table was next to Carlos Juenke, who is from Fredericksburg, and has read the Trilogy and loved it extravagantly … and so, I hardly got to eat much lunch or look at any of the other writer’s tables. It was a large crowd, and very lively for nearly two hours – and then pack it all up, and drive around the block to the symposium venue … which was a bit more cramped, but indoors in the AC… bliss it is to finally go indoors, on a sultry August afternoon in South Texas.
The symposium was interesting – always interesting to see working historians going at it, although it was sidelined for some time when Mr. Burrier began talking about his current project – debunking many of the current conceptions held about the Adelsverein generally. He was of the opinion that Prince Solms and his confreres seriously intended to establish a working German colony in Texas – that their ambitions were on the colonial-imperialist side rather than more economic and charitable. This caused an intake of breath through-out the room, and Mr. Kearney got up to contest that – and being pretty well versed in the contents of the official Mainzer Adelsverein, he could quote chapter and verse. For a few moments, I thought we might have another civil war on our hands, right then and there. However, as a relatively phidless (PhD-deprived) scribbler of historical fiction, I was beneath the notice of the professional historians – in fact, one of the academic gentlemen barely concealed a sneer as he departed at speed from in front of my table once I explained that they were all novels. Well, given the usual sort of historical fiction and historical romance, one can hardly blame him, but it is altogether likely that more casual readers have learned local history from reading my books than ever did from reading his.
Ah well – a nice day, in a nice place, with nice people. And we bought a whole smoked chicken from the Riverside Market in Boerne for dinner on the way home. What could be better than that?
I am doing a late summer sale of the e-book editions for the next two weeks: 20 to 25 per cent off on various volumes purchased through Smashwords.com. It’s only until August 25th. Smashwords does e-book versions for just about every e-reader format on the market, including Kindle, Nook and iPad. Each of my books has a special discount code, as follows:
For the Trilogy –
Adelsverein: Book 1-The Gathering 25% Off Coupon Code FX65V
Adelsverein: Book 2-The Sowing 25% Off Coupon Code RZ73G
Adelsverein: Book 3- The Harvesting – 25% Off Coupon Code RC56A
For Daughter of Texas 20% Off Coupon Code AQ44Z
and the sequel, Deep in the Heart 20% Off Coupon Code KF75U
And finally for my old faithful of a book, To Truckee’s Trail 20% Off Coupon Code MN89H
Book Events – Upcoming
There’s not all that much on my event calendar over the next few months – only one talk, and three big community events. What with the cost of gas, arranging for accommodations, and seeing to the care of home, pets and the garden, something more than a couple of hours drive from San Antonio is pretty much not doable this year. We love the drive up to Abilene for the Book and Music Fest there, but it involves an overnight stay. So – for the rest of the year, I’m keeping it local.
The next event that I’ll be at is the observation of the 150th anniversary of the Nueces fight: there will be a community picnic and a symposium on the 11th of August, at the True to the Union monument in Comfort and at the Lutheran Church fellowship hall across the street. A number of authors will have books on offer about the Civil War and the Nueces Fight, at the picnic and symposium venue.
In September, I’ll be doing a talk about the Civil War in the Hill Country for the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, on the 14th, at Ye Kendall Inn in Boerne. Did I say that we’re in the middle of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War?
Then, the next event will be the Christmas Market in New Braunfels, and this time I’m angling to be there for all three days of the event. This will be November 16-18th, at the Convention Center in New Braunfels. This was an amazing event for me last year, even though I could only be there for one day. The notice about it only went out. I haven’t heard yet about the final planned event – Christmas on the Square in Goliad, which is normally the first weekend in December, but I’ve added it onto my schedule regardless.
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